Hey fellas, I am getting a 1962 Valiant Signet with the 225 /6 back on the road after a long sit. Current issue is that all the gauges and indicators wor (ammeter, temp, fuel, oil light), but the instrument panel illumination lights do not light. I pulled the cover and checked the bulbs: they have continuity and seem fine. the fuse in the fuse box, she is fine. the shop manual says the ground for the instrument panel lights is through the screws where the panel mounts. Don't know how to check that or what I should do.

dome light is dead too.

I need to be 8 years old to have small enough hands to reach up there.

cshunley

I think the culprit is the headlight switch. The headlight switch is the common point for the courtesy lights and dash light dimmer.

One day my dash lights stopped working and I drove around for a couple a months without any, then suddenly they reappeared. Try playing with the switch if you haven't already.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

Hi there, I had the same problem, my car had been sitting way too long as well,.. What I did was: I found the wire that lit the bulbs, I got some wire and connected it to the high/low beam switch on the floor,.. it works, but I cannot dim the dashlights- but I don't mind that.

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1965 Barreiros Dodge Dart. 225 / 4 speed.

Guess its not a good idea to recommend a bic lighter? closer to brighten, further away to dim?

Just kidding, I had a loose connection on my headlight switch, being the extreme "OCD" type (except for keyboarding) I removed the whole thing, cleaned it, re-installed it and zippity doo dah!

Fact is, you'll get a lot of responses because the people on this site are awesome. Every situation is a little different and these guys are very forthcoming with lots of experience.

good luck!

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IS 40:31 gets me through lifes challenges.

Sounds like the rheostat on the headlight switch is toast. The rheostat looks like a copper spring that is wound around on the switch and it controls the brightness of the intrument panel and the manual on/off function of the dome light. Over time the rheostat spring will get dirty or pulled apart and will make erratic connections (flickering dash lights when you turn the knob) or no longer work at all. You could try cleaning the spring, but if it no longer controls the dash lights, it's probably time for a new headlight switch.
Does your dome light come on when the doors are open? If it does then most likely the trouble is with the headlight switch. If not, I'd check the pin switches in the door frame, these can get rusty and block the electrical connection.

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Erik T.
1974 Dodge Dart Swinger - 225, A904, 8 1/4, B5 Blue w/ White Vinyl
1982 Chrysler Cordoba - 318 Lean Burn, A999, 7 1/4, VC4 Glacier Blue w/ Dark Blue Vinyl

Big time dude, I forgot about the rheostat and dome light. These guys rock!

I'm still kinda new in here, but, I feel better on info here than the $16.00 Haynes Manual I bought, (currently in use on my bench as a pad to soften the blows of my mighty tools while straightening chrome and other assorted trim)

ET's_Swinger is probably an electrician, but, I didn't check his profile

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IS 40:31 gets me through lifes challenges.

I can't remove my headlight switch from the cluster. Do you have any detailed instructions?

thanks

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AIM-DusterDude1973

I figured it out.

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AIM-DusterDude1973