Dash lights not working

[RBlaha]

i have a 69 Superbee and when you turn on the lights the dash lights don't light up. Dimmer switch is able to turn on and off the dome and map light, all the gauges work, except for the lights. Checked the fuse and it seems good.

 

[71charger_fan]

Is there power coming in to the fuse? I've got the same problem. Power to the switch, fuses are good, but no juice coming out of the switch to the 5-amp fuse for the dash lights. I've just been putting off replacing the HL switch because I hate working in/under the dash.

 

[RoadWarrior]

I am trying to remember how the diagram was for my 67, but I remember power coming from the headlightswitch through a fuse to the bulbs, or dash lights and sharing with a brakeswitch or something. I had an issue where moisture had caused the connection to rust and eventially run hot, melt the plastic around it, and stopped connecting with the headlight switch.

Find the connector that feeds the dash lights and check for voltage. Thats where I would check if I don't have voltage at the fuse.

 

[Dreamcatcher]

I am trying to remember how the diagram was for my 67, but I remember power coming from the headlightswitch through a fuse to the bulbs, or dash lights and sharing with a brakeswitch or something. I had an issue where moisture had caused the connection to rust and eventially run hot, melt the plastic around it, and stopped connecting with the headlight switch.

Find the connector that feeds the dash lights and check for voltage. Thats where I would check if I don't have voltage at the fuse.

Also that way in my 70. I had issues with dash lights as well. Found it to be a wire coming from the fuse block.

 

[oldbee]

Rblaha & the rest. If I ever get off my dead a-- ;I'll figure it out, I have no dash either. Lol

 

[black64]

Usually there is a fuse for brake lamps/turn signals off the hd lamp switch which also feed the panel lamp fuse. The panel lamps out also mean you had no brake lights which could possibly be your problem. Check to see that your have brake lamps function.

 

[oldbee]

Brakes are working, just lazy I guess. Have to dig into serv. manual and check wire routing, today I promise.

 

[oldbee]

Panel dimmer fed by blk wire from hdlite sw. Dimmer tan wire feeds to fuse/other side of fuse feeds inst. lites. Rally dash stop lite sw. is fed separately by a purple wire off hdlite sw. Sooo, need to check 12v at blk wire to dimmer w/lites on & 12v coming out dimmer on tan wire to fuse box.Whew, get dizzy trying to chase circuit diagrams!!

 

[oldbee]

Somewhere under dash is a junction with 6 orange wires hooked together. Comes from fusebox and feeds inst.lites&radio lite. It looks like orange wires are only for dash lites at least under dash. Orange under hood may do something else.Hope this helps.

 

[69L48Z27]

Guys,

Don't make it overly complex. Check a couple of things:

Fuse as mentioned. Should be a circuit by itself, 3A.
Dimmer, dimmer, dimmer. If the car has the big chrome wheel I'll guarantee that's the problem. These things corrode and need rebuilt. The switch only has 3 wires. Check that you have power in, then check power out. The dimmer will work on full on but not allow dash lights when rolled back. Just fixed mine on the 68 a few weeks ago. After hours of searching and reading, then rebuilding it was fixed. Very common issue apparently. Rebuilt ones on eBay, or rebuild service. No real aftermarket options.

 

[oldbee]

69L, did you do it yourself? Rebuild service price? Classic has them for---$175!!! Whew.

 

[Shorthorse]

The orange wire feeds a few other lamps besides the dash. Do any of them work properly?

 

[69L48Z27]

69L, did you do it yourself? Rebuild service price? Classic has them for---$175!!! Whew.

Yes, did it myself. There was a post here somewhere that linked back to a Dodge Charger forum where someone had photos and some advice. I lightly drilled out the rivet ends, just enough to push them out. Once I cleaned it and reassembled I used a meter and made sure everything was working electrically. Once satisfied I used JB weld on the rivet ends. The dash mounting will also keep the two halls in place. One word of advice, make sure you look at how all the gears are clocked BEFORE you pull it apart.

 

[RBlaha]

I wasn't able to get to the car with work and family, as I backed it out of the garage yesterday, I also noticed the rear tail lights weren't working along with the parking lights. The head lights worked, brake lights worked, turn signals worked, just no dash lights, and running lights. Do you think it still could be the dimmer switch? Thanks

 

[RoadWarrior]

Turn the switch on and use a multimeter (voltmeter), probe, whatever you got and check for voltage. No voltage? Bad switch. Voltage? Probably a wiring issue. If the headlights work probe that connecter since you know it will show voltage. I like to do that on something I know works. I had a bad multimeter once and I wasted alot of time probing things and scratching my head.

 

[RoadWarrior]

I forgot to mention, find a wire diagram for your switch. It just accured to me that maybe the parking lights and tail lights come from the same connecter. I am probably wrong but you will need the diagram anyway to know where the tail lights and parking lights get their power.

If you look up in there you will see (with alot of light and your reading glasses haha) that they are labeled. I think tail lights is "R" and parking lights is "P". Dash lights are "I". Don't quote me, but I believe thats how mine is labeled.

 

[Bart K]

Turn the switch on and use a multimeter (voltmeter), probe, whatever you got and check for voltage. No voltage? Bad switch. Voltage? Probably a wiring issue. If the headlights work probe that connecter since you know it will show voltage. I like to do that on something I know works. I had a bad multimeter once and I wasted alot of time probing things and scratching my head.

I hate it when that happens Who ever thinks that the tool could be the problem???

 

[Shorthorse]

I hate it when that happens Who ever thinks that the tool could be the problem???

When checking continuity on any circuit with lamps you have to pull all the lamps. Otherwise all the positive leads, will show continuity to ground. A lamp is nothing more than a resistor that gets hot and glows so you end up reading the ground through the element.

 

[moparedtn]

There's been some good advice posted so far.
I'll add to it a bit here, since I wound up rebuilding my entire instrument cluster not too long ago (I had some of the same issues).
A couple things to keep in mind here:
-Get a factory manual. Seriously.
-The dimmer switch acts as a sort of distribution point for a LOT of things behind the dash, including running lights, dash lights, interior, etc.
More than you'd expect. Trust me.
-The dimmers on these cars are notoriously bad and prone to failure. The gentleman on eBay who offers rebuilt ones may be a tad pricy, but his work is impeccable and comes with a warranty. The piece not only is better than new functionally, but appearance-wise as well.
-If your taillights AND dash lights don't work, that would point to a fuse, since they're on the same one.
Factory did that so that you'd know behind the wheel if your taillights worked by if your dash lights do.
-Don't forget the voltage limiter for the instrument cluster - it's that little silver box installed on the backside of the cluster. It knocks 12V down to 5V for your cluster and yes, the lights and gauges all get power from it.
Sounds like in this case your gauges ALL work?
Probably not the limiter then.
-Did I mention to get a factory service manual?
Invaluable when sorting out wiring issues on these cars - which I've just done on mine within the last couple years.
ALL the wiring. Every damn bit, as it turned out.
Good luck!

PS - I have an entire thread on troubleshooting this on here somewhere....

 

[RoadWarrior]

You can find everything online. When I rebuilt my dash cluster and rewired my car I found diagrams online and just sat in my car with my laptop (I don't have a printer).

I ended up studying the diagram on my computer, then simplified it by drawing my own diagram of ONLY what I was working on since those things can get confusing fast. The simple act of hand drawing a diagram made it really easy for me to follow. Just the way my brain works.

allpar.com has helped me out a lot. Great articles and step by step instructions on there.