instrument panel and dome light does not work...

[christianlarsen]

Hi guys.

im trying to get my instrument panel and dome light to work on my 69 charger. I have had the panel out and everything looks like the diagram says it should look like...beware that i am a NEWBE

1) The only lights and gauges that work in the panel is: left/right turn signal, highbeam indicator in speedo, speedo itself (but not lights), so i miss all general panel lights, all the gauges (including the alt) does not work either (and i really miss my oil gauge!
I have just changed all the light bulbs and fuses so i know that is not the problem...

2) The dome light is turned on as soon as i connect the battery. under normal circumstances what causes the dome light to go on (i would suspect that opening the doors but what else ) ? also the door switches are there (and wired up) but do not work...So the dome light is on all the time but not from the wires from the doors (it is the pink wire that is on all the time!) ? Also i can see in the service manual that there is a "STOP LAMP SWITCH" that is connected to the pink wire. I don't know where that switch should be and maybe it is missing on my car

If any of u guys have experienced this i would very much appreciate some advice...also if u have any recommendations for what to check and in which sequence that would probably help alot too...

i read the article with the voltage limiter in the dash and i have checked that i do have one in my panel. I dont know how to test it but it looks rather fine.

brgds
Christian

[Plumcrazy]

#1  Most likely the panel dimmer switch.  You can unplug it and jump the wire that comes from the headlight switch to the wire that goes to the dash illumination lights.

#2  The door switches and the panel dimmer switch turn the dome lamp on.  The stop lamp switch is just above the brake pedal and is actuated by the arm that goes to the brake pedal.

Here's how to test the voltage limiter.  http://1970chargerregistry.com/70messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=2055&highlight=test+voltage+limiter

[Nacho-RT74]

Pink wire is what feeds constant and direct power from batt. Stuff related with this wire/net is dome, glove, and map lights, time delay flasher to ignition courtesy light and also Brakes and hazzards lights... same as trunk light. That pink wire ALLWAYS has power since everything related has to work ALLWAYS without ignition key. So everything is fine there.

Is very tipical install wrong bulb at dome light what makes a weird ground and never turn off. So be sure you have the right bulb on it. Number is 1004 and is one filament two contacts. Socket on bulb is not used to drive negative or positive source. Is only feeded by points on socket.

Check also if you are getting ground at yellow dome wire ONLY when you open the doors or turn on the dome light from dimmer switch.

If you allways have ground at that yellow wire it could be relationship with everythinmg else about lighning on cluster with dimmer malfunction.

Ammeter gauge is just a link between alt and ammeter, so must work when there is consumption or charge... any kind any time. If dome light is working and engine is not running then you must get a slightly discharge read on ammeter. Check for properly tight 3/8" nuts at amm studs on back of cluster.

About gauges... check you are getting 12 volts at cluster voltage limiter input.

[christianlarsen]

I tried the dimmer trick and now i get light in the clock and speedo (great). I do not have lights in the gauges but the hyper link to voltage limiter test article is something i will have to do (very good explanation, thnx!) and i also need to check for 12v at the input of the limiter, good point!
The input on the dome light is also very good. I changed the bulb to something that fit in the bulb from my local gasstation (error lol), so i definately have to get the 1004 you are talking about, i suspect that could be the problem there.

With regard to the dimmer and dome light. When does the dimmer turn on the dome light ? I thought that the dimmer only turned the light up and down ? Is it when the dimmer is turned all the way up that the dome light should turn on

thank you very much guys!....remind me to put you on my christmas list

[71_deputy]

if your cluster is out of the dash- it must be grounded to the dash frame to make evrything work correctly!

John Mac

[Nacho-RT74]

With regard to the dimmer and dome light. When does the dimmer turn on the dome light ? I thought that the dimmer only turned the light up and down ? Is it when the dimmer is turned all the way up that the dome light should turn on

On 3rd gens and I think also on earliers, dimmer control also turns on the dome light when you made top of dimmer, in fact mostly of cases you can heard or at least feel the "click" on dimmer knob when dome light is being turned on.

What dimmer switch turns on to dome light is negative NOT POSITIVE, even dimmer controls positive to cluster. As stated on my earlier post, positive is constant on Pink wire/net. Is a tab driving negative at the end of the dimmer track switch what is pressed to turn on the dome light

[bandit67]

Just went thru the same thing with my 72; problem was the headlite switch, crud inside switch was preventing contacts to make. If you have a factory manual, and the wiring is similar to my 72, power should leave the switch to the fuse block and back to instrument cluster connector. Jumper 12 volts to the cluster ; if panels lights, problem most likely is headlite switch..............J

[toast007]

I too had something similar with my 70 Charger.  My symptom was as follows.  Connect the battery and the dome light, both turn signal dash lights and the high beam indicator light would immediately come on.   What was causing this was a connector to the ammeter.  The lead was loose and touching the back of the gauge cluster.  Those connections MUST BE TIGHT AND INSULATED FROM THE BACK OF THE CLUSTER!!!  Mine showed signs of arcing, as a matter of fact, the post holes were enlarged from the arcing.  There is a lot of current flowing through the ammeter and a lot of car fires of cars of our vintage have been caused by this very thing.  So please double check that for peace of mind.   

As for the headlight switch.  Here is the link to one of my posts on another site describing how to repair a headlight switch.   

http://1970chargerregistry.com/70messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=4012