We just recently purchased a 2005 T&C and some of the dash lights do not illuminate at night when the head lights are turned on. They are as follows:
The mirror adjust (left/right mirror toggle and up/down left/right adjustment)
> The switch to turn the auto headlights on
> The individual driver/passenger hot/cold toggle buttons for air control
Should these be illuminated? We've spoken to the autodealer where we purchased the car and they don't seem to know.
I had a customer come in a week ago with the same question,when the tech pulled the mirror switch to look and see if it even had a place to put a bulb, he found it did indeed have a hole to put a bulb in but no bulb and no connector for a bulb, I found out some have those things illuminated and some don't. we ordered a new switch just for kicks to see what would happen and it came with lights in it.
The headlight switch definitely lights up. I don't recall if the mirror switch does, but I am leaning towards no. The climate control arrow switches do not light up.
Not really a loss; the separate adjacent red brake and red turn lamps "duel" with each other and make it difficult to discern the message they're sending. It'd be better if they had separate red brake and *amber* turn lamps (as the Chrysler minivans and all vehicles do outside North America), but if the rear signals have to be all red, it's better for a couple of reasons to have a combination brake/turn lamp.
This and all other points on your list are known as "decontenting" -- that is, cost-reducing the vehicle as its design ages and sales slow, by removing standard equipment. The Japanese are whizzes at it; DaimlerChrysler is obviously learning.
This might seem a loss, but...really, how big of a loss is it? There's not much of anything underhood that a light would help you with. If you're checking fluids, you're probably at a massively-overlit gas station. If you're jumping the battery, a light wouldn't light up anyhow. It's not like there's a carburetor or breaker points to fiddle with.
I just purchased a 2006 Touring T&C after Thanksgiving and noticed the exact same thing. That seem's to be the only negative I have to say so far- we're very impressed with the van. The headlight switch doesn't even look like it could light up (looks like the light symbols are just screened on the plastic), but the mirror adjust does look like it should light up.
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