cluster lights/ running light problem

[HunterK]

i need some help with an electrical issue ive been having. For about a month my gauge cluster (89 renix 4.0 ax15) lights have been flickering at night. not when i hit a bump just at random times. now they gauge cluster lights will not turn on at all along with my running lights. any advice on what to look into? or has anyone else had this problem in the past? any advice would help, thanks. 

[dvitha]

check your fuse box 1st thing. The manuals have the clutch master reservoir right above the fuse box. When they leak on it, it eats all kind of stuff up, causing weird things to happen. I have seen it eat up the fuse box, bad enough to replace the whole thing. It could be as simple as 10 amp fuse number #7 if I remember right is blown or not getting a good connection.

[Eagle]

What are "running lights"? Headlights? Parking lights? Taillights? All of the above?

 

It sounds to me like a bad headlight switch.

[Minuit]

Another thing to check is the connector to the headlight switch. They like to melt. The proper fix for that is to replace the connector and install a headlight relay harness.

[HunterK]

On 9/17/2018 at 9:54 AM, Eagle said:

What are "running lights"? Headlights? Parking lights? Taillights? All of the above?

 

It sounds to me like a bad headlight switch.

everything works as it should, headlights, turn signals, brake lights. when i turn the headlights on at night the tail lights don't turn on along with the gauge cluster lights. 

[Ωhm]

Tail/Turn/Brake lamps are dual filament bulbs. Turn/Brake are one filament, while Tail is the other. Check the filaments. Also check for voltage with the bulb removed. Need to be careful here since bulb is case grounded.

 

Gauge cluster lamps are controlled by the dimmer switch. Give it a twist. Make sure that not your problem.
 

[Eagle]

2 hours ago, HunterK said:

everything works as it should, headlights, turn signals, brake lights. when i turn the headlights on at night the tail lights don't turn on along with the gauge cluster lights. 

 

What about parking lights (front and rear)?

 

Still sounds like a bad switch to me, but we still don't have a complete description of the symptoms.

 

Do the hazard flashers work? All four of them plus the cluster indicators?

[HunterK]

On 9/28/2018 at 2:23 PM, Eagle said:

 

What about parking lights (front and rear)?

 

Still sounds like a bad switch to me, but we still don't have a complete description of the symptoms.

 

Do the hazard flashers work? All four of them plus the cluster indicators?

okay every light works as it should. the parking lights work, when i turn the high beams on the blue light comes up on the cluster, when i put the blinkers on the green signal comes up on the cluster. the only things that don't work is the cluster lights and the running lights in the rear. i don't know how else to explain it. how would i check to see if the switch is bad?

[Eagle]

They may be separate problems. Are you aware that the cluster lights are on a dimmer? The dimmer operates by rotating the knob of the headlight switch. It's an old-fashioned rheostat -- a contact that slides along a coil of resistance wire so that the resistance varies depending on where the contact rests on the length of the coil. It develops dead spots. In my '88 XJ, I can't run the cluster lights at full bright. If I back off from full bright just s small amount, they work fine.

 

Try rotating the knob and see if you get lights. Even if they just flicker and blink, that would suggest the dimmer is the problem. If so, the solution is a new switch.

 

If everything else works in the back, it's not a ground problem, so it has to be a power problem. Have you disconnected the main plug to the rear lights and checked for 12-volt power at that plug?

[tugalo]

Remember, the cluster lights do not work if the tail lights are out.  it was designed that way to let you know the taillights are not working.  Trouble shoot the wiring to the taillights.