dash lights out
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 312
Likes: 0
From: Mesa Az
dash lights out
Recently decided to start driving the Vette more. Put a battery charger on it Monday night for about an hour. Started right up. Took it back and forth to work Tue. and Weds. with no problems. Drove to work today and ran over a pigeon. (slowed down and tried to avoid hitting it, thump thump) Got in to leave work and started the car and both turn signal indicators were bright green and high beam indicator was bright blue. Dash lights didn't come on but I could barely make out rpm's and mph. Got home and verified turn signals worked ok. Checked all the fuses next to the dash on the passenger side and they all apeared good. Anyone have any ideas?
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,182
Likes: 14
From: POINT PLEASANT NEW JERSEY
Originally Posted by 88JDO
Recently decided to start driving the Vette more. Put a battery charger on it Monday night for about an hour. Started right up. Took it back and forth to work Tue. and Weds. with no problems. Drove to work today and ran over a pigeon. (slowed down and tried to avoid hitting it, thump thump) Got in to leave work and started the car and both turn signal indicators were bright green and high beam indicator was bright blue. Dash lights didn't come on but I could barely make out rpm's and mph. Got home and verified turn signals worked ok. Checked all the fuses next to the dash on the passenger side and they all apeared good. Anyone have any ideas?
Something definately became disconnected somehow. I have a bad leftside turn signal lamp socket....every once & a while the inside turn signal will go on bright green..then I know the turn signal is out..I then open my hood and press on the socket..the bulb goes on and thats that. Hopefully some connection came loose.
I had a bad short over the summer last year....somehow after a wash...my rear taillamps, interior twilight sentinal , A/C control panel and Shift console lights went out. Everything else was ok.Weird. I ended up taking it to an Automotive Electrical specialist. Cost me $175 for the diagnosis/labor and parts . Turns out I had a short in the rear tailight harness. You may have to have a specialist look her over . Good Luck
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
From: CA
http://www.batee.com/corvette/dcrg/problems.shtml
Sounds like a possible ground problem...here is a helpful link.
Sounds like a possible ground problem...here is a helpful link.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 312
Likes: 0
From: Mesa Az
Thanks for the link. Lots of interesting reading. I'll probably look at this Saturday. Hopefully it's the ground. I did notice the dash lights flickering on my drive to work in the morning.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 931
Likes: 3
From: Portland OR
I found this forum because of the exact small issue. There is a ton of info. It wasn't until I pulled the dash (for the 14th time) and soldered the ground up as described in the above link did I never have a problem again. Do it right the first time.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 380
Likes: 0
From: Farmington Hills MI
Only 14 times? I know the feeling--I think I was in denial that I would need as much work on my '84 dash. I was looking for the quick fix. Once I took my time and used the repair procedure noted above, all was well! Concerning the ground, I did not have much luck grounding the ambient temp sensor to the door frame area. I ended up running a ground wire through the firewall and tapping it in to the frame. That too kcare of the ground issue, but then I also had to resolder key points on the circuit board.
Follow those instructions posted above and you should be fine.
Pro
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
From: Smithfield VA
Originally Posted by 88JDO
Recently decided to start driving the Vette more. Put a battery charger on it Monday night for about an hour. Started right up. Took it back and forth to work Tue. and Weds. with no problems. Drove to work today and ran over a pigeon. (slowed down and tried to avoid hitting it, thump thump) Got in to leave work and started the car and both turn signal indicators were bright green and high beam indicator was bright blue. Dash lights didn't come on but I could barely make out rpm's and mph. Got home and verified turn signals worked ok. Checked all the fuses next to the dash on the passenger side and they all apeared good. Anyone have any ideas?
. On my 87 when I hit bumps in the road (like the seam between concrete segments) my dash lights will go out sometimes and I get the turn signal/hi beam lights only. First time it happened was on a cold December night coming through the mixing bowl in Springfield VA (for the unfamiliar .... mixing bowl is the huge interchange where I95, 395, 495, and a whole lotta other roads all merge into one spot). Not a good time for troubleshooting .... I had my foot to the floor and was busy slalom driving around all the obstacles as I merged. Drove down 95 to 295, then to Route 10 in chester (about a 90 min drive or so) with no lights .... just wondering what the heck happened. On Rt 10 I hit a bump in the road and the display worked fine. Problem was dormant for several weeks then reappeared on the way to work. I tapped the display housing with the side of my hand (gently!!!) and display came back to life. My problem is most likely a cracked solder joint in the display assembly .... problem has reoccured a few times since but a tap at the right turn signal lamp area restores operability. One of my summertime projects is to pull the cluster and correct the situation.
