86 digital dash full bright
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
From: Columbia SC
86 digital dash full bright
Went through the Batee repair over the weekend. Dash was black. Replaced two bulbs, cleaned contacts, resoldered the contact pin connections and ran Golden's ground wire. Now the dash is full bright
(can barely see the max out and return to baseline when ignition first turned on). Remember that old saying, "Be careful what you wish for." That should be, "Be damn specific about what you wish for." Is this a digital dash issue or more likely the ambient sensor? Any suggestions, comments, ideas, thoughts will be welcomed. Any criticism...take a number- I have a wife for that! 
(can barely see the max out and return to baseline when ignition first turned on). Remember that old saying, "Be careful what you wish for." That should be, "Be damn specific about what you wish for." Is this a digital dash issue or more likely the ambient sensor? Any suggestions, comments, ideas, thoughts will be welcomed. Any criticism...take a number- I have a wife for that!
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
You have a very poor description of your cluster illumination problem. The cluster is supposed to be bright when the cockpit is lit from outside sources, like sunlight. At night the cluster will be dim and if you turn into a well lit gas station, the cluster will go to full brilliance and this is normal. If you put your finger over the light sensor, the cluster will dim.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
From: Columbia SC
My apologies. You are absolutely right. I have been off the forum for a while, but if I remember correctly, you know quite a bit about the electonics and lots of the quirks with these cars. It kinda goes like this: The ignition key is turned. The dash lights up quite brightly. If you look closely, you can see the readouts return to 0. This occurs at night (just put back in this evening) and I assume that it will be this way tomorrow, since neither covering the sensor nor shining a brilliant LED flashlight at it makes any difference in anything. Even the upshift and arrow in the tach square are well lit. This effect is noted in the digital readouts and the bar graph. It is 95% bright from the time it comes on. Changing the brightness of the interior lights via the lightswitch rheostat has no effect. Turning the headlights on has no effect. Do you have any ideas?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
My apologies. You are absolutely right. I have been off the forum for a while, but if I remember correctly, you know quite a bit about the electonics and lots of the quirks with these cars. It kinda goes like this: The ignition key is turned. The dash lights up quite brightly. If you look closely, you can see the readouts return to 0. This occurs at night (just put back in this evening) and I assume that it will be this way tomorrow, since neither covering the sensor nor shining a brilliant LED flashlight at it makes any difference in anything. Even the upshift and arrow in the tach square are well lit. This effect is noted in the digital readouts and the bar graph. It is 95% bright from the time it comes on. Changing the brightness of the interior lights via the lightswitch rheostat has no effect. Turning the headlights on has no effect. Do you have any ideas?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
From: Columbia SC
Yes, I replaced two of the 882 bulbs and bases. Where do I find the photocell replacement. A part number would be great! Our local Radio Shack is not staffed with electrical engineers and doubtful if they can match up anything without significant direction (not saying that I could). My Helm's states that this is addressed in 8C-7 through 8C-27 but it is nowhere in there. Thanks again for any help.
