Dashboard lights not working -

My 2001 Focus Wagon did that.in 2003. I took it to the dealer. Thankfully I had an extended warranty. They replaced a "large" portion of the dash wiring harness. On New Years Eve 2004, my headlight switch area began SMOKING with a pungent burning smell. Again I took it to the dealer, This time it took over 2 weeks to again replace part of the lighting wiring and switches. They indicated that actual hours charged by the tech was more than12. I don't know what the parts cost was. I traded the car in last week G

It sounds like a loose or broken connection - when you checked the fuse, you must have moved some wires or components such as the fuse holder etc. and it worked again. Thumping the glove box making them work points absolutely to a POOR JOINT, LOOSE CONNECTION or BROKEN WIRE.

I suggest you check the wiring in the fuse box.. Wiggle them whilst someone is watching the lamps. Also check that the connections inside the fuse socket are making GOOD contact with the fuse. Dirt, corrosion or even tarnish could give the symptoms. Check the grounding of the circuit.

Hope that helps

Interesting story but did it really help the guy with his problematical dash lights?

I presume you have a right-hand drive car because over here the fuse box is in front of the driver. I would look for a loose fuse/bent or damaged fuse holder or maybe some debris in the fuse holder that is interfering with the current.

I had much the same problem with my Chrysler van and wiggling the fuse around fixed it. You can also gently distort the fuse ends with pliers to increase the bite into the holder.

I would not mess with it, and possibly make it worse, electrical problems can get very expensive. You did not say what year Focus it was. The early U.S. Focus had problems with the light switch.

Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks

You may not mess with it and prefer to spend your money BUT the symptoms indicate a simple loose connection. This type of fault can often be fixed inside a few minutes and no parts required - I hardly think that the situation can be mad worse by a simple investigation and 'wiggling' a few wires in/near the fuse box in attempt to identify the fault.

Lets say it is a loose fuse holder connection. 60 seconds to fix at a cost of nothing!

Maybe you can afford to pay the charges the auto electricians charge. I don't know the costs of labour in the USA for that sort of job but here in the UK it would probably cost a minimum of £40 (US$60) and probably a lot more.

If you were to read Shabs original post, you will comprehend that the problem has nothing to do with the light switch....

However, if you wouldn't mess with reading the posts correctly (in case you make it worse)I will happily read them for you. I only charge $50 per half hour with a minimum charge of 1 hour...

Geeee... I do feel liverish tonight!

Had the same problem it was the light switch. It beats me how a firm opinion car be rendered on the fix for a vehicle problem without hands on the car. I doubt if it is loose wire or a loose fuse. but, if the cluster has to come out, one screw up and a "60 second fix to try to save money a dollar can turn into a $500 bill. I find it somewhat mind boggling that some one will pay $15 - $20K for a car and then go cheap to repair it. But as "they" say its your money.

You may not mess with it and prefer to spend your money BUT the symptoms indicate a simple loose connection. This type of fault can often be fixed inside a few minutes and no parts required - I hardly think that the situation can be mad worse by a simple investigation and 'wiggling' a few wires in/near the fuse box in attempt to identify the fault.

Lets say it is a loose fuse holder connection. 60 seconds to fix at a cost of nothing!

Maybe you can afford to pay the charges the auto electricians charge. I don't know the costs of labour in the USA for that sort of job but here in the UK it would probably cost a minimum of £40 (US$60) and probably a lot more.

If you were to read Shabs original post, you will comprehend that the problem has nothing to do with the light switch....

However, if you wouldn't mess with reading the posts correctly (in case you make it worse)I will happily read them for you. I only charge $50 per half hour with a minimum charge of 1 hour...

Geeee... I do feel liverish tonight!

I am a qualified electronics engineer with many years experience of fault finding in the commercial and military field. I also ran a repair shop for may years.

The fault AS DESCRIBED did not need much thought as to give a reasonable prognosis.

I have also been 'messing' with cars for 50 years. Rebuilding & rewiring et al. I feel more than qualified to give a pointer to the possible cause and solution to Shab's problem.

How do you know - you wouldn't touch it - you prefer to waste you money and get someone else to dirty their hands.

Being careful and using common sense to fix something yourself it is easy to do and only takes a few seconds is not being cheap.

It could be a deeper problem sure. But a moment or two taking a 'look see' could save UNECCESSARY time out at the Auto Electrician AND HIS BILL!

No. Wrong again! - it is not my money. It was Shab's I was trying to save.

Guys like you piss me off. Newsgroups are supposed to be a self help groups. HELP being the operative word. I was trying to be helpful. All you did was to tell the bloke not to touch it. What arrogance.

Now go back and polish your car again - or do you pay someone to do that as well?

You should change your tag from wastertime to wastermoney...On second thoughts... you got it right first time! []

"Donald Gray" wrote

Or maybe even "time wasting troll". His silliness shows all the hallmarks of the twisted loser who has been hanging around here for so long - maybe he'll grow up one day.

Hey Shab, I got some really good advise for you, Keep thumping the dashboard.

From the wastermoney, time wasting troll, twisted loser. I really like those titles.

"Donald Gray" wrote

Or maybe even "time wasting troll". His silliness shows all the hallmarks of the twisted loser who has been hanging around here for so long - maybe he'll grow up one day.

Thanks for all the advise guys. i finally removed the fuse and bent the connectors a little in opposite directions. This would help the connection inside the fusebox. On the left hand side I saw a lot of wires bundled together which i assume went into the fusebox. There were 2 bolts stopping the fusebox from coming out which i may attempt to play with on Saturday. I did however wiggle the bunch of wires to try and "connect" something.

When i tried the lights, the dashboard lights came on. It has now been 3 days with working lights whereas before i touched the wiring, the lights would go off at least 1 or 2 times daily so it is a vast improvement so far.

On saturday i will attempt to remove the bolts and the fusebox to see if i can get further into the wires to push them into the fusebox.

But thanks for the advice so far... it has definitely helped and improved my situation.

Just to give my input on whether we should touch anything on our cars, please note this is a forum for people to share ideas. We are here to share what we know and learn what we don't.

For those of you who are just here to criticise, i mean why are you even looking at ford forums if all you do is go to the dealer when you have a problem?

For the rest of us, all ideas are welcome so we can attempt to undertake simple repairs ourselves. If however we have done our bit and still cannot rectify the fault, we will all do what you do in the first place and call in the experts.

I mean what's the harm in trying? If you are half clued up, you can't do much damage.

Generally *much* less than the "Technicians" at the dealerships I have experience with!

Chris

Well said Shabs