Electrical Question !

[landon4421]

OK here gose, My wife 1971 chevy, No dash lights. All the other lights on the truck work. But the dash lights have not worked in two weeks. When I'm driving at night I noticed the left turn signal light was on but it is dem, and the turn signal is not on. Has anyone ever had these problems before, how do I fix it ?? I'm stummped !!

[blue_69]

the turn signal light in the dash will do that when you have a bulb out it could be as simple as the bulb or a bad ground. The das lights on the other hand i cant recall exactly where they get power from or where they are grounded i would check the fuses first and you may have to pull the dash out and see if you have power there or not. wiggle the light switch maybe you have a bad connection in the dash dimmer.

[TERRYP]

green wire from light switch is panel lights, wire goes to fuse box, thru fuse, then out on grey wire to dash lights. Check your ground, and turn light knob, contacts on rheostat at switch may be bad, or fuse could be out.

[busterwivell]

You said other lights work, even the tail lights? When my buddies dash lights went out, so did the tail lights and it was because one of the wires for the taillights grounded on the frame.

[TERRYP]

tail, park and dash lights all are on separate circuits from the light switch, and use separate fuses after the switch, unless someone has kludged them together, but then you would get no dimming of dash lights. Parking is separate on some, meaning that front park lights do not work when headlights are on, usually 66 and earlier.

[frisky68]

I just had the identical thing happen w/ my 69....no dash lights, but all other lights would work....even had the left turn signal on full time....my problem was that i had no power @ the instrument lamp fuse in the fuse block....i pulled the fuse block off and checked the wiring there, but all appeared ok...did spray some electrical cleaner on both sides of the fuse block...still havent found what is causing the proble...so until i do...i ran a jumper wire from an ignition position on the fuse block, through an inline fuseholder and clipped the other side to the terminal for the instrumentation on the fuse block...means i have dash lights as long as the ignition is on, but its better than not having any at all....let me know if you ever do find the root cause of your problem...sure sounds like we are having identical problems though.

[71GMC_3/4T]

No dash lights and a turn signal lit up when the lights should be on indicates a bad ground to me. Wiggle the plug on the back of the instrument panel. If that doesn't work, remove the IP and check the harness and contacts at the plug. The black wires should be ground when checked with a ohmmeter.

[Hooter]

There is a wire on the bottom right hand corner of the guage cluster. This wire is a ground strap and goes to the metal dash.

[frisky68]

Problem solved !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Mine ended up being a ground issue as mentioned above...I ran a ground wire from the engine (i used an open hole on the passenger side head) to the frame....then I ran a ground wire from the frame to the body(mounted on the bolt used to mount the master cylinder..just double nutted this)...and low and behold I have dash lights and my left turn signal no longer stays lit up..I dont have a ground wire running from the back of the guages to the dash though...but it doesnt seem to need it.