Weird wiring behind instrument cluster

[geoph1986]

Hey everyone...here's what's going on. I pulled apart my dash today to run wiring for my upcoming carputer project. When i removed the instrument cluster I found 2 mystery wires that went to nothing, they were just cut off and left hanging. Both of theses wires are spliced into the harnesses that plug into the cluster. The first mystery wire is on the black harness (closest to driver's side), tapped into the "black with white stripe" wire. The second is on the grey harness (closest to center console), tapped into the "grey with white stripe" wire. The original wires seem to still go where they are supposed to, but the mystery wires go nowhere. Also, on the cluster itself, someone has removed the "check engine" & the "amp" bulbs. I have a feeling that these two things are related and I need to know what those original wires are for. I always thought it was weird that the check engine and amp lights didn't light up when I turned the key to the run position, but I thought that the bulbs were probably burnt out. The truck seems to run fine. The alternator gauge shows charging. Any help on this would be great, and sorry about the long winded post. Thanks.

 

[fixxxer]

The Black w/white stripe is a ground connection, the Gray w/white stripe is for the High-beam indicator lamp. I'll bet someone had aux. lights hooked up at some point.

 

[fixxxer]

 

[geoph1986]

Thanks fixxer. Now I just have to figure out why someone removed the check engine and amp bulbs...

 

[fixxxer]

Have you tried putting new bulbs or taking one of the other bulbs and trying them in those spots? Maybe the prev. owner took them out when they had those 2 or 2 of the other lights go out. I think all the cluster bulbs are 194 or 194LL bulbs. You can get replacement bulbs at just about any store including grocery stores and convenience stores, as well as auto-parts houses. They shouldn't run more than $2-3 for a pair of them. Or you can take this opportunity while you have the dash apart to replace all your bulbs with LED's. Check the threads and write-ups by MustangP51 and others in the Performance Lighting section. MustangP51 has done a couple of excellent write ups on conversion of the instrument cluster lights to LED's.

 

[geoph1986]

I want to do the LED mod, that's why I removed the cluster instead of running wires around it. I also want to have my carputer power & hard drive LEDs in the cluster (one either side of the shift indicator). I hope it's as simple as the previous owner swapping the bulbs. It just seems weird though...if the cluster was out already, why put it back in missing pieces...