So I have a very interesting instrument panel lighting problem that you guys may be familiar with. Its the '86 instrument cluster that does not have the Tac. The gauges themselves (gas, temp speed etc) work fine, the turn signals blink the brake light and check engine light and the whole mess in the center lights up just fine..however my damn light that lights it up at night wont work. both the side with the speedo and the side with the other guages such as gas and temp will not light up. check the dimmer switch of course to make sure that it wasnt turned all the way down and it seems tohave no effect. pulled the dash and the bulbs look fine in both sides. My wife was driving it when it happend ad said she was jsut driving down the highway at 6:00am when it just went out all of the sudden on both sidse...every other damn light works and i'm boggled...no fuses blown either.

Ideas?
thanks.

hey I was just working on my dash lastnight and I shorted out the sytem and it was the dimmer switch that i guess acted as the fuse so i unplugged the wires fromthe back of the switch and by passes the dimmer.. they're 3 prongs and its u just need to connect 2 back togther. you wont be able to dim anymore but your lights should come back on. it did for mine. hope this helps

found the problem...looks like the instrument cluster lights are somehow tied into the rear license plate light...found out that one of the wires going to the plate was grounded out...wierd. fixed teh wire and the light works now.

Hey Guys.. I have the same Problem!! my Zuke did not have a Dimmer Switch when I got it. and the Lights did not work . so I bought one off Ebay. and Pluged it in and still no Lights. annd the Fuses seam to be good. any Ideas.

could be somethign with the license plate lights like it was with mine...there are 2 lights and the wires/fuses etc to worry about...are they working? if they are you dont have to worry about that wierd issue...any friends with sammy's? you can always try and transplant your instrument cluster into theirs to see if it works..that way you know if its the cluster or some other wiring issue.

Now that is an Idea!! Thanks

I wonder if the the dimmer switch you got off ebay was bad? You may want to swap a known good one in first.

The one on my hard body went bad for the second time. They want $90 for a new one. I may try bypassing it.