Dash lights

[Pampas56]

Now that the truck is running, I have discovered that the dash lights are not working. It seems that they have become the ground path for everything in the instrument cluster.

My BIL told me that it is a common problem with these trucks and I remember reading about this in past posts. I tried to search for the posts, but can't seem to find them.

I know I need to re-establish a ground path. BIL says to intercept the existing ground and carry it to a known good ground.

How do I do this? Do I cut into the wiring harness or is there a point in the cluster itself that I bond to, creating a solid ground?

I know that it is limited to the instrument cluster. The HVAC control lights up and dims as it should.

Any help or paths to the pertinent posts will be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Steve

[Mr_Rich]

If this problem is on your '89 then it could be an open on the circuit board on back of the gauge cluster. It could be a matter of just detecting and re-soldering one of the circuits on the board. Newer trucks have this plastic circuit collection that clips on the back of the cluster; much different than the earlier trucks. I kind of learned this the hard way because I thought I could use a newer cluster in my '89 and they aren't compatible. Totally different plug design.