Turn signals, fuel gauge, and several idiot lights all quit at once on me ( the red ones like oil, batt, brake, and the green 4WD light)

I had checked the fuse box earlier and put some smaller fuses in place where improperly sized fuses had been put by the previous owner. Anyway, none of them blew, in either the driver kick panel or under hood box. What could possible have happened that all these things would go out at once? Is there a gauge cluster fuse somwhere?

 

sounds like one of the plugs in the back of your cluster might have come loose, or a bad ground or something,

 

yes its one of the ones in the kick panel fuse box however I think it might be better to check for power at the cluster itself and to look over the printed circuit on the back of the gauge cluster and see if it has a separated spot. Also check for key on voltage while you hve it out.

 

Ok I'll have to check that tomorrow, the headlights and dash backlighting all work still, just those few idiot lights and the turn signals, also noticed cigarette lighter is out.

 

Ok took the cluster out, everything was plugged in fine and the circuit board in the back is fine, has no voltage, or almost no voltage, I get .02 volts when I turn the key on. All fuses still good, in fact last night now my running lights in my tailights and all the backlighting in the gauge cluster and dash went out, bringing the total malfunctioning list to:

running lights
backlighting in dash
fuel and temp gauges
4WD and all the red lights (brake, batt, etc)
turn signals

yet the headlights and even the blue high beam indicator, wind shield wiper and hazards work. so everything on the steering column is fine.

I'm at a loss, any idea what connects the group of lights not working?

 

I would start looking at your wiring, pretty much all of it, start at the cluster and start tracing wires, look at everything, check the backsides if the fuse boxes and stuff, It's going to be a pain because you'll probably end up pulling off the dash to get to the wires,

You don't need to cut the covers of the wires or anything crazy, just make sure that they aren't fried, you should be able to tell just by looking at them

sorry I can't help you more, try and get a wiring diagram for your truck, there might be something that has all those wires going to it and you could start there

 

recheck the driver side fusebox. check EVERY fuse.

 

All of those idiot lights, gauges, and the cigarette lighter are only powered when the key is on. Remove the steering column shroud and inspect the ignition lock switch and its plug.

Did you replace the IGN fuse,? This controls dash parts, cigarette lighter, signals, reverse lights, and the ignition system. Its a combination fuse probably located under the dash also.

 

stupid question- does it run?

I think you are on the right track checking the ignition switch, replace if need be.

 

Runs fine, charging system works fine, today the interior lights and tailights started working again, but still no turn signals and related stuff. I will check the ignition right at the source and see what I find.

 

Did you ever fix your problem? If you did I want to know how because I have the same problem.

 

Turns out the back of my fuse panel was really corroded. Unbolted the fuse panel and cleaned up all the wires and connections on the back of it. I have a rust hole sort of on the fire wall that was letting water get in there, and a soccer ball sized hole in the floor panel, so those probably didnt help either.

 

did cleaning the wires work? or did you have to replace the panel?

 

yup, no recurring trouble

 

sounds like you might have a bad ignition power wire, we had the same problem and same symptoms on a friends truck recently. Try getting a test wire and running it from the ignition block with the key on to the IGN test screw on the back of the gauge cluster, see if it solves the issue.