Dash gauges have no backlighting

koning2e

koning2e

Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
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59
Location
Farnborough, United Kingdom
2004 Extreme Sport TJ - For some time now I cannot fault find why the gauges on my dash don’t light up. All other dash lights work, just the gauges don’t light up when I turn my headlights on. The dimmer only dims the odometer. Any other interior lights such as behind the climate control panel, or around the automatic gear shifter (Ie PRND) also don’t light up. Any ideas appreciated...
 
Sounds like a wiring issue somewhere. Try jiggling the harnesses on the back of the instrument cluster and see if that makes any difference. Those harnesses can sometimes be sensitive to misalignment.

If that doesn't work, unplug the harness and use the factory service manual to locate the wire for the dash lighting. Check to see if it is receiving 12 volts when the parking lights are turned on. That will tell you if the problem is the instrument cluster or elsewhere.

It's probably not a bulb, because there are 5 separate illumination bulbs in the cluster. (A lot of people convert these to LED and put in any color they want.)

TJ FSM:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...ice-manuals-fsm-technical-documentation.4618/
 
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Has it ever worked? I find it hard to believe all the LEDs could be in with reversed polarity..
 
IF you do a search on the forum for previous topics of discussion; you will find several members with a similar problem. Sometimes the problems have been with the multi function switch, sometimes with a harness connector, sometimes with a ground....
I would remove the drivers and passenger side front speaker grill and check the two ground wires under the one screw that holds the speaker in place. Those are the grounding points for the instrument cluster lights.
There is also another ground wire near the radio that attaches to the metal framing of the dash board.
 
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I have finally discovered what caused the lighting issue. Sometimes they would work and then equally fast all lights would go off again. And always when driving on rough road. So I knew it must have been a loose collection somewhere. Turns out it was a stray wire behind the radio that kept touching the metal body. I tied it all up and now all is working!
 
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koning2e said:
I have finally discovered what caused the lighting issue. Sometimes they would work and then equally fast all lights would go off again. And always when driving on rough road. So I knew it must have been a loose collection somewhere. Turns out it was a stray wire behind the radio that kept touching the metal body. I tied it all up and now all is working!
Click to expand...
Thanks for keeping us updated on what you found....
 
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