Random rant: Why do my dash lights never last

[eharri3 10+ year member]

I had a Ford Ranger for 5 years. Half the dash lights were completely dead by the time I traded it. Have had my 04 Dakota for 5 years. Can't see half my speedo or half my fuel gauge at night anymore. Is it just me or does this happen to anybody else? I can recall sitting in plenty of 10 or 15 year old vehicles that never had this problem but the last two vehicles I've had the dash lights are one of the first things to go and I have to turn on the interior lights at night to see how fast I'm going or how much gas I have.

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[shaneb 10+ year member]

lol my car is 15yrs old and I didn't have this issue. Honda ftw...but i also have done a complete blue LED conversion on my dash./

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

One of the lights behind my AC selector in my van doesnt work, if that makes you feel any better about yourself.

 

[fatboyracing 10+ year member]

never had any issues 9 chevys and 1 honda

 

[KickerSoItBump 10+ year member]

Having the same problem now in a 13 year old Crown Vic. I cant see how fast I'm going once I hit 40, the rest is guessing lol. Not too bad when there are other lights to suplement, but driving in the country is when I do the majority of my guessing, though I've gotten used to it.

 

[GreenBook 10+ year member]

Have you ever removed your speedo assembly? I never had any problems until I pulled my speedo to put in some blue led's; and ever since half of the normal colored lights no longer work and I didn't even touch them.

 

[audioatg 10+ year member]

Never had that problem. Have a 98 dodge dakota for the past 9 years 150,somthin miles. And Jeep cherokee 97 with 147,somthin miles with no problems. Mabye its just you and you have bad luck I guess.

 

[RipDaJacka]

yeah I got a AC light go out.. how do u change dash lights? I wanna change my gauge glow but I have no dea wut LED is used

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

Have you ever removed your speedo assembly? I never had any problems until I pulled my speedo to put in some blue led's; and ever since half of the normal colored lights no longer work and I didn't even touch them.

that usaully has to do with resistance in the circuit, sometimes you can buy bulbs with resistors in them or like an inline module. Different cars this sometimes doesnt matter, some do.

 

[GreenBook 10+ year member]

that usaully has to do with resistance in the circuit, sometimes you can buy bulbs with resistors in them or like an inline module. Different cars this sometimes doesnt matter, some do.

My led's aren't wired into the speedo's wiring. there hooked up with a knob for brightness and are hooked right to the battery & grounded. I just mounted them inside the cluster, and when I plugged it back in the normal bulbs didnt work any more.

 

[john denver 10+ year member]

I had a Ford Ranger for 5 years. Half the dash lights were completely dead by the time I traded it. Have had my 04 Dakota for 5 years. Can't see half my speedo or half my fuel gauge at night anymore. Is it just me or does this happen to anybody else? I can recall sitting in plenty of 10 or 15 year old vehicles that never had this problem but the last two vehicles I've had the dash lights are one of the first things to go and I have to turn on the interior lights at night to see how fast I'm going or how much gas I have.

You can change those you know

 

[Adnan 10+ year member]

i got a 96 windstar with same issue....it started with 1/2 my clusters faded

then my entire tach went down...i banged the left vent outlet pretty hard one day and it worked shortly died few weeks later....now im total darkness nothing lights up

of course just the check engine and low gas lights hehe

 

[Torgus 10+ year member]

this is the answer:

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

Well the girlfriend's 04 TSX just had the radio and HVAC display and backlit buttons go out completely. It all works but the dash display is 100% gone, can't see what radio station it's on or what the temp is. Evidently it's all connected unlike in my Dodge where I have heating, then air conditioning, then a radio so god knows what it'll take to fix it. So I guess the fureigners have their problems too.

 

[vgeek 10+ year member]

It depends on the vehicle too, the newer it is, the harder it is to replace. I was an idiot and put in colored bulbs in a 95 Tacoma, they lasted a whole 90 days. The newer Tacomas you have to solder LEDs in, so that seems like quite a bit just to replace a light.

The new My 25 year old Pontiac had the original bulbs in the dash.