Dash Lights Issue

[dking]

Having some problems with the dash lights. It appears the lights are slowly going out on the dash. It started on the left side going right. Don't know if that makes a difference. The only thing that lights up now is is the left side. Has any one out there had this problem? Any help would be great.

 

[KobeJ05]

dim switch or maybe bulbs. check the connections in the back of the speedo.

 

[TedJ]

Check you battery voltage with the engine running, no electrical loads on. If the alternator is not regulating properly the voltage will be excessive and this can cause the dash (and other stuff) to start blowing bulbs. (among other problems)

You could also just have a bad connection in the back of the dash. Check the connectors, bulbs, and plastic circuit on the back of the cluster.

 

[ricco750]

If your headlight switch has never been replaced, do so. The rheostat for the dimming mechanism fails/corrodes over time.

 

[dking]

I'll check everything all of you have suggested. Thanks for your input. Found out today that the A/C system in building to much pressure. Mechnic sugest that the clucth fan is bad. Looking at it the fan has several cracks in it and needs to be replaced. I hope this fixes the A/C issues. I've spent over $900 so far on A/c and they put a new system in and now this.

 

[92exp4x4]

Are you sure he wasn't talking about the A/C compressor clutch? The fan clutch has nothing to do with pressure in the A/C system. If the compressor clutch is locked up, then it will never cycle off. I would think it would burst a hose or something.

 

[dking]

No he was talking about the fan clucth.He was to tell me the fan was not pulling enough air thru the condener causing the pressure to rise. The fan had several cracks and needed to be replaced. So I did. Now with the new fan we still have the same problem. It's in the shop now and they are going to replace the fan thinking that it's not working correctly and trying to tell me that the condenser may have a slight restriction. We didn't have a pressure prblem until the new compressor. I think this is the problem. They installed a R&R compressor. The regular Service manger don't even wanted to talk to me and now I"m talking to his partner who is there to overhaul the service deptment. GO FIGURE.

 

[TedJ]

Did they check the orifice tube and flush the system when replacing the compressor?

 

[dking]

Yes they did. But I'm sure they don't know what they are doing. The compressor runs all the time and never noticed this. I always thought the compressor was designed to cycle on and off. Now I'm thinking what kind of damage they have done to the system with the system always going to high pressure. I'm thinking of changing the Hi and Low pressure switch myself to see if this helps. It still bugs me that I did not have this problem before with the old compressor. Any suggestions are welcomed. Please send help. SOS.

 

[92exp4x4]

Yeah they are supposed to cycle. I'm not really sure how it is controlled, but I do know they cycle.

That sucks man, I wish you could take it somewhere good and have the repairs billed back to that shop. You may just have to sue them for damages done to your truck. I hate to say that, but a proffesional shop should know what they are doing before touching a vehicle.

I think the fan excuse is bull, but if its cracked it should be replaced anyway.

 

[mmbretts]

wouldnt it just be the bulbs if some of them still light up? if the switch was bad, wouldnt they all cut out?

 

[huntman58]

dKing sound like you have a few things going on.
1) the lights if they are going out say one here or there and now adding up they most likely have never been changed and so are now at an age that they are giving out as mine did . It may be time to pull the dash gage pod and replace all of them as its no fun to replace a few then have to pull it again to replace more later.

2) the fan having cracks in it is some what conmen over time and yes you need to get that changed before the fan lets lose and dose damage to things under the hood like a radiator. Now for it not drawing enough air to keep the pressures low. WRONG! Pressures being high are from only a few things that I will list below. But also understand pressures will change according to temps and humidity out side (Ambient air) a cooling system not working well can also cause a rise in operating temps but this will also show as a raise in your cooling system temps also being the AC system gets cooling air first then the motor.

High pressure
A) blockage in the system. Normal orifice tube but could also be in the evaporator, condenser or even a line or passageway.

b) Over charged system. This will also make it not cool well and will stress all parts of the system

c) Bad pressure switches both high and low side switches low side on 1st gens are on the accumulator tank and the high side is over on the compressor side normal one to go out is the low side. This is also the switch you can jump when charging a system from empty to make the compressor run with out cycling off but if left to run this way will also end up with to high of pressure.

d) Moisture in the system. if the system was not vacuum boiled out of all water / moisture and a new accumulator installed this will also give high readings and also not allow the right charge to be installed but if the charge is forced into the system any way it will lead to an over charge and extreme pressures.

