1/2 Of Dash Lights Bright, 1/2 Dim/Dark?

[Duncan Sterling]

Wierd--the speedometer and the gas gauge are dim to dark (but sometimes light up close normally), while all the other gauges in the instrument panel light pretty much normally.

Is my printed circuit sheet going bad, or could it be some other problem? Bulbs have all been checked and ohmed out and contacts on them have been cleaned, and I replaced the headlight switch.

TIA,

--Duncan

[BobND]

To get power (and "ground") to all the lights with a single layer PC board, there is likely more than one ground and instrument lamp power feed in the connector to the cluster. That may explain why only half are affected. Get the cluster pulled out where you can get behind it with a voltmeter test probe (Ground the other probe).

Check the voltages at the dim bulbs to determine if you are having a power feed or ground problem. Then, follow the PC board foils to the connector, and verify if the reading is the same there, or if there is a cracked connection on the PCB. If there is, it the bad foil or "trace" can be repaired by soldering a jumper wire between two clean, exposed points on the trace that are on opposite sides of the break or damaged spot.

I have done this several times, it should nto be hard to repair.