cluster connector

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highflyer

highflyer

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IV been fighting this dash and lights prob for a long time..im now really involved because the gas gauge wont work..iv got the diagram but an electrical wizard im not..i put in a great new gauge cluster today...I cleaned it up checked all bulbs cleaned all contact points on the board squeezed the connectors a smidge for good contact..checked light switch .the headlights come on..made sure the wiper switch worked..replaced the speedo with a nice one..the one I took out was jumpy.put a case ground on it and tied it at the steering wheel ground..tryed it and the only diff I got was a nice speedo..a temp gauge that works better than the other..oil and brake light work good...but no dash lights..all connections are good on the pc board..i checked the round pc board conn and I have voltage only on the blu/white striped wire when the key is on...otherwise no voltage at the connector..i look at the schematic and I think it says the orange wire should have 12 on it all the time...I checked all fuses also...what gives????????????HELP PLS..J
 
First, please post your year make and model

Next, what do you have for a service manual

The orange wire is all dimmer controlled dash lamps. The fuse is the small end fuse marked "inst."

THIS IS A bit of a TRICK

The orange wire, and the inst fuse, will ONLY HAVE POWER

When the tail light circuit is good and working and has a good fuse

When the headlight switch is either park or head

When the dash dimmer is twisted "somewhat left"

Only then will the inst fuse "get power" on both ends.

The other wire you mentioned is your "ignition run" wire and supplies power to the cluster with the key in "run."

Might be several reasons why things don't work

Ground issues. Best to add a ground to the cluster PC board run it out and bolt it to the column support

Loose PC board pins. They must be soldered and otherwise repaired

If this is NOT a Ralley dash, the instrument voltage limiter "socket" (spring contacts) may not be making contact with the board traces

The IVR itself might be bad

The gauge stud nuts might be loose / corroded

Lamps........The lamps might be bad, loose, corroded in the sockets. The socket fingers might be loose / corroded as might be the PC board itself.
 
73 duster..factory service man...I added a ground wire to the case and tied it to column.checked for continuity..all pins are like new ..checked for cont with a jumper to batt all bulbs and holders are like new and working..all contact points are clean and tite...checked....lite wire brush..temp gauge comes 1/8 of an inch past first mark at 170 degrees .after mrkt gauge][ivl]..three contact points were scrubbed to clean for contact..i cant figure its anything other than not getting thru the orange wire..appreciate your help.i went out and looked at the fuses..all good..two 3 ampers and the rest 20 ampers.where is a fuse location marked' inst'...j
 
OK make sure your park / tail lights work

Then twist the dash dimmer to the left, and while you are at it, 'work' it vigorously left/ right a few times

Leave it with park on and twisted left.

Get you meter or test lamp and check the inst fuse. Should have power on both ends

OH!!........almost forgot........do ANY lamps work, shift indicator, radio, heater bezel?
 
ok tail and park lites work..i have power to orange and black and yellow stripe at the switch conn...iv had two diff swtiches in there no change..when I turn it all the way left dome should come on it does .....heater switch has wires going to it but no lite at shift.stick shift column.radio wires are not there..also no lite for ashtray..i have the same volts on both sides of the fuse with key on and tail lites on
 
my guess is failed dimmer rheostat on headlight switch.
 
the only fuse I know about..it is in position num 1 in the main fuse box. a 3 amp.behind HL switch.is there a specia; inst fuse somewhere I don't know about.....j
 
highflyer said:
the only fuse I know about..it is in position num 1 in the main fuse box. a 3 amp.behind HL switch.is there a specia; inst fuse somewhere I don't know about.....j
Click to expand...

Yes, wanted to make sure we were on the "same page." This is the end fuse in the box marked "inst."

That IS your dash lamp power. If it has power as I mentioned earlier, then the problem is in the distribution under the dash, or in the cluster
 
Ok ..so im thinking about all this last nite and I come up with the question..does the dash lites go thru the dimmer/rheo and main h/l switch to get power to the bulb part of the pcb..it has to or it couldn't be dimmed..unless the sytem dims by changing the ground effect ..if it changes voltage then a wire has to go directly to the round pcb conn off of the h/l switch..if yes then I should be able to jumper that wire that goes to the round conn and see if my lites work..does that make sense..j
 
You are overthinking this and you have not understood what I posted earlier

POWER for the DASH lamps COMES FROM the TAIL circuit fuse.

