Hey everyone
I’m having problems with the instrument lights. None of them work.
Last week I checked the fuse panel, and there was NO power to the fuse when the lights were turned on. I ordered a new headlight switch and installed it today. I now have power to(and from) the fuse, but still no lights in the dash. I guess I’ll check some bulbs, but I can’t imagine them all being burnt out.
Side note: The car sat for a long time and I only recently got it running.
Thanks in advance for any help
Check that the headlight switch rheostat for the cluster lights isn’t set to ‘OFF’.
Do the interior (foot well) lights come on with the doors closed and the rheostat turned full CCW?
I rotated the rheostat both directions with no light coming from the gauges. The door lights are another issue. the haven’t worked at all since I got the car running this summer.
The lights that DO work are: headlights
tail
turn signals and flashers
brake lights
gear indicator light on the shifter base
Often people check voltage at the fuse box by probing the fuse itself; that’s not the best way. You want to probe the fuse clips without applying pressure onto the fuse. Why is this? Sometimes the fuse doesn’t make good contact the the clips so the voltage doesn’t make it outbound to the dash lamps. I’d remove the fuse, and use a needle-nosed pliers to squeeze the clips together and re-insert the fuse. Test voltage properly and see if that helps. If good voltage on the top side of the fuse clip (outbound), then a wire is likely broken. Remove the dash and probe the dash cluster connector for voltage at the blue/red wire. If no voltage, then the line is busted. If voltage present but still not on the dash, the problem is somewhere within the dash cluster harness. I have seen many times that the OEM factory splice is bad and doesn’t transmit power to all of the bulbs.
Thank you. This is what I found this afternoon. The clips had enough tension over the fuse, but rust and corrosion was preventing a good connection. I pulled the fuse and scraped off the clips some. It the lights are working now, although not very bright. I’ll check it again after dark.
Thanks again
I am having the same problem. I bought an XR7 in August and have been slowly getting things working. It was sitting for a while so there are a lot of little things that need attention. My instrument lights are out. I checked the fuse and it was burnt out so I replaced it but that did not fix the problem. I was going to try replacing light bulbs, but then I found this thread.
Before replacing the lights, I’d like to check the voltage at the fuse box with a voltmeter as some have suggested but I am not sure where to put the two probes. Do I put one probe on each fuse clip or do I put one probe on the fuse clip and the other somewhere else?
Thanks.
Also, the service annual says you can reach up behind the dash to remove the bulbs. I went to ty this and it seemed near impossible. Do you actually have t remove the dash to get at the light bulbs or can you remove them without removing the dash?
Thanks…Joe
To measure voltage, one probe goes to the fuse clips; the other probe goes to a good chassis ground.
To remove the dash bulbs by reaching back behind: yeah, if you’re a trained ferret. Otherwise, remove the dash cluster.
Update: I removed the dash and found 5 good bulbs and 4 bad ones. While it was out I replaced al 9 bulbs.
Also, I replaced the #2 fuse and checked the voltage on the fuse clips. I was not getting voltage on either the inbound or outbound side of the fuse. I tried it with the engine on and off and with the light switch on and off. Just to be sure I probed the other 4 fuses and they all showed voltage on both the inbound and outbound sides.
So it appears that the problem is on the inbound side of the fuse box for the #2 fuse.
It looks like from the wring diagram that the fuse gets power from the headlight switch.
I removed the headlight switch and a couple of the pins are corroded. (R & I). Is there a diagram that tells what these pins connect to?
R is rear running lights; I is dash lamps.
Thanks. I am hoping this fixes it.
Replacing the light switch did the trick.
For others with this problem here is a summary of some things I learned.
1 - despite the service manual saying you can reach under the dash to replace the light bulbs, that is not true. There are 9 bulbs and you need to remove the instrument cluster to get to them.
2 - when ordering a replacement light switch, I was lucky to find one NOS piece, but all the modern replacements do not come with the spacer attachment which was spot welded on. If you do not have access to a machine shop there is a simple fix. Drill out the 3 rivets holding the broken switch onto the mounting bracket and reuse the bracket. Carefully drill out the replacement switch and attach it to your old bracket with 3 small nuts/bolts.
3 - It is easy to reach the release button for the light switch handle, however, on mine it was very difficult to push it in far enough with my bare finger to get it to detach. I wound up using a very small socket wrench to push against it.
4 - I found it easier to pull the light switch out through the heater switch opening and detach the switch outside of the dash as opposed to trying to detach it behind the dash.