The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay why don't my '53 dash gauge lights work?

new wiring harness, new switch, and bulbs look good, but no lights for the dash gauges......I don't understand why these just stopped working after I have driven the truck for a year. My question is.....if one bulb is blown will they all stop working? could the light switch be bad? Why would the lights just quit all of a sudden? Wiring looks tight.

Could be the light switch. I had some electrical issues with my 54 a few years ago and a new swith solved them. Do the head, rear and park lights come on when the swith is pulled out?

Doesn't come on no matter the lights & dimmer position?
Did you try jumping it from the marker light connector to see if they came on?

Those lights are usually individualy grounded (one wire into the light), not run in paralell (two wires per light), so one shouldn't kill all. And even if your ground in one cluster got corroded & went out, the other should work. So, either the main power wire from the switch has grounded or broke, or the rheostat on the switch is bad. And yes, sometimes switches just fail, PITA, but happens.

Just for the heck of it try "wiping" the headlight switch clockwise and counter cw a few times, could be just a speck of dust on the rheostat.

If you've got the original light switch in the truck, it's probably the rheostat gone south on you. They corrode where they are riveted to the ceramic block; the connection builds up resistance causing the coil to over heat and eventually burns the coil out. If your starting to have problems with your dash light dimmer then it’s just a matter of time before the headlight contacts start giving you trouble, they are copper also. This is a sealed unit and not meant to be repaired.
I have rebuilt a few but you have to make new internal contacts for the headlights, and for the dimmer coil at bare minimum you need to replace the copper rivets and in a few cases I’ve had to rewind a new coil with a special resistance wire. Also the dimmer coil is potted in a special high temerature ceramic and this works loose in the old switches. Loosing your headlights can be bad if you do any nighttime driving with the truck, been there, done that.
Best thing to do is replace it with a new one from the vendors, your choice of vendor but here is one example. They offer two, the one to get is this one: http://www.classicparts.com/1947-54-Headlamp-Switch-Original-Type-6-Volt/productinfo/53-111A/ it runs about forty five dollars. I’ve used them several times before and they are exactly like the original ones, one of the few reproduction items that is well made. There is a cheaper one for twenty five bucks but its really chinsey, like its made from tin cans.
Also, if your having trouble with dim yellow headlights, I mean if they are not as bright as your buddy’s 12v system, chances are that the headlight contacts are getting corroded and you’re dropping some of your 6v’s at the switch because of the resistance. Also while you’re at it, it’s only a couple of bucks more ($7.95) for the headlight foot dimmer, good idea to replace that now and you will have a good reliable, bright lighting system that you won’t have to worry about for years to come. Remember, the chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link. http://www.classicparts.com/1947-54-Dimmer-Switch/productinfo/53-211/
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL