pajacobsen Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Hello Terry, 1998 Contour, V6, MTX. My instrument cluster light went out. All other lights are good, including engine management lights. Fuse (F31) is good (and I did try another fuse), and dimmer switch is not turned off(!) The rest of the cluster is good (speedometer, for instance, works fine). I assume bulb is done for or the dimmer switch has died. Is there a quick and dirty way to test the dimmer switch? Is there an easy way to change the bulb (Haynes appear to have you take the instrument cluster partially out, which seems a bit much for a simple bulb change?) Thanks, pajacobsen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 ..the inst cluster has 5 bulbs...is the heater control panel lights working/dimming?..if yes then the dimmer is fine and the issue could just be a blown bulb(s) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pajacobsen Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 ..the inst cluster has 5 bulbs...is the heater control panel lights working/dimming?..if yes then the dimmer is fine and the issue could just be a blown bulb(s) Thanks Terry, I had not thought about about the fact that the heater control was "dimmable" (is that a word?) too. I will check later when it gets dark. Are you saying that it is unlikely that all 5 bulbs would be out, so it would have to be something else than bulbs? Or are you counting the engine management lights as bulbs (they work fine, as does signals). Please advise. Best, pajacobsen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 ..the 5 bulbs are just for illumination ,not the warning lights.The feed to them is a white and red wire ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pajacobsen Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 ..the inst cluster has 5 bulbs...is the heater control panel lights working/dimming?..if yes then the dimmer is fine and the issue could just be a blown bulb(s) Terry, No light from the heater controls. Does this mean that it is the dimmer? Can I test it by shorting the switch somehow? If so, how? Best, pajacobsen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pajacobsen Posted September 5, 2010 Author Share Posted September 5, 2010 ..the 5 bulbs are just for illumination ,not the warning lights.The feed to them is a white and red wire ... Terry, I got the rheostat out. It looks fine. I get 12 volts coming in, nothing coming out. I get full resistance (ohms) on the third leg (out) no matter how I set the rheostat. The rheostat looks very, very simple, and I see no burn marks or like. It is really hard for me to see why it would not work. Is there a way to determining how/if the rheostat is shot? If it is shot, where can I get a replacement? Also, what is the proper procedure for bypassing the rheostat? Best, pajacobsen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pajacobsen Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Hey all, I forgot to close this item out. I went to a junk yard and picked up two rheostats from junked Contours (there were a lot - the cable rot is amounting to genocide at this stage.) Replacing the rheostats were simple and solved the problem. So... If instrument light goes, first check fuses, then replace rheostas. Best, pajacobsen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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