Help I can't see my dash! Coming home from work last night, and going to my mechanics to get an oil change, I turned on my lights and had no instument panel lights. Although when I turned the dimmer switch up the interior lights came on. Also I had noticed on the way to work that morning that if I had my headlights on that the AM radio recption was all static, but as soon as I turned them off the radio came in loud and clear. So at the mechanics I described what had happened, and he did a quick check(since it was after 5:00 and he squeezed me in for the oil change) and found of course a blown fuse. So he replaced it and the new one immediatly blew. So he got out some sort of tester and when he hooked that up it blew the big fuse for the headlights under the hood that feeds the little fuse the controls the dimmer switch for the dash lights. So he replaced that one and reinstalled the blown fuse for the dash lights and made me an appointment to drop it off for further checking. Any ideas. He's going to trace the dimmer wire from the switch to the Instument panel and hopefully find an abrasion along the line.

 

I'd post this in the electrical forum... however, we do have, at least, two engineers that follow the KR forum... one of which is an electrical engineer...

Daveman and Dufunnel...

Good luck man!


RP

 

ScrewKing,

According to my Ford maintenance CD, the current supply for all instrument lighting, including all the lights in each window switch, switches in the steering wheel and inside the radio all pass through the dimmer switch module. If all the illumination for the many lights around the truck are not working, then the problem is probably either the dimmer switch or whatever is supplying current to the dimmer switch and not a problem after the switch. Fuse 18, 5A is located between the headlight switch and the dimmer switch. The dimmer all the power for interior night driving lighting passes through the dimmer switch and onto a central junction point where it's distributed out to many different locations, one of which is the instrument cluster lighting. The wire feeding the instrument lighting is light blue with a red stripe, if this wire is jumpered over to the positive circuit, the instrument lights should illuminate, if they don't then there's a wiring problem or all the instrument bulbs are burned out.

I have to run, I can help you more later.

~DM~

 

Sounds like something has shorted to ground. Without anything else in hand, that is a typical response for a wire that has somehow gotten bare and shorted to the chassis. It could very well be in the dimmer itself. Those are the hardest electrical problems to diagnose, because it could be anywhere along the circuit.

Good luck, I have had problems with that sort of thing too.

 

King,

Did you get your dash lights working? If so, what did you find out? Do you still need further assistance or is it under control?

~DM~

 

I've seen my way around a circuit or 2. (was in EE in college but never finished) It does sound like a short or possibly a problem with the switch. As dufunnel said, electrical problems are usually the hardest to figure out. One thing I am curious is weather the radio is still staticy after the fuse was blown. If not, a possability could be a wire was trying to short on something causing the static. The dealer might be the best place for this problem if your mechanic can't figure it out. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress/solution.

 

I have a 2 week old white / arizona beige KR supercrew and will soon have some pictures for you guys. Everyone I know think it's the coolest looking truck on the road. I have to agree with them.
I wasn't sure what it was going to look like when I ordered it 2 months ago, but it looks the part. It especially looks good in a lighted parking lot in the night-time with the lit chrome running boards. This is my second screw, as my first was a Toreador red / arizona beige 2001 XLT, decked out with chrome boards and 17 tires. That to was a real eye catcher. I'll have a picture of that one as well.
Jeff

 

 

Well my mechanic worked on it Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and today, Sunday. Called to say that what hair he has left on his head he'd like to keep and that he needed a rest away from it for awhile. Says it's very intermitten, sometimes the fuse blows sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the lights work for a while and then he moves a bundle of wires and it blows. Has traced just about every wire going to every component controlled by the dimmer switch and hasn't pinpointed it yet. I going away for two weeks over Christmas and New Years and will give it back to him then. Any suggestions from you guys can only help. Thanks, Scott

 

See next post...this one was nonsense. (Yes allright RP , I know !)

Why couldn't I delete it ?

Access to that function was denied and as I regularly post a lot of drivel, I need to delete occasionally when I go too far !!

 

I really hope you manage to get that problem sorted out !

Even though you are having a break it's the sort of thing that constantly niggles as you go over in your mind what could be wrong.

It's very frustrating !

 

I am having the same problem, I have a 2002 f150 supercrew FX4, i am having the same issue, my dash lights quit working. all the guages work, the dimmer switch when turned on illuminates the dome light. but my 4x4 quit working at the same time. I know it is getting power or the dome light would not come on, Right? any help would be greatly appreciated, I've had my cluster out several times, checked all bulbs, ect. is there any correlation between the 4x4 selector and the cluster illumination? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Kenny

 

also, if this also might be related, my horn quit working at the same time also. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Kenny