bclaborn

First post here, thanks for all the good info I've already used. I picked up a 2005 F150 with a blown engine and transmission for $400. It turned into a bigger project than anticipated by I have around $6k in it and other than some cam phaser noise, things are going well. It is a 2WD Lariat super crew with 127k miles.

Almost everything works but I need some help with a few things. First, no dash lights. Here's a list of what doesn't work:
* No lights for the speedometer, etc (white background style)
* No power to cigarette lighter
* No power to the shift indicator on the console between the seats (no lights but bulb is good)
* No background light to the light switch or the radio buttons, etc.
* All green lights work (mileages, mpg, radio, heater, etc.)
* Background lights on door buttons work

I've checked every mini fuse in the panel. #10 is blown and I"ll replace that on tonight once I get more fuses. I tried swapping it with another 20A and that didn't solve the problem.

Thanks,
Brandon

BadFish523

So do some of the dash lights work> If so you may have a bunch of blown bulbs in the cluster or a bad cluster. The bulbs are not to difficult to replace if that turns out to be the problem.

bclaborn

There are no lights at all for the Tach, Speedometer, fuel gage, etc.

BadFish523

A lot of that stuff is controlled through the dash cluster. There may be a problem with that. I don't know how to tell for sure if that is your problem other than having a pro check the cluster out or swapping it with a working one from the same year and model of truck.

bclaborn

I think the dimmer switch may be bad since the only lights not working are in that switch. Anyone know if I can get only the dimmer portion of the light switch?

BadFish523

It is all one piece. Headlight switch and dimmer.

bclaborn

I managed to identify the wire coming off of the dimmer to the instrument panel. I used a jumper wire to get power to it and my instrument cluster lit up confirming that the dimmer is bad. I'll find one in a junkyard before I pay $65 or so for the whole switch assembly.