Driving home from base last night my dash lights didn't come on when I turned on the headlights. I adjusted the dimming control and checked all the fuses twice with no success. The HVAC lights work and so does the odometer, but not the main gauge cluster. I really don't want to chase wires, but fear that is the next route to go. I don't know how long ago this problem started since I never drive the car at night or in rain. I don't have any aftermarket alarms and only have a aftermarket stereo head unit that I installed 5 years ago. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Help! Dash Lights Not Working.
- Thread starter RED2003COBRA
- Start date
I just got this fixed on my '04 cobra. Here is the write up I did on it.
http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...631-how-fix-03-04-svt-cobra-gauge-lights.html
http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...631-how-fix-03-04-svt-cobra-gauge-lights.html
Awesome write-up and info. I looked at the speedhut website and found this inverter (Part #A-INVERT-04). Just wanted to confirm this was the one you used. It says it's for multiple gauges. Thanks.
Lance
Lance
Yes, that is the one I used. You may be able to get the other inverters they sell to work as well , but this one worked and also fits into the stock cluster without any issues.
You don't need the daisy chain plugs, because your cluster has just one terminal that backlights the whole cluster. I just cut off the wire leaving 3 or 4 inches to solder onto the stock terminal plug.
Afterwords it did occur to me that The stock inverter might be common to some other ford cars. I plan to hunt around a bit next time I am at the parts yard.
Ford does not sell replacement inverters, but it is possible that they might be available from the cluster OEM. I don't remember the name, but I did see some other companies name on a few of the gauge components.
You don't need the daisy chain plugs, because your cluster has just one terminal that backlights the whole cluster. I just cut off the wire leaving 3 or 4 inches to solder onto the stock terminal plug.
Afterwords it did occur to me that The stock inverter might be common to some other ford cars. I plan to hunt around a bit next time I am at the parts yard.
Ford does not sell replacement inverters, but it is possible that they might be available from the cluster OEM. I don't remember the name, but I did see some other companies name on a few of the gauge components.
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you also have an illumination wire on the back of the radio, its orange, you can put it together with your ignition wire, the red one, and that may also solve your problem. ive fixed this issue in quite a few cars this way.
Thanks, I'll give it a try and will let you know what happens.
If you have a bad inverter, I don't think that will do you any good. I really did not find a decent way to 'test' the bad inverter, I just seemed to eliminate all other possible sources of the problem.
Also, there just seems to be a lot of cases of these inverters going bad. So for a $12 part and and hour or so for pulling out the gauge cluster, it was worth a shot.
Min has been back together for 2 weeks and is still working fine.
i had this problem and i got the unit from speed hut. i wired it up and it worked great! for two days that is. Two nights after i switched it in, it wouldnt light up anymore. i switched back to the other one because it would always work after the car warmed up for a while but it hasnt come on yet. ive checked and rechecked all the connections to the inverter and it still wont light up. what else could be the source of this problem? is there a fuse i might have blown? thank you!
My dash, radio and climate control isn't lighting up now either. BUT if I turn the headlight knob all the way left (to the point that the dome light comes on as well) it light up. I posted a seperate thread "HELP please! Another dash illumination issue". I checked the headlight switch and fuses already, and I wouldn't think it's the inverter if it lights up every time I turn the dome light on:??: Any ideas?
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