Chrysler Repair: heating/ac panel, variable illumination, 1997 chrysler cirrus

Question
I have a 1997 Chrysler Cirrus and the heating/ac panel does not always light up. It used to light up some of the time, now it almost never does. What might the problem be?

Answer
Hi Maureen,
There are two incandescent bulbs and two light emitting diodes in the panel and they are both powered by an orange wire that starts at the body control module, located under the dash adjacent to the fuse box, that has two white plugs. The wire is attached to pin 9 of the smaller white plug the has 10 pins. You could probe that wire with a voltmeter to see if it has voltage present when you have the headlamp switch on, and the voltage should vary with the panel light variable illumination switch. If not, then I would pull the plug and clean the socket and pin with some solvent like electrical contact cleaner in a spray can from an electronics store. An alternative would be to observe the ash tray light which is also powered by that orange wire. If it works, then the orange wire and pin #9 are o.k. and the issue is internal to the control panel itself.
The black plug on the back of the cntrol panel with seven pins receives the orange wire on pin #2. So you could check that socket and pin and try cleaning that. The light bulbs are diodes are in parallel to oneanother which means that the wire from the socket to the split point inside the control may be open, or the ground from the bulbs to pin 7 may be open. But the main ground wire from the control panel to the body is o.k. because the blower motor is working, correct?
So take a look at those possibilities. Let me know if you want to get to the control panel itself so I can tell you how to remove the panel correctly.
Roland