All instrument and dash panel lights out

[BBQdrew]

Hi all,

We have a '96 XLT that we're putting back into service and among the many things to deal with is all of the lights out on the dash. I mean all of 'em. When I turn on the headlight switch, the exterior lights work just fine, but nothing on the interior.

I've looked through the owner's manual trying to identify a fuse that might help me out here, but no joy. Is it possibly a bad headlight switch?

Any ideas? I'm kinda stuck at the moment.

TIA!

Andy Suplee

 

[fast_dave]

@BBQdrew

Have you checked if the Interior Light Dimmer "Wheel" is in the position that has turned off all of the interior lights?

It rotates upwards to turn the interior lights on, and downwards to turn the interior lights off.

It's the big vertical orientated wheel located next to the light switch.

If the wheel is in the upwards orientation, and the interior lights aren't coming on, try flicking the wheel towards the drivers door a couple of times.

If "flicking" the switch towards the drivers door causes the interior lights to come on, the dimmer wheel switch needs to be reconditioned. Pretty simple job to save $60+ dollars on a new one.

Link - How to refurbish a 2nd gen dimmer switch:
https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-refurbish-a-1998-dimmer-switch.429107

 

[BBQdrew]

Ah, okay.

I went out and checked and sure enough, the Light Dimmer Wheel was in the right position, and still no joy. I also tried "flicking" the switch as suggested, and still nothing.

I took a look at the link and it seems easy enough. Hopefully it'll do the job and I'll be one step closer to having Ol' Dora back on the road. It's a looooong list-o'-things-to-do.

Thanks for the information, and I'll let ya know!

Andy Suplee

 

[lobo411]

Mine had that issue intermittently. I was able to restore the lights when it happened by the above method--working the dimmer wheel back and forth. I haven't bothered to fix it properly, though, since I almost never drive it at night.

 

[BBQdrew]

Okay, so I finally got a chance to get back to this, and here's the deal. Before taking anything apart, I sprayed the dimmer switch down with a lot of contact cleaner and spun the wheel back and forth, hoping that would do the trick. No joy. Drat.

One thing I DID notice, though, is that when I rotate the dimmer wheel all the way up, the dome lights DO come on. Guess the next trick is to disassemble it as described in the link above, or just replace it with a used one on eBay. A new one from RockAuto is ~$200. Hard pass.

Any additional thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!