It GOES TO the headlamp switch

WHEN the lamp switch is in park or head, that power GOES to the dimmer control

With the dimmer control twisted to the left (brighter) POWER goes through the dimmer control and COMES OUT of the control on the TAN wire from the switch

That TAN wire goes TO the inst fuse in the panel, through the fuse, and OUT to all the DASH LAMPS on the ORANGE wires

So if you checked that fuse UNDER THE CONIDTIONS that I outlined earlier, and you have power on both sides of the fuse, then your trouble IS NOT IN the headlight switch or dimmer control.
 
My son just came and reminded me .I have a 74 harness in the 73 car...iv down loaded a 74 wire dia and things are a little different...j
 
HMMMMM..thats tempting..if I don't get it figured out in a few days ill give you a shout...thank you...j
 
ok..upon further sleuthing..lol...I found the right fuse..no power either side till lite switch and tail lites are on..pull on lite switch and I get power thru the tan wire across fuse to orange wire...twist switch and voltage drops to a mity .3 volts...now my schem says volts[orange wire] to a conn [I think the pics means conn]out backside of conn[must be double wire crimp] to radio one side]orange wire continues to 'd' or 4 pin on pcb round conn....is that the right way im seeing it??j
 
I already told you all this.

Dimmer controlled power goes to and through the fuse. ORANGE wire COMING OFF THAT FUSE distributes dimmer controlled lamp power all over the instrument panel, to the cluster, to the radio, the heater bezel, and according to what options you have, the gear selector quadrant, etc

If you look through the wiring section in your shop manual, behind the diagrams are pictorials of the CONNECTORS

In my manual 1974 Dodge service manual , page 8-153 is the ALPHABETICAL INDEX showing various components

In mine page 8-161, coordinates C-24 shows the dash lamps. Follow to the left and find the fuse. See where it says "CI-24" This is "Connector" "Instrument" "24" Notice that wire off the right side of the fuse says E2-20 O. This is circuit no E2, and arbitrary no. It's a no 20 size wire. That last letter, "O" means it's ORANGE

Go to the back of the diagrams, in mine page 8-177, and there is the fuse panel

On the diagram, near the dash lamps is "CI-10" Find this on page 8-176. That is what your cluster connector looks like

You would do well to map these all out by color and pin so you know what they do

Much of it is page 8-157, coordinates D-7

Those are your warning lamps and temp gauge, and voltage limiter.

EXAMPLE find the limiter, follow the wire off the left and up, it goes through CI-10 and says
G5-DBL. That means arbitrary wire no. G5 and it's Dark BLue

Go back to your connector and find G5-DBL. That is your power coming in from the ignition switch, hot with switch on

Find the ONLY ORANGE wire which is E2-20o That means arbitrary circuit no E2, it's a no 20 wire and it's "O" ORANGE. This is your dash lamp power coming in

The cluster MUST be grounded
 
WOOHOOOO....Isnt that what the camel says....iv got power...iv got lights....woohoooo..this is what is going on..first lite switch no power at the pcb.resistor wire is gone.no power thru ths fuse..second switch neither.then i had power there this am while jostling the switch.figured it is hit or miss..looked thru my junk,found a realy nice one and put it in...lites at the pcb again..then it went out again..pushed and pulled on the connecter and now im all put back todether and working...so it is either a bad wire poor contact in the connector or switch..rite now its working and if it [when it goes ]drops out again ill know what and where...i learned a lot about this lite circuit and how to read the schematic...thanks for your help and patience..iv taught a lot of kids [apprentice machinists ]sometimes the frustration level is grrrrrrrrrrr..wouldn't have been able to fix it without your guidance..thanks again..j
 
You're welcome. Here's a bit more

Now the 72 diagrams are NOT correct for 73 /74, as there were changes. But Ma changed the way they were DRAWN and sometimes this makes things harder to follow.

So download yourself the 72 shop manual, here and keep in your mind "it ain't always right." But it can be easier to follow and help things along

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?p=1970088617

(You can thank AbodyJoe, he's the one got the ball rolling on that one)

and more stuff here

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31

and they also have "simplified" wiring diagrams. Now these are NOT always correct, and they do NOT show all the connectors and options, but they are drawn "the old way" and are sometimes easier to follow than the 73 /74 manuals


http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=24
 
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