All high pressures are dangers period and need to be taken care of! you were smart in disabling the system tell it is taken care of. it sounds like you were the smarter of the two speaking of the shop and your self here as you knew when to question the repair and the shop may not have done the repair right as it sounds .
They may have flushed but was it done right?
Did they replace the accumulator?
Did they change the oil and was the oil compatible with what was already in the system? Did they install the orifice tube in the right direction?

as you can see from this long winded post you may be better off taking it some were to be fixed right then try to have them pay for it or take it back and let them try again on there dime but that’s your call. but get it serviced before you use it no matter what and best of luck to ya.

 

[Delta_1980]

the fan clutch going bad will cause extreme temps/pressures and can cause your system to purge freon. fact.

install a pusher style electric fan that you control with a switch for city driving. you'll never regret it.


you can check the fan clutch yourself.
1, run the engine.
2, wrap your hand with a towel-do not let anything hang off that could get caught in a moving part!
3, press on the fan blades with gradual pressure.
4, if fan stops spinning, replace the fan clutch and fan blade assembly at the same time. if fan does not stop, then the clutch is fine.

you will not be able to stop the blades on a clutch that is good (well maybe with a bloody stump). Go down to your local parts store that rents tools and get the "ford fan removal tool", new blade assembly, new clutch and handle it. 45 min. tops.


as for your light problem, you should check the switch then the bulbs. I have the same year exploder and when I had this problem (last week-literally) it was my switch.

 

[dking]

Dash lights and A/C

Thanks for all the advice. The lights if the truck stays out of the shop long enough going to pull dash cluster this weekend and change the lights. A/C in the shop now. This is their last chance to make it right. If they do great. If not it's going to ugly. My wife worked with one of the owners years ago and I feel we will be talking to him soon. We will see how it goes today. I'll keep you all posted. Wish them luck.

 

[dking]

Well just got my truck back still not real happy with the results but the compressor is working and not creating high pressure. It could be blowing colder air. Air temp at the vent is 60 degrees with it 90 degrees outside. Maybe I'm asking to much. So far the shop has not asked for any money for the radiator. I think for now on I will be taking my truck some place else. Thanks goes out to all with their help. Now I'll start working on the dash lights. Then the door hinge pin.

 

[dking]

well the A/C is at it again have to take it back to the shop again. This is getting just to funny to laugh. The compressor blew more feon. I think I going to let him change out the condensor. He thinks that is the problem and I'm to show him his wrong at his expense. I feel like his shop done something to the system when they changed out the old compressor. It was still blowing out cold air and was working fine just started leaking out oil at the clucth. I'll post what happens tomorrow.

 

[dking]

Well he replaced the condenser and installed a pusher fan. Head pressure is down where it surpose to be and we are not purging freon now. Temp outside is about 95 degrees with a heat index of about 105. The system blowing about 55 to 60 degrees. The wife is not to happy with the performance of the system. All total I now have about $1200 in the A/C. Being this is a 134a conversion isn't it working correctly or not? Not sure if it's going to get any better than this. Ready to move on to another issue.

 

[TedJ]

55 to 60 with 95f ambient sounds pretty good to me, especially on a conversion. It's not going to make the truck a walk in freezer in 5 minutes. There is a lot of interior space to cool down, especially if it's been sitting in the sun and everything in the truck is like 110F. If the pressures are good and everything seems fine, then I'd say it's probably as good as it is going to get.

 

[safn1949]

30 F below ambient temperature is real good,like he said it takes time to cool down all that space.GM would state in the 80's that if the AC would blow 20 F below ambient temp,it usually would do better then that.

longing for the days of R-12

 

[mawrazen]

Back to the dash lighhts....

"It appears the lights are slowly going out on the dash."

Does the dimmer still work?

Do the lights on the center console work?

If you can still dim the working bulbs, you may just need to replace the burned out bulbs.

I would also check the voltage at the non functioning bulbs to verify the circuit is working.