The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Dash lights

I have dash lights that work on the gauges but not on the speedometer. I put new bulbs in and still they are not working. I replaced the original speedometer with a new replica. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

Does the replica have a plastic case? Dash lights ground through the socket base.

I will check to make sure but I think it is metal

Is the speedometer bulb getting power? Check the socket with a test light. If it is, then it must be a ground issue.

If the case is plastic how could you ground the bulbs to get them to work?

the plastic sockets I've seen have metal clips to hold them in and the socket is grounded to those clips .... otherwise they would have a 2nd wire for a ground, or you'd need to solder a wire onto the socket body and ground that

Bill

I checked and the speedometer case is metal. I sanded off some of the paint on the back where the lights plug in and still no lights? Help?

Time to get out the multimeter. Be sure the case is grounded to the dash. Be sure there is voltage to the center contact of the socket.

Thanks Cletis, the cash is installed. I scraped off the paint for one of the bulbs and still no light. I installed new bulbs, but now I will use the multimeter. Thank you

I checked power to bulbs sockets that go to the speedometer and there is no power. How do I get power to them? Also how do you get the high beam indicator light to function?

power should come from the light switch, and the rheostat control on the front of the switch may be defective [would likely affect the interior light too] - trace the wire from the dash lights back to the switch and check for power there, including when you turn the knob to dim the lights .... the high beam indicator should connect to the dimmer switch high beam wire side someplace - a shop manual wiring diagram for your year helps

Bill

All the instrument lights should have a wire coming from the socket. That is the power (or supply). All the power wires should be tied together and connected to the headlight switch. I would suspect if some instrument lights work and some do not the wire to the non-working lights may have a break.

The hi-beam indicator is connected to one side of the high beam floor switch.

Thank you, I will look for a break in the wire

JD, you obviously have a broken wire somewhere in the loom. Your
going to have to trace it back till you find the break. You can
stick a pin thru the wire tracing back till you find a spot
where you have a reading from the pin to ground, that's the
spot where your open will be.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

The quick and dirty fix is to run a jumper wire from the nearest working light to the non-working light. I believe all the dash lights are wired in series.

Thanks to all! fixed

Actually those lights are wired in parallel, not series. They are tied together inside the harness.

You mean they're not wired like those old Christmas tree lights
of long ago Fred?

So,,,,,what did'cha find JD, don't cha leave us hangin', share
it with us. Bet it was something simple.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL