my buddys 87 4runner instrument cluster started smoking last night when he was driving home he said he shut off his lights and it stopped after a minute or so when he turned the lights back on the instrument lights did not work.
he thinks it was a bulb I hope that is all it was
so tonight or the next we are going to remove the cluster and check every thing out.
has this ever happened to anyone else?
and if so what was it?

 

A guy named Seth on a minitruck forum had a similar issue with like an 84 hilux, and it was a short somewhere I believe.

 

Yep, my dimmer knob blew and that caused the lights not to work. There is a way to short it out so it works. This way you can test the bulb or if its the knob.