My 98 RAM 1500 she is giving me fits. The light behind the speedometer and gas gauge does not come on when the head lamps are turned on my dome light doesnt come on when you open the door and my tail lights dont come on when I turn on the head lamps. I cannot pass inspection withou the latter and I need my truck. I know pooor baby.If anyone has any ideas please respnd asap.
things already checked: appropriate fuses in fuse box in cab and under hood bulbs except for behind the cluster
Bad headlight switch perhaps? Is your dash brightness adjustment part of that switch? It is on my 2001.
Just these two? You mean other instrument cluster lights operate? If so, you have some burned-out bulbs. Pull the cluster and replace 'em.
How exactly did you check them? Too many times, people have "checked" fuses, only to find them bad when "really" checked (ie - pull 'em out and use an ohm meter, or use a test light on BOTH legs of the fuse - not just the hot leg).
Again - by just eyeballing them, or by pulling them out and running voltage through 'em and watching them light up?
I'd start with your headlamp switch, and a wiring diagram from a service manual. Remove the switch, and manually apply +12V to the proper terminals (one at a time) of the connector, and see if the lights work then. If so, replace the switch. If not, check for a bad ground back at the tail lights (after you verify the presence of +12V at the taillight connector(s) using a known-good ground source (run a wire from the battery negative terminal).
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