Griff in Fairbanks wrote:
DRTDEVL wrote:
I found my dash panel lights were no longer working. I rotated the knob back and forth, and the knob feels right and activates the interior light at the right spot, but nothing from the dash. Is there a common failure point I need to look at? I'm hoping rodents didn't munch on the wiring.
There's light is actually two units combined into one physical unit. A variable resistor (also sometimes called a rheostat) for the dash lights and an off/off switch for the interior light. The variable resistor part could be corroded or simply Tango Uniform. Check with an ohm meter or just get a new unit. (Shouldn't be more than $20)
I'm assuming the gauges in the instrument cluster work. If not, then it may be dash wires or connectors.
The funny thing about that is every rheostat I have dealt with felt different after failure, as in you could feel that it was broken or corroded. This one feels smooth as it did last year (and probably as smooth as it did in 1979).
I have to buy a new multimeter, as the cables on mine finally broke internally and is unreliable at best these days.
Always something to do with these old units, but there's nothing better than running down the road in a 40+ year old RV, seeing a 90's model blow my doors off on the flats, only to roar past him on the next hill (since the Ford 460 and gm 454 units can't pull like the old 440 can).
