Dash lights went out - and then came back on

[Wabu715]

Hi -

Have an '05 4WD with about 115K miles. Last night I was coming home from work and had no dashboard lights - out completely. Radio light was also out. As I turned into the driveway, there's a little bump - hit it and the lights all came back on (figures!). But decided I'd better check it so after I parked the car, I started it up again - no dash lights, but the radio light was on. I'm assuming this is a wiring harness issue and not a fuse, since the lights returned - but can anyone tell me how to access where the light harness goes into the main? And please, please, please tell me it doesn't entail pulling apart the entire dashboard?

Thanks in advance!

[dgale]

I have a smaller scale version of the same problem going on - the light in the temperature control knob (the center of the three "climate control" knobs) has not been working lately, but if I bang on it it will occasionally come back on...so obviously the bulb is fine and I assume it's a grounding issue (?) How do remove the knob(s) or otherwise access the dash where the bulbs are so I can clean and tighten connections etc?

[Wabu715]

Originally Posted by dgale

I have a smaller scale version of the same problem going on - the light in the temperature control knob (the center of the three "climate control" knobs) has not been working lately, but if I bang on it it will occasionally come back on...so obviously the bulb is fine and I assume it's a grounding issue (?) How do remove the knob(s) or otherwise access the dash where the bulbs are so I can clean and tighten connections etc?

Interesting. Our temp control knob went out completely,too, just a couple of years ago.... there are a couple of other bulbs out that I was just planning to replace, so figuring out how to access the harness (and related) will take care of more than one issue.

[Wabu715]

Checked the #2 fuse tonight and I don't think that that was it. Besides the fact that it looked fine, when I pulled it, the dashboard went completely dark...however, I remembered that last night, while most of the dash was dark, I could still see the speedo needle, gas gauge needle, and oil temp needle (all red illuminated). Also, the radio was still lit up when #2 was pulled.

Anybody, anybody?

[MennoToaster]

The lights on the middle of my dash did that when I first bought my car, whenever we would bonk it they would come back on. It was entertaining for awhile but eventually we replaced the bulbs and the problem was fixed.

Doesn't sound like a bulb problem but that's what the mechanic said and he was right

[Eww-an E]

Wabu715, here's a great thread that contains a lot of information and fixes that could be of help to you.

http://www.elementownersclub.com/for...ht=dash+lights