Dash Light Problem Round 2

[DarkFireGT]

Well, pulled the cluster, and everything looks good, no broken circuits or anything. I used a tester on the lt bl/red wire, and it is a complete circuit, so there is power going to the cluster, but still no lights Anyone?

 

[2muchtime]

you got power to the cluster, not through the cluster?
are your socket contacts clean with new bulbs?
the twist in sockets can be found in almost any ford through to the mid 90s.
but you probably have a break in the back of the cluster.
got a detailed pic of the back of guage cluster? full view?

 

[78CobraII]

Is the back of the cluster all crumbly around the light holes? Pull a light bulb and ease the mylar circuit up so you can see the condition of the cluster where the light twists into it.

 

[Wart]

Tester?

When working with electricity it's handy to keep in mind that if shooting for power with a meter the meter (especially real good meters) will show power but the power can dissappear soon as the circuit is put under load because of a high resistance connection (connection as an example).

As another example, if the 'dimmer' is one click into 'on' (max dim) you'll read system voltage on an open circuit.

What I would do is make sure the circuit is actually getting power at teh cluster plug and that the circuit has ground before working with the cluster itself.

Like Bernie said in another thread, these clusters can be/ are fradgile damned things. Working with one too much could easily turn cluster work into a cluster f**k.

 

[77sleeper]

wart, by power you mean V or I?

 

[Wart]

wart, by power you mean V or I?

I did sort of misuse some terms there.

My bad.

 

[77sleeper]

not a biggie to me, but some are not as secure with a meter as I.

 

[Wart]

Point taken.

 

[DarkFireGT]

there's one bulb that the cluster is a bit broken around, but the rest are good. i dunno, i'm so lost with this thing. anyone make a replacement cluster/circuit film?