Now you see me, Now You Don't

themechanic · Sep 7, 2013

1969 Dodge Coronet R/T with standard dash and gauges

Now you see me, Now You Don't

I recently refurbished my non rally instrument cluster. The circuit board appeared to be good . So, I cleaned the contacts, installed a solid state voltage limiter, and LED bulbs. I had the switches rebuilt, including the dimmer. The right side instrument lights come on with the headlight switch and dim with the dimmer switch. However, none of the lights come on the left side. I swapped one working bulb from the right with one not working on the left and the one bulb on the left lights up but no lights work on the right; even the ones that worked before. I replaced all the light sockets with new ones. I also ensured I have a good ground. Short of installing a new circuit board what is the solution? :BangHead:

Thanks FBBO

krowbar · Sep 7, 2013

Bad bulb?

themechanic · Sep 7, 2013

krowbar said:
Bad bulb?

A bad bulb never lights. (Sounds like something I heard in school.) Anyway, the one bulb from the left comes on when switched to the right but does not light when switched back.

krowbar · Sep 7, 2013

Maybe the one light that you switched from the non-working side to the working side was bad. You said the problem switches sides when you did that. ??? Very odd. Try switching a different bulb from the non-working side.

themechanic · Sep 7, 2013

krowbar said:
Maybe the one light that you switched from the non-working side to the working side was bad. You said the problem switches sides when you did that. ??? Very odd. Try switching a different bulb from the non-working side.

So, if that is true, are these like Christmas lights where one bulb is bad none light up?

krowbar · Sep 7, 2013

themechanic said:
So, if that is true, are these like Christmas lights where one bulb is bad none light up?

That, I don't know. it's possible. Maybe someone else will chime in, but I would try switching a different bulb.

bm02tj · Sep 7, 2013

I do not think the dash bulbs are in series like christmas lights

if all else fails remove and check all the ribbons with you multi meter

you can solder in jumpers if needed

themechanic · Sep 7, 2013

I'm going back to incandescent bulbs to see if the LEDs have a gremlin.

Here are the before restoration and after photos:

b-star69 · Sep 7, 2013

leds have gremlins if they ground in any way they flicker,go out, ect.your circuit is not in series or it would go out when an incandescent goes out.

YY1 · Sep 8, 2013

Test the bulbs one at a time.

next guess would be contact on two conductors between the bulb and pc board.

might also test the incandessants back in the board

MNBiker · Sep 9, 2013

LED bulbs won't light if they are in backwards. Try pulling one that doesn't work, rotate it 180 and reinstall it. Just at thought.

Mopars & Missiles · Sep 9, 2013

themechanic said:
....... I replaced all the light sockets with new ones........../QUOTE]

Your problem is the NEW bulb holders. The contacts are slightly different and when you twist them on, you are not making contact with the circuit board trace. Go back to the original style bulb holders.

440+6 · Sep 9, 2013

MNBiker said:
LED bulbs won't light if they are in backwards. Try pulling one that doesn't work, rotate it 180 and reinstall it. Just at thought.

This is true for some of the LEDs out there

themechanic · Sep 9, 2013

The new sockets light the right side. So, I don't see the sockets being the problem.

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bigblock · Sep 9, 2013

They are wired parallel,that way 1 ground and 1 variable power source can dim them. There's only 4 bulbs,right? Plug it into the harness and play with the sockets and see what happens.

themechanic · Sep 9, 2013

MNBiker said:
LED bulbs won't light if they are in backwards. Try pulling one that doesn't work, rotate it 180 and reinstall it. Just at thought.

First I heard that. I'll try anything.

themechanic · Sep 14, 2013

Praise the Lord!!!!!!!

mnbiker said:
led bulbs won't light if they are in backwards. Try pulling one that doesn't work, rotate it 180 and reinstall it. Just at thought.

*****update*****

MNBIKER WAS RIGHT.

I started by removing all the light sockets. Then, I bent the metal tabs up on each side to make good contact with the PCB. Next, I plugged one light in the far left instrument light whole and it lit. Then, I moved to the hole to the right but the bulb didn't light; rotated the socket 180 degrees and the light came on. I then repeated the same for all the light holes until all the lights worked. Hallelujah!

Thanks mnbiker and FBBO brothers.

Enjoy the light show.

440+6 · Sep 14, 2013

themechanic said:
*****update*****

MNBIKER WAS RIGHT.

I started by removing all the light sockets. Then, I bent the metal tabs up on each side to make good contact with the PCB. Next, I plugged one light in the far left instrument light whole and it lit. Then, I moved to the hole to the right but the bulb didn't light; rotated the socket 180 degrees and the light came on. I then repeated the same for all the light holes until all the lights worked. Hallelujah!

Thanks mnbiker and FBBO brothers.

Enjoy the light show.

Glad ya fixed it, looks great, don't know why but some LEDs doesn't matter which way you put them in and some it dose.

dodge41969 · Sep 14, 2013

Looks like your fuel gauge got cooked, (your old limiter was probably bad)....shouldn't be sitting that far to the left, I bet if it works it isn't accurate. What I do on all the clusters I work on is solder all the pins on the circuit board,(you don't need to buy a new circuit board like everybody thinks), I've fixed more problems by doing this alone....if you can wiggle those pins at all, there'll be a problem sooner or later.

themechanic · Sep 14, 2013

dodge41969 said:
Looks like your fuel gauge got cooked, (your old limiter was probably bad)....shouldn't be sitting that far to the left, I bet if it works it isn't accurate. What I do on all the clusters I work on is solder all the pins on the circuit board,(you don't need to buy a new circuit board like everybody thinks), I've fixed more problems by doing this alone....if you can wiggle those pins at all, there'll be a problem sooner or later.

Yes, the fuel gauge reads on the low side. I may have messed it up when I removed the needle to paint the face black. It's a booger to R/R those little orange needles.

Now you see me, Now You Don't

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