Headlights on gas gauge goes funky

[HookNBook81]

The wiring in this thing is a wreck .... headlight switch or dash voltage regulator?

when I pull the headlight switch out 1/2 way to light the parking lights the highbeam indicator lights with the highbeams on, pull the switch all the way out and the gas gauge pins 1/4" below empty

Also highbeam indicator goes off , it only comes on on low beams...any ideas guys?

[77shortybawx]

sounds like it might be aground issue. pull the gauge cluster (carefully) and check out the printed circuit on back. i had a similar problem with the high beam indicator and it was a broken part in the circuit on the top light above the voltage and oil pressure gauge.

[HookNBook81]

Kinda weird , yesterday when I tapped the cluster it went back to normal for a lil bit then today did the same thing again .......

I recently popped out the cluster to check bulbs and all was fine...

I do agree sounds like a ground issue where does the instrument ground wire go? anyone know?

[77shortybawx]

actually if i remember correctly there should be about 4 grounds, where they go exactly is a mystery to me. if the printed circuit looks okay then im drawing a blank on the cause. Maby someone else will chime in soon with a solution.

[HookNBook81]

Got it , the guy had the wiring cut to the dome light , I spliced it back into the headlight wiring , apparently got the wrong wire to the marker lights instead of the cluster wiring , Just gonna snip it and hook up a new wire should be good to go

[77shortybawx]

good ta hear. hope everything works out

[HookNBook81]

didnt work , I cut the wire and still every time the marker lights are on the gas gauges goes retarded and now the high beam indicator doesnt work either...

paid 3500 for the truck and the wiring is completely fudged up....

[77shortybawx]

hmm. sorry if i sound like a broken record try tracing the path on the printed circuit for the gas gauge to the ground i believe its a black wire then just run a jump wire to a decent ground and see if that doesn't help. its possible that the gas gauge is grounding out through one of the light grounds. quick question. does your gauge cluster have a factory tach gauge or the common large fuel gauge? ill look into my spare clusters to see if i cant possibly spot something out. unless someone else chimes in with a fix.

[HookNBook81]

Originally Posted by 77shortybawx

hmm. sorry if i sound like a broken record try tracing the path on the printed circuit for the gas gauge to the ground i believe its a black wire then just run a jump wire to a decent ground and see if that doesn't help. its possible that the gas gauge is grounding out through one of the light grounds. quick question. does your gauge cluster have a factory tach gauge or the common large fuel gauge? ill look into my spare clusters to see if i cant possibly spot something out. unless someone else chimes in with a fix.

yessir , has the giant gas gauge , no tach ....unfortunetly ..lol its possible its grounding through Im gonna go out in a min and jumper the ground to see if that does it , if not Im not sure whats up with it..., I did notice the only thing that changed was that my high beam dots on the dash lit up normally with the parking lamp fuse removed , I popped it back in and the lights went back out , pulled it again and now the high beam indicator doesnt work at all..., without the fuse the gas gauge is normal ...


I have no instrument lights at all though fuse or no fuse

[77shortybawx]

hopefully the jumper idea helps reveal the problem. ill keep thinking of any other possible solutions

[HookNBook81]

Think I got it figured out , I guess I didnt plug in the dash cluster harness fully as i started wiggling it and it worked right....hmmn I hope this is it, anymore ideas just in case guys?