CJ dash lights not working

The dash lights on the 86 CJ7 aren't lighting when I turn on the parking lights or headlights. None of them.

Three most obvious things I'll check (fuse is OK) are:

- problem with light switch

- problem with power feed wiring after the fuse

- problem with ground

I've heard ground is a common cause of this problem. Anybody have any advice on that?

The wiring diagram shows that pretty much all of this stuff gets spliced together and grounded at one point, which I believe is on the back of the dash panel?

Can someone tell me where to find the ground connection for the dash lights?

Reply to
Jeff Scherb
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Reply to
L.W.( ßill ) Hughes III

Thanks for asking, but no, I checked that and it's not the problem :-)

Reply to
Jeff Scherb

Reply to
L.W.( ßill ) Hughes III

Jumping in in the middle of a thread--cop told me that tail lights & dash lights are fused together so you'll notice if tail light fuse blows.

Paul B.

01 XJ 95 XJ
Reply to
PLB49

Reply to
L.W.( ßill ) Hughes III

yes, parking and brake lights work

Reply to
Jeff Scherb

The main dash ground is just beside the steering column on the right on the inside lip of it.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Jeff Scherb wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

You can twist the light switch to control the brightness of the instrument panel lights.

There is no ground, per se. The bulb is grounded by the socket. If the gorund is missing, then the dash panel is isolated, and that is very difficult to do. It is easy to fix though, attach a dedicated ground from the dash panel to the battery or other known-good ground, like the block or frame.

I think your problem is the light switch has been twisted to the OFF position. Turn it to the RIGHT to turn the lights on.

Reply to
CRWLR

That's the main ground, but all of the screws that hold the dash on also provide a ground path. If the dash was not grounded, other stuff would not work anyway, like the radio that is also grounded to the back of the dash panel.

Reply to
CRWLR

I have had the same problem in the past. What it was, was the "rehostat"on the light switch was broken (coiled wires got brittle and crumbled)and therefore no matter where you turned the switch, it would not form a circuit for the dash lights to come on. You may want to pull the switch and look it over. Dan

Reply to
Dan Grulke

All the bulbs in my 86 CJ7's dash have an orange power and a black ground wire to them.

The ground tags to the right of the steering column on the inside bottom lip.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

CRWLR wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

My stock dash lights have a dedicated ground wire that tags on that bolt.

Just to name some, but the tach and clock lights plug into plastic, so do all the pull knob lights.

Mike

CRWLR wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

Oh, my headlight switch also has a black ground wire for the dash lights that tags the same bolt too!

Mike

Mike Roma>

Reply to
Mike Romain

Reply to
L.W.( ßill ) Hughes III

No.

I have the stock dash and the stock dash wiring harness in it.

I just had to run a dedicated ground from the dash to the battery negative power bar post I made.

My dash lights are dual wire with their own ground. They plug into plastic parts Bill, they need a ground wire.

Mike

"L.W.(ßill) Hughes III" wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

There are a couple that are just one wire come to think of it.

The dimmer still needs the wire ground tag on the dash from the headlight switch.

Mike

Mike Roma>

Reply to
Mike Romain

Really!

I don't remember a dedicated ground to the dash panel on my '81 CJ5. My stuff all works fine.

Reply to
CRWLR

The dimmer switch (not the correct name, but we are talking about the dimmer function of the instrument panel lamps) does have a ground wire that goes somewhere. All of the panel lights are a single feed though, with the ground coming from the sockets.

Reply to
CRWLR

Don't make me take my Jeep apart!

Reply to
CRWLR

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