Dash gauge lights--Out

[gsjoe]

Hi to all, I did a search for my topic but none were found so here goes. I know the radio light is out because of the bad board. I will be fixing that soon. But my real question is why is my overhead display out as is the left side of the gauge cluster(RPM,gas ect) and even the on/off cruise control buttons on the steering wheel are out. Is this all tied up to the radio?

 

[BrianDye]

Check your fuses, thats the problem 90% of the time, i know in my taurus the radio quit, so did the speedometer all on one fuse

 

[zencalc]

Dash gauge lights -- Out

For mine, it was a combination of bulbs being bad and the headlight switch being bad... so when I cahnged out the headlight sswitch, I took out the gauge cluster as well and switched out all of the bulbs... also did the ones for the HVAC at the same time... voila! Lights!
Although I still have the radio light issue... let me know how you fix that...
Z.

 

[Joe Dirt]

The overhead console is a similar problem to the radio issue, there is a writeup somewhere on fixing that.

The dash lights are just bulbs, need to pull the cluster- they just twist in.

The cruise bulbs always fail, they have a very short life. Some have found replacements, some went LED, or Amazon sells new switch sets with new bulbs in them for $35-ish + shipping.

 

[gsjoe]

Joe D

Joe, where are the bulbs in the cruise switches are they in the switches (internal). I was looking in ebay for a replacement and they look sealed.

 

[Joe Dirt]

They do pop open, but very delicately. They are inside there, they're very small bulbs...

 

[zencalc]

Dash lights out - again

I'm so frustrated I could puke... so in the previous episodes, I took the dash out and changed the bulbs.. and voila, dash lights worked... for one day. Then I took the dash out AGAIN, put in a new headlight switch, changed the rest of the bulbs I didn't do the first time... and Voila, lights.... FOR ONE FREAKIN' DAY! I start up again last night and no interior lights... today I changed the 20 AMP MAXI fuse under the hood (#11 to be exact) hoping that would do the trick... alas... no luck. I also thought that perhaps I have a short, since by undoing the dash and putting it back together it caused the lights to work... albeit briefly. So I undid the negative battery cable for a few minutes... put it back together... just not happening. Anyone got a guess what else is left for me to try???
I'm so frustrated I might just try to put in the Dorman Blend door that's been sitting on my shelf for a year... but I digress.
Any help here would be greatly appreciated.
Z.