Yet Another "No Dash Lights" Problem

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Nuke463

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Help! I have no dash/cluster lights in my 74 Duster. Just bought this car. Have no dash lites. I checked all my connections, all appear ok. Verified all fuses were good. I took out the cluster and replaced all the bulbs. Nothing. I have power to the red lead going to the AM-Meter. I checked for power at the fuse box. No power coming in. Unplugged the main harness under/near the steering column. No power. Where do I go next??
 
Are your fusebox connections clean?

Have you checked the rheostat (headlight switch)? One leg of it sends power to the gauges via the orange wire on the connector(s) behind the instrument panel.
 
with your headlights on turn your headlight knob all the way to the left just before it clicks on the interior dome light and see what happens
 
Yes the red is power going in the ALT' gauge. Black is power out to everything, not a ground wire. Without black connected nothing works. Even with black connected and power to the fuse box, etc.. the inst' panel will need to be grounded before the lights will work. ( actually, oil lamp and BRAKE would work since they ground at their remote switches ). Anyway... When the panel dangles from its harness connectors it is not chassis grounded.
 
Nuke463 said:
Help! I checked for power at the fuse box. No power coming in. Unplugged the main harness under/near the steering column. No power. Where do I go next??
Click to expand...

Please be more specific. "Where" at the fuse box exactly are you referring to? If the car starts and runs, and has other accessories and other lights working then there HAS to be some power somewhere at the fuse panel

dittle the "harness under the steering column." What exactly did you disconnect? The turn signal connector and the ignition switch connectors have NOTHING to do with dash lamps

Do you have TAIL and PARK lamps? That circuit is what powers the dash lamps, so the tail/ park MUST work FIRST

Tail and park by the way are SEPARATE from the headlights.

"Functionally" power comes from the "tail" fuse in the fuse box, goes to B2 on the light switch, and in either park or head, feeds power to tail, park, marker if equipped, and to the DASH LAMP DIMMER control (twist the light switch knob)

Wiggle the HECK out of the knob, twist it back and forth profusely to scrub the contacts clean, and make certain it's left "near the left" which is brighter

Now the power leaves the dash dimmer control and goes TO the "INST" fuse in the fuse panel. THIS LITTLE FUSE IS AT ONE END of your fuse panel. It is fed on TAN from the dimmer control, and the dash lighting leaves that fuse on ORANGE wiring
 
Also sounds like you need a SERVICE MANUAL and or wiring diagrams. Go to Mymopar.com. Some of the manuals there came from the guys on here. Also at that site are aftermarket, simplified wiring diagrams. These are often easier to understand, but often leave out options and connectors.
 
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