Dash lights... too dim....

The dash lights on my '82 all work as does the dash dimmer on the headlight switch, but the lights are so dim I can barely read the guages, even on the darkest night...

Any suggestions?:bounce:

led bulbs will help with their blue/white light. However, it's never going to be optimal with perimeter lighting. Backlit gauges are soooo much better.

Twin_Turbo said:

led bulbs will help with their blue/white light. However, it's never going to be optimal with perimeter lighting. Backlit gauges are soooo much better.

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Yeah, I kind of wanted to avoid buying all new guages... (Speedo, tach, fuel, oil pressure, water temp, voltmeter, oil temp!) That's a lot of cash!

But the LED's might help. I just can't imagine those guages being that dim when the car was new.

I've never had the front of the dash off... how hard is it to get to those bulbs?

If the bulbs in your car are in the same shape as mine were it's a wonder you can see any light. I pulled out all the gauges to replace the bulbs and those suckers had so much yellow tar (the owner must of been a heavy smoker) and dirt on them,i just through them all away and replaced them with new bulbs,a 100% improvement :thumbs:

kwplot34 said:

If the bulbs in your car are in the same shape as mine were it's a wonder you can see any light. I pulled out all the gauges to replace the bulbs and those suckers had so much yellow tar (the owner must of been a heavy smoker) and dirt on them,i just through them all away and replaced them with new bulbs,a 100% improvement :thumbs:

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Thanks Kevin... How big a job is it to get to the bulbs?

Luster said:

kwplot34 said:

If the bulbs in your car are in the same shape as mine were it's a wonder you can see any light. I pulled out all the gauges to replace the bulbs and those suckers had so much yellow tar (the owner must of been a heavy smoker) and dirt on them,i just through them all away and replaced them with new bulbs,a 100% improvement :thumbs:

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Thanks Kevin... How big a job is it to get to the bulbs?

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It's not too bad,the center cluster has the screws you can see on the front,the 2 radio knob nut's,and there are 2 screws at the bottom one on each corner you have to remove,these 2 can be a pain, remove the side panels to get to them.and then remove the wire harness for the a/c light and the wire harness in the center of the gauge,it has 2 clips that you squeeze in and pull.
The speedo/tach just has the screws in the front that you can see,plus you have to drop the steering column 2 nuts underneath and loosen the nuts at the firewall,and then the wire harness same as the center console.

My lights were like that also, & I changed all of my bulbs. My headlight switch started smoldering last week. :shocking: Beware of running the lights on the low dim setting. Ask Bird for a better explanation. I have a new switch on order. I will let you know if it helps

kwplot34 said:

If the bulbs in your car are in the same shape as mine were it's a wonder you can see any light. I pulled out all the gauges to replace the bulbs and those suckers had so much yellow tar (the owner must of been a heavy smoker) and dirt on them,i just through them all away and replaced them with new bulbs,a 100% improvement :thumbs:

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Amazing how long those guage bulbs last.

Dirtbuster1 said:

My lights were like that also, & I changed all of my bulbs. My headlight switch started smoldering last week. :shocking: Beware of running the lights on the low dim setting. Ask Bird for a better explanation. I have a new switch on order. I will let you know if it helps

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When the rheostat is on full bright, it shunts the winding. I anticipate no change.
I would like a picture of your switch posted when changed. The windings will turn blue/black when hot. You can take a hammer to the switch to see if the points got hot.:gurney:

By all means , change the old lamps. As tungsten filaments burn, they deposit the worn filament material on the glass, darkening with age.
Halogen lamps help prevent this by re-depositing the material on the filament, not the glass.
BTW, the original lamps when new were not great, merely adequate.
I would also check the lenses for dirt/fading.

big2bird said:

Dirtbuster1 said:

My lights were like that also, & I changed all of my bulbs. My headlight switch started smoldering last week. :shocking: Beware of running the lights on the low dim setting. Ask Bird for a better explanation. I have a new switch on order. I will let you know if it helps

Click to expand...

When the rheostat is on full bright, it shunts the winding. I anticipate no change.
I would like a picture of your switch posted when changed. The windings will turn blue/black when hot. You can take a hammer to the switch to see if the points got hot.:gurney:

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As soon as I get the new one in & verify it is correct I will take a hammer to it. That should be fun!

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/brighter-headlights.shtml

Read the article, and particularly page 2.

I replaced my headlight sw shortly after a i got the car last year,it was still working but i have had some malfunctions with them in the past at the wrong time so i just replaced it,i still have the original one as a just in case.

For $50 Jeff i will take a :smash: to it.

You'll have the dash apart anyway to replace the bulbs, it'd be a good time to completely disassemble the dash and clean the inside of the lens and the surround. Don't spray anything or wipe directly on the face of the gauge- be very gentle and thoughtful. Be a shame to wipe all the marks off the gauge..