Why are the instrument panel lights dim when lights are off?

Tiny
KENMISSI1
  • MEMBER
  • 1987 CHRYSLER NEW YORKER
  • 147,000 MILES
When the lights are off, and the car on or off, the fuel gauge, mph guage, temp gauge etc are so dim you can hardly see them. When you turn the lights on, the instrument lights are bright for about 1 to 5 seconds, then go back to very dim, where you can barely read them unless you are looking very hard. Replaced the light switch assembly, still the same thing. When you wiggle the light switch knob when lights are on, you can get the instrument lights to go bright, but dim again. Is there some voltage component directly involved with the instrument panel to cause the lights to go dim and not stay bright?
Thursday, August 16th, 2012 AT 1:12 AM

4 Replies

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,742 POSTS
Do you have the regular gauge cluster or the digital dash?
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Thursday, August 16th, 2012 AT 2:16 AM
Tiny
KENMISSI1
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  • 3 POSTS
Sorry, it's a digital dash.
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Thursday, August 16th, 2012 AT 3:48 AM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,742 POSTS
I just sent one out for repair two years ago for an '87. There have been some I was able to repair by resoldering intermittent connections but I couldn't solve this one. It was doing exactly what you described. The big authorized repair centers had just stopped repairing them because they said they could no longer get parts, but most of the time parts are not needed.

As a point of interest, a similar problem developed a month ago on this same car. This time they took it to one of the premier automotive electrical shops in my city. Two of my former students work there. One of them found an intermittent ground connection behind the dash that he believed was the cause this time of the dim display. Haven't heard from the owner so I have to assume it's still working.

The shop I sent the dash to two years ago is Advanced Auto Electronics, Inc. Their web site is aaellc. Com. Got very good service from them.
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Thursday, August 16th, 2012 AT 4:04 AM
Tiny
KENMISSI1
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  • 3 POSTS
Ok thanks for the information, appreciate it.
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Thursday, August 16th, 2012 AT 4:28 AM

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