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Old 04-20-2017, 05:32 AM   #1
kansasc10
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Join Date: May 2015
Location: Kansas
Posts: 61
Gauge cluster bulbs stopped working except for one.

I have a 72 C10 with a stock gauge cluster that I am having issues with. A few nights ago, I got into the truck and suddenly all of the gauge lights stopped working. The blinkers still lit up and the interior dome light still worked but no lights on the fuel, speedo, temp, oil or any of the gauges. So last night, I moved the ground to a different location and now 1 of the bulbs is lit but none of the others.

Some possible pertinent background....
All the wiring and fuse box was replaced last year with a painless 28 circuit wiring harness and every single electronic device on the truck has worked flawless until this issue.
- I dont have any aftermarket electronics. All stock.
- I took out all of the bulb holders and bulbs from the back of the gauge cluster, and one at a time inserted them into the 1 and only hole that will light up and verified that all the bulbs and bulb holders are working. I replaced all the bulbs back in their original locations but still only getting the one hole to light up.
- I replaced the headlight switch but that didnt fix it.
- The trace board on the back of the gauge cluster that the bulbs screw into is new.
- The blinkers still light up on the cluster, and on the front and back of the truck
- Headlights work fine both high and low beam.
- Tail lights and brake lights work fine.
-Gauges are all working fine.
- The little red light on the clusternthat tells me when I have my high beams on, is still lighting up red.
- The dome light still works fine.
- The one bulb that is working will dim like its supposed to when twisting the headlight switch.
- I deleted the connector that was on the ground wire and tried wrapping the bare wire around one of the screws that holds the metal plate directly under the steering column to make sure I didnt have a bad ground connector. Still just the 1 bulb lit up.
- I have 3 additional grounds, one from the motor to the frame, one from the cab to the frame and one from the motor to the cab. All 3 ground straps were bought new about 6 months ago and I checked to make sure they were all clean and tight.
I pulled the whole cluster panel out to inspect it and it looks fine. The connector that goes to the guages looks great.

What am I overlooking? If somehow I have a ground issue, would I still have 1 bulb working? Ive checked everything I know to check and went so far as to unhook EVERYTHING under the dash and made sure all connectors were still good and no shorts or frays. Everything still looks basically brand new and I didnt see anything suspect. So Im back to square one....everything on the truck works

Im at a loss on what to do next. If anyone has any ideas on what I can try I would sure appreciate the feedback.

By the way...the bulb that is working is the one on the very far right, closest to the passenger side. The one that lights up the fuel guage and some of the oil pressure gauge.
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Last edited by kansasc10; 04-20-2017 at 05:43 AM.
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