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Hey all-Seems like a simple enough thing, but I've been slowly getting all of the electrical together on my 1964 Jetstar 1. Everything is almost there. However, I have no lights in my instrument panel. I can't see the speedometer at night, etc. The lights for the flashers and the high beam indicator all work. Is there an easy way to check just the bulbs in the instrument panel without tearing the whole thing out? Or is this indicative of something bigger? Thanks. Brian
Hey OldCutlass. As always, thanks for helping! Yes, I checked the rheostat and I checked the fuse. The fuse is good, but the lights do not fade up if I turn the light switch one way or the other. I looked under the dash the best I could this morning and found evidence of an electrical issue though. However, I'm not sure what I'm looking at. This is directly above where the steering column lies and seems near to where the instrument cluster is. Can you see what this little block is that these two connectors are wired (burned up) into?
Yes, this was part of the heating unit. I retired them and cleaned that up a bit, but the lights in the instrument panel, nor the clock are working still.
With a test light or volt meter, check both sides of the instrument light fuse and see if there is 12v when the light switch is pulled out. if there is 12v on one side and not the other, pull the fuse, clean the contacts and try again.
Something I should have tested in the first place I guess. There's absolutely no juice coming to that fuse...or to the under hood fuse. Just so I'm clear, I'm looking at the Instrument Bundle fuse, correct? What are the panel lights? From the diagram, things look a little mixed in. Could there be something in the engine compartment that I should be checking? Because I'm having a hell of a time seeing the backside of the fuse block to check that connection...
Let me clarify. The Panel Lights and Under Hood Lights fuses are getting no juice. The Instrument Bundle is getting full juice.
Last edited by foulpalamont; April 19th, 2018 at 11:01 AM.
Okay, gotcha. Thank you. This is what I'm finding. No juice at all when the lights are on or off to the Panel Lights fuse. I've even gotten a mirror in there and tested the back of the fuse block connections and there was no juice back there either. Does this sound like the Headlight switch where the rheostat is? The rheostat is pretty squeaky when I turn it.
The gray/black wire from the light switch is what powers that fuse. If you see no voltage there then your issue is at the light switch or that wire. Try turning the rheostat back and forth as they do get dirty, if that does not work replace the switch.
You can also jumper 12v to the panel fuse to make sure the lights light.
So I jumped the Panel Light fuse and voila! I have instrument lights. However, it looks like only half of the speedometer is lit, but whatever. I'll fight that another day. However, I reached up above the headlamp switch, pushed the button on top and tried with all my might to remove the headlight pull. I cannot figure this out and I'm scared to jam it too hard so I don't break it and have to saw off the pull. Any ideas? Is there a technique I'm missing?
Nevermind! There is a technique and I figured it out and am holding my rusty busted switch. I'm thinking I should just replace this and not try to restore it. Thoughts?
You may have to clean the inside of the plug, you have some corroded terminals there. Ohm across the 2 outer terminals of the rheostat should be a fixed resistance. Then ohm across the center to each outer and the resistance should vary when turning the headlight **** from stop to stop. You may just need to clean it up.
Woah! Good eye! I cannot find one that doesn't have that extra connector. I wonder if I could lose that connector and it would still work. Of course I'm not sure what that connector does, but it looks like the one I have is pretty much the same as the new one I wanted to buy (the old one even has a space for this extra connector). Thoughts?
Alright, gents, just to prove I'm the cheapest person here, I give you evidence of what I've done to retrofit the newer switch with a cut off section of the old switch. The newer switch's threaded part, that the bezel screws into was too small, so I ground out that part on the new one, cut off the properly sized one on the old one and JB Welded them together. Also, on the plug, there is a slot for the blade that the old one didn't have, but it goes no where, so I left it alone. Everything's working great. The left side of the speedometer is brighter than the right side. Are there two bulbs? Maybe one's out?
April 18th, 2018, 03:43 PM
