i have this power wagon and i'm a little stumped on where to go next. the dash lights are not working and the fuel gauge doesn't appear to work. the hazard flasher will click but no lights flash. but, get this, all exterior lights work and function otherwise;brake, turn signals, parking etc. what i have done so far- swapped out gauge cluster(found out ammeter wasn't working and changed that out), checked VR on back of cluster-seems to work, checked ground(intact), fusible links have power. the fuse panel does look a little questionable but don't have another to put in but everything else does work. truck starts and runs beautiful. the fuel gauge i could check the sending unit but that doesnt' tell me anything about dash lights. i'm guessing i'll have to rip into the harness and start testing wire-by-wire unless someone has a better idea.
bherder
01-03-2009, 08:43 PM
If you have voltage to your other gauges and just the fuel gauge is not working, I would say it's either a bad ground on the sending unit, or the sending unit itself is bad. Not an uncommon occurance.
So far as the lights, well, to ask the obvious, did you test all the bulbs? Are the little twist-in sockets clean with good connections?
See the pin-out below...
Check the corresponding connection on the plug to see if your getting voltage. Also check the pins on the PCB. I've at times seen them so loose they were ready to fall out.
The dash lights should be powered through headlight switch. Maybe a bad connection or defective switch. TS lights are powered through TS switch. Check the connector near the steering column.
Megunticook
01-03-2009, 08:48 PM
I suppose it's possible the pin for the cluster lighting circuit, that's one of several pins arranged in a circular pattern that the harness plugs into on the back of the cluster, is not making good contact with the circuit board. On mine one of those pins was loose and I had to solder it back on to fix it.
Just a guess...
stosh562
01-03-2009, 09:45 PM
well, my turn signals do work but not the hazards. i tried 2 different clusters and had the same results(no lights). so...maybe i will have to look at the headlight switch for power there and work my way back. the rest of the circuit board looked real good. where would the ground be for the fuel sending unit and or gauge?
stosh562
01-13-2009, 07:11 AM
wellll....i found out what was wrong with my dash lights. bherder was about dead on, while driving i finally hit the "right" bump and they came on. i checked to make sure they were as bright as i could get them with the switch and....they blinked on and off a few times. so i figure i'm going to replace the headlight switch since i don't think i have another one. now if i could find where i'm losing my contact for the gas gauge, i'd be a mostly happy camper.
DiverDwnPowrRam
01-13-2009, 08:48 AM
I had the same issue with my instrument lights and come to find out the ceramic piece on the resistor had disintegrated, making the connecting piece on the switch loose contact when i hit a bump.
stosh562
03-19-2009, 01:10 PM
well after getting some good weather to work outside i got my headlight switch changed, got all dash lights working and all gauges but the fuel gauge. crawled underneath and replaced the ground wire to the frame. i checked for and had power going to the sending unit but still nothing on the gauge. so i'm guessing the sending unit is bad(?) not much else to try. any ideas on locating another one or is there a way to fix the existing sending unit?
Megunticook
03-19-2009, 01:32 PM
I believe you can confirm if the gauge is OK by temporarily grounding the wire to the sending unit. Just for a second, as this will probably peg the gauge in matter of seconds and start heating things up pretty good if you leave it grounded. But that would confirm that the gauge is good, anyway, before you go chasing after the sending unit. But that's most likely where your problem is.
