QuestionThe instrument panel on my 92 Lebaron Convertible is not lit. The owner's manual kindly tells you what type of bulb to use but gives absolutely no info on how or where to install it? I don't believe it's the fuse since everything else works perfectly. Just the instrument panel is dark. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Spell it out in dummy terms since I know nothing about cars!
AnswerP.S. Hi Susan,
I'm writing again using the original question posting as the title so that the results of our dialog will be traceable in the archive and thus may help others with a similar problem. So please stay with this thread of questions and answers. It also gives you a way of replying that by-passes my being "maxed out", I believe.
I wanted to clarify that the spray contact cleaner is something you would buy at an electronics store, such as Radio Shack or the equivalent. I really suspect that water dripping on the body computer plugs is your problem. It is very common to have all sorts of electrical gremlins with that unit in the LeBaron convertible. You might want to put a plastic sandwich or freezer bag loosely over in when you put it back in place.
So take a look at those plugs on the body computer first.
Roland
Thanks for the response regarding my 92 Lebaron instrument panel being dark. When I move the dimmer switch nothing happens on the panel but push it all the way right and the interior/reading lights do come on. Panel remains dark. It is not a digital readout but the kind with the dials. The individual lights within the panel that say Brake...Seatbelt etc. each work as do the directionals/high beam indicator which also appear on the dash/instrument panel. Its the back lighting that won't work so I can't see the speedometer and other manual gauges. A friend tells me it could be the fuse afterall even if the individual lights work? If it's not the fuse I assume the proper place to have it checked is my local auto electric specialist? I didn't realize there was more than one bulb!
Answer: Hi Susan,
It is helpful to know that it is a conventional cluster. But you still didn't tell me about all the other dimmable lights on the dash: the radio display, the right pod switch, the A.C./heater control panel switch, the rear window defogger switch; all those too are dimmable just like the dash lamps and are in fact controlled from the same switch. If all those lights are not working, then the problem is from the body computer which provides the variable voltage to all the lamps. If it is just the dash lamps, then it has to be the ground wire from the dash lamps that is disconnected because that would only affect those lamps and not all the others.
If it were the body computer, then I would suggest that you look for the body computer on above the passenger side kick panel (that is the area to the right of the passengers shin. Above that panel you will see a module clamped to the panel with 2 25-pin plugs on its top. When water leaks in around the windshield it can fall on those plugs and cause short circuits that "kills" the voltage. In this case it would be pin #22 of the natural colored 25 pin plug that might be shorted out because the orange wire is the one that goes to all those different bulbs including the ones in the dash. You could buy a can of spray contact cleaner at a parts store, remove the body computer strap so you can then remove the natural colored plug and spray the sockets and the pins of that plug to dry it out or remove some corrosion.
On the otherhand, if it is just the dash lamps, then you would need to remove the instrument cluster and check the ground wire (pin 14 of its red plug) to see if it is at ground via an ohmmeter between it and any shine metal surface nearby. I can tell you how to get to the cluster plugs (and the bulbs) if that is necessary. The circuit for the bulbs to work has to allow current to return to the battery via the ground or they won't work either.
So consider these possibilities and let me know if you have questions or success.
Roland
Hi Susan,
I need to know a couple of facts before being able to give you an answer:
What type of instrument cluster do you have? There is the common mechanical type with conventional gauges with needles for everything, or there is the electronic cluster with digital readouts and fancy electronic displays.
Is it only the instrument panel that won't illuminate or vary in its intensity? There are a number of other illuminated controls on the cluster and the center console that are also supposed to light up and whose brightness can be varied. Do all of those work correctly or are they too unable to illuminate and if illuminate can you vary their intensity? Try moving the dimmer slide control on the dash and tell me what you observe when the headlamps are on.
It is complicated so I just need to know the answers to these questions.
The mechanical cluster has 7 bulbs, and I would not suspect that all of them would go out at once. So if that is your cluster type we probably have a wiring issue rather than a bulb issue.
Roland
