No dash lights?

[NJCOBRA10thA]

This has happened once or twice in the past then the next day the lights were fine.

It happened last week and the next day it was fine.

Now my dash lights (backlight) don't work. The light knob is not set to dim it and when turning it I see it dim the odometer.

My idiot lights come on when I star the car, just no backlighting so I can't read my speedo, tach, gas gauges etc at night.

The manual leads me to believe it's tied in with the traction control switch but the light for that comes on. Could it be a burnt out bulb? Is it just one bulb for the dash lights and how much of a B%tch is it to change it?

Thanks for the help guys.

Dan

 

[GHIG RTR]

Check your fuses.

 

[TrickStang37]

are the a/c controls lighting up too? if they are, you may be ***ed. that would mean you would need a new insturment panel, $500-$600.

if they went out as well, its probably fuse #5 or #37 i think. its a 5amp fuse i think. mine went out before, turned out the dimmer wire on the radio was grounding (aftermarket stereo).

Also, could be your dimmer switch.

 

[Dsg302Snake]

I say check fuses then go from there. I had that happen to me cluster and A piIar gauges went out turned out to be a bad fuse

 

[s_x_i]

The exact same thing has happened to me. I'll be changing out my dimmer switch this weekend to see if it fixes it.

If not I will be playing 'guess my speed' whenever it gets dark... :shrug:

 

[NJCOBRA10thA]

AC control lights do come on. Dimmer switch dims my odometer so i doubt it's that.

I will not have a chance to double check my fuses until Saturday - I get home to late.

Meanwhile I am looking for the link to how to set your odometer to show your speed.

Thanks

Dan

 

[NJCOBRA10thA]

http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/fcar/dtcodes.htm

 

[xneric]

If it's the fuse, this should be the one.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e142/xneric/Fuse.jpg
It's 5A. as TrickStang noted.

 

[Dana]

On a lot of cars, the dash lights are wired together with the tail lights, so that if the tail lights were to fail, the dash lights would also go out, to alert you.
Check the tail lights to see if they are working.

Dana

 

[NJCOBRA10thA]

fuses seem to be all good.
tail and brake lights seem to work. I have to test the 3rd brake light.
Still no dash lights.

 

[xneric]

I found this in the manual.
"The Mustang instrument cluster backlighting has illumination bulbs that are installed separately from the instrument cluster. The Cobra instrument cluster has a laminated, electroluminescent applique to backlight the cluster . The electroluminescent applique and instrument cluster must be installed as an assembly."
If the lights in the center stack...heater, A/C, radio and the switches for fog lamps, traction control, and rear window defogger dim then that along with the fact your odo dims leads me to believe its the electroluminescent backlight. I'd try a whack on top of the instruments with the lights turned up at night to see if they flicker. It might just indicate a bad connection. I priced a Cobra instrument cluster last year and it was expensive plus I had to send mine in so the new one could be programmed.

 

[Tucker]

Mine are out as well. All fuses checked out ok and I will also try the switch.
Please, if anyone fixes theres let us know what you did.

Jay

 

[NJCOBRA10thA]

I fixed my problem!
Thanks, but I think I have it beat. The problem was while all of my fuses were good 1 or more were loose and didn't fit tight into the fuse panel. I remedied this by poking the prongs through some electrical tape. This seems to be keeping a good connection and my lights are back on.

 

[NJCOBRA10thA]

NOT FIXED it was a fluke my lights are out again.

 

[xneric]

NOT FIXED it was a fluke my lights are out again.

Sorry to hear that. If they're intermittant like that it's most likely a loose connection somewhere. The circuit isn't all that complex. You never mentioned if your center stack lights dim along with your odometer. If they do, it almost has to be something in or on the cluster. You might consider pulling it, and giving it a good inspection for loose connections. It's not very difficult to remove.

 

[NJCOBRA10thA]

Sorry to hear that. If they're intermittant like that it's most likely a loose connection somewhere. The circuit isn't all that complex. You never mentioned if your center stack lights dim along with your odometer. If they do, it almost has to be something in or on the cluster. You might consider pulling it, and giving it a good inspection for loose connections. It's not very difficult to remove.

pardon my ignorance what do you mean by center stack lights?

 

[xneric]

pardon my ignorance what do you mean by center stack lights?

Don't know the actual term, but the lights for the heater A/C, radio, and the fog lights, traction control and rear window defoger switches. These are all off the dimmer control too. If they are dimming it would eliminate the dimmer control or fuses as the culprit.

 

[NJCOBRA10thA]

Odometer dims, not sure about AC/radio/fog light switch Not sure I would be able to tell but I will give it a try tonight.

 

[NJCOBRA10thA]

Now they are back on.

 

[grimreefer]

Just had to have the L cluster replaced due to no illumination (backlighting only) until driving for 10 - 15 minutes. Apparently theres a 1/4 amp fuse in the cluster itself that can be replaced on the cheap, but it looked to be too much of a PITA to me. Don't know if it'll help with your symptoms, but here's a link to the info I found when trying to figure out WTF... LINK

Good luck :beer: