Dash lights out
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Dash lights out
I have an '01 XLT with the autoheadlamps, I usually leave the headlamp switch in the auto position (fully counterclockwise).
About a week ago, I noticed that the radio display LEDs wouldn't come on for about 20 seconds after startup, though the rest of the dash lights and the radio itself worked fine!
Then today on the way home from work (in daylight) I heard a click like a relay energizing or de-energizing and the dash lights, including the radio, all went out! Truck running fine, just no dash lights.
I flipped the light switch to ON from the autolamp position (one click clockwise from the auto position) and dash lights all came on.
So this looks like an autolamp issue, I wonder if anyone else has seen these symptoms and what the fix might be.
Truck is still under warranty so Ford will be fixing it but it's always nice to have a heads up before going into the dealer.
About a week ago, I noticed that the radio display LEDs wouldn't come on for about 20 seconds after startup, though the rest of the dash lights and the radio itself worked fine!
Then today on the way home from work (in daylight) I heard a click like a relay energizing or de-energizing and the dash lights, including the radio, all went out! Truck running fine, just no dash lights.
I flipped the light switch to ON from the autolamp position (one click clockwise from the auto position) and dash lights all came on.
So this looks like an autolamp issue, I wonder if anyone else has seen these symptoms and what the fix might be.
Truck is still under warranty so Ford will be fixing it but it's always nice to have a heads up before going into the dealer.
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More info
I've figured out that the dash lights are off when the autolamp has the headlights on. When the autolamp turns the headlights off, I get dashboard lights again. Weird.
I park in a carport that's dark enough in the morning that when I start up the autolamp puts the headlights on. So no dash lights until I pull out into the daylight and the sensor/timing circuit turns the headlights off. And the other day coming home I was headed east in the evening and likely what happened was that the autolamp relay fired and turned on the headlights (and turned off the dash lights).
Oh well, what did I expect for $28,400
I guess I'll take it in for dealer to work under warranty but I dread having them pull the dash apart and not get it back together just right.
I park in a carport that's dark enough in the morning that when I start up the autolamp puts the headlights on. So no dash lights until I pull out into the daylight and the sensor/timing circuit turns the headlights off. And the other day coming home I was headed east in the evening and likely what happened was that the autolamp relay fired and turned on the headlights (and turned off the dash lights).
Oh well, what did I expect for $28,400
I guess I'll take it in for dealer to work under warranty but I dread having them pull the dash apart and not get it back together just right.
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Duh
Well, the "problem" is that the dash light dimmer control was rolled all the way down - I suspect I moved it with my knee while getting in the truck, and the interesting thing is that the control acts differently depending upon the autolamp setting.
The dash light dimmer doesn't appear to function when the headlight switch is set to "regular" (non-autolamp) - the dash lights always come full on. However, the dash light adjustment IS functional in the autolamp position.
So I'd be tempted to write this off as driver stupidity except for the fact that the dashlight dimmer control works differently for auto-lamp vs. regular, and that's not intuitive at all.
The dash light dimmer doesn't appear to function when the headlight switch is set to "regular" (non-autolamp) - the dash lights always come full on. However, the dash light adjustment IS functional in the autolamp position.
So I'd be tempted to write this off as driver stupidity except for the fact that the dashlight dimmer control works differently for auto-lamp vs. regular, and that's not intuitive at all.