jr- basically i'm checking the voltage at the cluster for the dash lights.
If I probe the power wire & ground it through the harness as would be "normal" I get .20 volts. If I move my ground lead off the harness & to the chassis (bare steel) I get 12.v
Do we know the dimmer switch is good? Those things can get flat spots in them over time. I think I would start there and move backwards to find the source.
jr- basically i'm checking the voltage at the cluster for the dash lights.
If I probe the power wire & ground it through the harness as would be "normal" I get .20 volts. If I move my ground lead off the harness & to the chassis (bare steel) I get 12.v
Now that I have my electrical hat on, plugged in and powered up, I can try to answer your question...
With the power off, measure the resistance between the ground wire for the circuit & the chassis. You should have less than 2 Ohms. More than that & I would start lookiing for bad connections & broken wiring.
or to eliminate the "bad ground" idea. simply attach a ground at the harness to the wire that is supposed to be ground. check your lighting. if it works trace the ground wire through the harness and repair at break. If it does nothing and you still have the problem check your switch.