dash lights out...sort of

[jenren81]

So I had posted in my registry that I hit a deer right before Thanksgiving... truck is getting repaired now so all is good.

Then I remembered a strange thing today - the right hand side of lights on my dash have been out for awhile. I figured there was a burnt bulb or what not and didn't think much of it. However, after I hit the deer and was waiting for the state patrol guy to get there, I noticed the dash lights were back on! All the warning lights have always illuminated when starting the car, just the half of the dash lights behind the speedo and I think fuel, oil gauges have been out. I thought I was hallucinating that they were on but my passenger verified I wasn't crazy. Strange because earlier in the trip we had been talking about how they were out...

Well the next day I'm pretty sure the lights were out again. What could it be, loose connection or wire somewhere in there? Maybe the jolt of the deer impact rattled the connection back together or something? I don't get the truck back until the end of next week, but maybe they will magically be on again

 

[Turdle]

Does the dash light dimmer switch have any effect if you rotate it back and forth?

 

[jenren81]

No, they have been out for some time and the dimmer adjustments don't change it. I just assumed the bulbs were bad and was going to eventually pull dash apart to fix them... But they must be fine if they came on for awhile again.

 

[jenren81]

update... got my truck back finally from being repaired. Dash lights were out on the right side again. Something make me whack the dashboard to see if anything would happen, and boom they turned on. So, that's that. It's a short fix I'm sure though!

 

[koda2000]

you have burnt out bulbs. there are 6 of them that illuminate the gauge cluster. sometimes these small bulbs will work if you hit them. this happens because the broken filament will make contact temporarily. hitting the deer must have been enough of an impact to move the broken filament(s).

 

[jenren81]

you have burnt out bulbs. there are 6 of them that illuminate the gauge cluster. sometimes these small bulbs will work if you hit them. this happens because the broken filament will make contact temporarily. hitting the deer must have been enough of an impact to move the broken filament(s).

thanks for the response. I figured that they were burnt out, and was surprised when they came back on. Eventually I will get in there to fix them, but happy that they are working for now with a little whack

 

[Prestigun]

Mine came back on when I replaced my battery, only lasted for a day though haha. I was excited at the thought of not ripping my dash apart but nooo

 

[jenren81]

Mine came back on when I replaced my battery, only lasted for a day though haha. I was excited at the thought of not ripping my dash apart but nooo

no kidding... it's not urgent to do i guess, but it sure is nice when it is actually properly lighted up! i think i'll wait until summer to tackle this one.