Ground for instrument panel?

[dan42]

Does anyone have a picture of where the ground goes for the instrument panel lights? I have the diagrams, but they are hard for me to interpret. I have changed the bulbs, the printed circuit board, the headlight switch, and the fuse (all brand new), and nothing has worked so far. The condition of the wiring looks O.K., so I suspect a ground wire, but I don't know where to look. A picture from under the dash of what it's suppose to look like would help me to see if there's a missing ground. Thanks in advance.

[Longhorn Man]

if the guages are working, odds are your ground is fine. However, I always add a ground to mine regardless if there is an isse. if it gets removed, it gets a ground strap.
The stock one was a clip on piece, and was probably lost 20 years ago, you woulds seen it and either recognised it, or asked about it.
Just take a length of wire, put a couple eyelet crimp ons on either end, secure one side to the back of the inst panel on one of the bolts that goes into the metal... like maybe one of the ones holding the oil pressure guage in place. Then, the other end, slip it under a scres that holds the whole assembly to the dash.

[jef5150]

just for future reference your parking lights and "dash lights" are on the same fuse-(no dash lights tells you you have no rear lights)...but the ground clip for the dash lights looks like this...


jeff

[dan42]

[QUOTE=jef5150;2640813]just for future reference your parking lights and "dash lights" are on the same fuse-(no dash lights tells you you have no rear lights)...but the ground clip for the dash lights looks like this...


jeff[/QUOTE
O.K., I have no rear lights, but I have changed the fuse; before I changed it, I had rear lights (I think). So, I'll change the fuse back to what was in there before and see what happens. It's a brand new 10 amp fuse so I don't know why there would be a problem.

[Longhorn Man]

fuse controls brake lights and dome light too.

[dan42]

Changed fuse back to original, still no rear lights...any ideas?

[corn]

dimmer switch

[dan42]

Huh? The dimmer switch might be bad, or the wire not connected? Elaborate.

[corn]

Originally Posted by dan42

Huh? The dimmer switch might be bad, or the wire not connected? Elaborate.

No idea, just wanted to guess.

[dan42]

Just checked - dimmer switch is working, but no rear lights, or dome light. Gas gauge seems to be working but not properly. Neither the ammeter or the temp gauges are working but that might be an unrelated problem.

[Longhorn Man]

You need to see if the fuse you installed is blown. It sounds like the whole circuit is dead. Put a test light on it and see if power is on both sides of the fuse.

[Jim_PA]

I seem to remember that only certain parts of the instrument cluster would work for grounding. I don't think all the metal there is continuous, but this is all a bit fuzzy to me, so I might be making this up