gauge cluster backlight went out, fuse, bad ground, short?

[teamsmith]

All of my gauges work fine but my backlight just went out which is controlled by the dimmer/headlight stem. It also seemed to control a light behind the climate controls, which is also out.

 

Does anyone know if these dimmer controlled lights are tied to a fuse? I have not done Cruiser's ground upgrade for under dash but I intend to. Any other thoughts? My fuse panel is a rat's nest but none of the fuses are blown. Right now I have no interior lighting so driving at night feels somewhat isolating. It is, admittedly, peaceful. Headlights, and all exterior lights, work fine.

 

 

[Eagle]

More likely the headlight switch is bad.

 

The dimmer function is handled by an old-fashioned rheostat built into the switch. Basically, the circuit includes a length of coiled resistance wire, and one contact is a "wiper" that slides along the length of the coil, thereby varying the resistance. With age, the resistance coil develops dead spots, and eventually may fail completely.

 

Either remove the headlight switch and test it, or just buy a new one and install it.

[dustyinthedirt]

my dashboard light did this as well when i wired in my cd player. 

[Bobolink]

Check your tail lights and parking lights. If they're out. it's probably fuse #15, which feeds dash light, tail and parking lights.

[teamsmith]

thanks. All exterior lights work fine so I'm gonna check the headlight switch. I don't drive it fast enough to need to know how fast I'm going to so it's not a huge problem.