no dash lights.

chevy4ever · Addicted!

no dash lights.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

A few questions for you---

What vehicle are you working on?

Do you have working tail lights?

Have you checked the fuse?

Is this a restoration where everything was apart?

dualquadpete · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Everything Carl said above. I f that doesn't work, take the H/L ight switch back out & use a "ohm" meter on the reostat, [coil windings] & see if its that!! Ohm's should "vary" as you turn the knob, zero at off then rise as you twist it!!!!

chevy4ever · Addicted!

I guess I was a little vague . It is a 67 Beaumont , yes my taillights work. I put a really nice dash harness in with the old switch. All fuses look good, signal lights blink,headlights work with the dimmer. Heater fan works,wiper works,lighter works anything else?

SD 396 · Poncho Master!

Sorry, but I have to ask did you try rotating the headlight knob to see if there is a dead spot in the rheostat?

Do the lights in the heater controls and radio work? This will tell you if it is the complete circuit or just the dash lights.

Does the domelight come on when you turn the headlight knob all the way?

chevy4ever · Addicted!

When I turn on the light switch I get the new tack light and console lights. the door light only goes on when I turn the switch all the way.

SD 396 · Poncho Master!

The only separate ground connection I can see in the schematic is at the heater controls.
Try connecting a separate ground to the instrument cluster.
The schematic does not show the console wiring but it should be powered by the same gray wire as the rest of the lights.
Check for 12 volts at one of the gray wires going to one of the lights.
Do you have some other bulbs you can try. Maybe it shorted and blew all the bulbs????
Do you have a manual? The wiring schematic is on page 12-50 and 12-51

SD 396 · Poncho Master!

Did you figure out the problem?

chevy4ever · Addicted!

So far you might be right on blowing all bulbs. I replaced the heater bulb and it works .The interior light now works . Interesting though as I touch the test light to the outside of the radio bulb it lights up. I think I will replace every bulb and see what happens.

SD 396 · Poncho Master!

chevy4ever wrote:

Interesting though as I touch the test light to the outside of the radio bulb it lights up.

When you touch the test light to the radio housing a ground is being supplied through the filament of the bulb in the test light to complete the circuit and the light comes on.
It sounds like you may have a ground issue to the dash. Try supplying a ground wire to the instrument cluster housing and see if the dash lights work. You may want to ground directly from the battery or the engine block to be sure you have a good ground. If you use the test light to ground the cluster the lights may be on so dim that you won't see them.
Good to hear you are making progress.

-- Edited by SD 396 on Saturday 18th of September 2010 08:56:04 AM

chevy4ever · Addicted!

SD396,thanks for your help. I replaced all bulbs and everything works. When I put a good ground on the radio bulb it woks. When I got the better wiring harness I did not check all bulbs so they must have been burned out before I got it because after I replaced them I turned the lights for about 5 min they were fine. Now I"m good to go. So thanks again.

SD 396 · Poncho Master!

No problem. Glad we were able to help out.