dash lights not working

[70 shorty]

Ok, I pulled the fuse and it's fine. I put a test light on both sides of the fuse and nothing. I know the test light is good, I put it on other circuits just to make sure. Anyway, does power come in to the fuse from the switch and then out to the dash lights? If so, I'm guessing it's time for a new light switch. Am I thinking right here? There are no dash lights at all.

[WRMZ71]

Do your headlights come on. i know theres a little black groundwire that just kinda clips on the underside of the dash to metal and its right behind the gauge cluster so you typically don't see it. If that ground goes so do your dashlights

[rage'nrat638]

wiggle the main connector going into the dash unit....check contact's

[70 shorty]

Yeah, headlights work just fine. I've turned the light switch left and right many times just to see if they would come on, nothing there.

[teamharvey]

I feel your pain !! I am going through the same situation. Mine worked until I replaced the bezel. I am guessing circut is damaged or a contact problem.

Bret

[Blue Beard]

Could be a ground, or maybe the fuse is bad up under one cap...

[Longhorn Man]

The fuse is powered after the switch. If the switch is off...or bad, then the fuse will be dead.
You could get a used one for next to nohting, or a new one for 10 bucks or so. Take the old one out and carry it into the parts store with you. Many look just like ours...even modern ford light sweitches are hard to tell from our 35 year old ones. You have to look at the letters that identify each terminal.

[Tx Firefighter]

You have to turn the lights on to get power to the dash light fuse. Pull the light switch on, then probe the fuse with your test light. As you turn the headlight knob back and forth, the test light should illuminate.

If the light never illuminates, you need to check upstream, at the light switch itself.

Plenty of headlight switches go bad on these old trucks. They're cheap and easy to replace if that's the problem.

[70 shorty]

Thanks guys, TX firefighter, yeah I did have the switch on when I was probing the fuse, but didn't turn the knob back and forth, however turning the knob back and forth has had no effect on the lights themselves coming on. I think I'll just replace the switch. Does the whole bezel have to come out to do it? I know about the button that releases the pull on the switch, after I get that out can the switch be taken out, or how exactly does the switch mount?

[Tx Firefighter]

The reason I mentioned turning the knob to and fro is because sometimes the switch gets a dead spot in it when the knob is in a certain position.

You'll need to remove the knob, then the chrome spacer deal behind the knob. It just twists off by hand. Then, the bezel too, probably. The headlight switch is held to the dash with a special nut deal. Sometimes, if you have a thin enough wall socket, you can remove the switch without removing the bezel. Most times though, you have to remove the bezel too. It's much easier anyway, as you can get your hands back there to pull the plug out of the switch. Somtimes they are real stubborn coming out.

[70 shorty]

Thanks TX. Damn it must be early in TX, it's 6:45 here, I just coudn't go back to sleep, so I figured I might as well see what activity I had gotten on this thread overnight.

[Tx Firefighter]

It's 5:50 AM here. I don't sleep. You lose too much productive time in life if you sleep more than 4 hours a night.

[jef5150]

your tail lights are on the same fuse as the dash lights, do they work?

[70 shorty]

I'd be dead if I didn't sleep more than 4 hours a night, but I dont' sleep till noon either. I jsut need about 8 hours to be good to go.

[jef5150]

so all the parking lights work, 1 last thing id check is this ground clip,i believe its for the dash /lights.Make sure its making good contact,you can reach it from under the dash. jeff