Hey All, so I just purchased my first F150 used. It's a 2002 F150 4x4 Supercrew. I'm loving it so far, but I just realized that the lights on the instrument cluster, radio, and climate control aren't working. All other lights (dome, map, parking, etc) seem to be working fine. I did check and replace the fuse for the instrument cluster, but no effect. From what I understand, these are all controlled by different fuses, so I'm not sure why they all would be out. Any ideas?

 

On the head lite switch panel is a horizontal rotating dash intensity control.
Is it in the full on position?
One click beyond full on and it turns on the interior lights on and the outside cab light to light the box area.
Good luck.

 

Sorry, I should have noted that. I did check the dimmer dial, rotated it up until the interior lights came on, then back down to off. Tried it several times, no effect

 

Be sure fuse 6 in engine bay is passing voltage.
Be sure fuse 18 on dash panel is passing power.
Otherwise an issue in the control circuit.
Good luck.

 

Thanks, I'll check them tomorrow and let you know.

 

I checked both fuse 6 & 18, as recommended, and they both showed no resistance. I also visually checked all other fuses and there were no blown fuses, with the exception of a trailer adapter fuse (I'll have to pick up replacements tomorrow, but I don't imagine this is what is causing the problem).
I also discovered that neither of the side mirrors work either. I'm not sure if that is also related.

 

You need to check for power at the fuses' test points with a meter or tester to see what's going on as Bluegrass already advised. Simply staring at them isn't enough except to tell you if they're blown or not.

Replacing a fuse that doesn't look blown is usually a waste of time.

 

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I did use a multimeter to check both the engine bay #6 fuse and the dash panel #18 fuse, and both read .2 ohms. The remaining fuses I simply checked visually, rather than pulling every single fuse and testing them, since I assumed most of the fuses would be in no way related to my current problem.

 

Okay, you have a multimeter. Okay, you verified that the fuses were not blown.

Now, you need to follow the actual directions that were given and see if there's actually any power going through them when there is supposed to.

 

OK, gotcha.
I just checked the fuses again. Fuse 6 is passing voltage, fuse 18 is not (I tried with the headlights on and the dimmer turned all the way up).

Also, I discovered that the high beam indicator on the instrument panel isn't working either (though the fuse is passing voltage also)

 

The dimmer position is irrelevant at that point in the circuit, it's downstream from fuse F18. If F18 never gets power from the headlight switch, you will never have instrument illumination.

Are you ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE your parking/running lamps are working when the headlight switch is in either the PARK or HEAD positions?

 

I just checked again and confirmed that the parking lights work when the headlight switch is in both park and headlight position.
The guy I got the truck from mentioned hooking up trailer lights, so I'm wondering if he did it himself and messed up some of the wiring.

 

Well, if the parking lights work but fuse F18 never gets power (it's in parallel to the running lights), then I'd go with the jacked up wiring idea. I'd go back and double-check your testing results for F18 power checks before going any further.

 

Ok, checked again. I tested fuse 18 seven or eight times yesterday morning and got nothing. I tried again last night and it was passing current, almost the full 12V. Not sure if it was a truck problem or a user problem...

 

...and, when it was passing power, did the instrument illumination circuit work?

The pins in the fusebox that hold the fuses can get stretched out and cause a poor/no contact situation. Might want to check the pins for F18.