Gauge Lights Not Working

[Chevy K1500]

I was going down the road yesterday night, when my dash lights all went off so I cant see any of my gauges, so when I got home I took off my whole dash and checked my lights and there all still good, to what I could tell then I replaced the fuse for the gauges, and still they wont turn on, so I was wondering if anyone else had this problem and how they fixed it.

Thanks.

[Striker49]

I'm sure you have, but did you check the dimmer? I've hit mine before and not known it and thought I had blown a fuse.

[bftiedt]

i had that problem once , it was caused from a wire grounding out and the blowing my fuse...but my tail lights also went out when this happened

[Chevy K1500]

Yeah, the first thing I did was check my dimmer, then when I got home under my bed was all smoking and smelled like burning wire. So I checked all under neath there for some and didnt see a thing, but also there was ALOT of snow under there too, so I took all that out and am letting it dry so that may have been something. I also replaced the fuse and nothing happend.

Where are the wires for the gauges if you know?

[BHB]

Your headlight switch may need to be replaced, it tells you by killing your dash lights.

[Striker49]

Where are the wires for the gauges if you know?

The harness is behind the cluster. You have to pull the entire unit to get to it. You might check Boars' idea first, will be less hassle and its unlikely the cluster harness is burnt through, possible, but unlikely.

[Chevy K1500]

Your headlight switch may need to be replaced, it tells you by killing your dash lights.

Where is that located at? But that wouldnt seem to make sense because my headlights still work?

And I did take off my whole cluster and checked every single light bulb (You would only think there would be 5, but wow. :whatever: ) But yeah, I did that and looked at it all, and there where still all good. Also they flashed on tonight for literally probally like .10 of a second.

[Koots]

Do you have a trailer wiring harness? Mine had rubbed up against the body over time and the conduit has rubbed through and it shorted the wires out and kept blowing fuses. Even without one i would still check the wiring around the rear frame near the tailights and see if they are stripped.

What sucked about my situation is that it happened around the same time my outer door handle cracked (along with my inner handle) so i couldn't even open the door to check the fuses. So i had to replace alot of stuff to even check that out :(

[Chevy K1500]

Do you have a trailer wiring harness? Mine had rubbed up against the body over time and the conduit has rubbed through and it shorted the wires out and kept blowing fuses. Even without one i would still check the wiring around the rear frame near the tailights and see if they are stripped.

What sucked about my situation is that it happened around the same time my outer door handle cracked (along with my inner handle) so i couldn't even open the door to check the fuses. So i had to replace alot of stuff to even check that out :(


Yes I have one for like a big trailer with the electric brakes and all that stuff, but when I got the truck I dont think it even worked because it wouldnt light up when I would push the brakes. And yes mine is doing pretty much the same thing, I put in a new fuse and turn the lights on and boom, the fuse blows. Also the other day a few times when I would hit my brakes my lights would come on very dim though. And, now my hazzards and buzzer fuses are blowing so I have no running lights, gauge lights, brake lights (Except for the cab light which works for brakes), turn signals, hazzards. And its all just a pain in the ass. :dunno:

[BHB]

Yes I have one for like a big trailer with the electric brakes and all that stuff, but when I got the truck I dont think it even worked because it wouldnt light up when I would push the brakes. And yes mine is doing pretty much the same thing, I put in a new fuse and turn the lights on and boom, the fuse blows. Also the other day a few times when I would hit my brakes my lights would come on very dim though. And, now my hazzards and buzzer fuses are blowing so I have no running lights, gauge lights, brake lights (Except for the cab light which works for brakes), turn signals, hazzards. And its all just a pain in the ass. :dunno:

You have a positive (hot) wire that is grounded somewhere(pinched,screw through a wire,bare wire touching metal. more than likely something near where the brake control or trailer connector is tied in.
The brake control usually doesn't light up unless there is a trailer attached.

[Chevy K1500]

Oh, Yeah tonight me and my friend where looking at it. And I checked all the wires and alot were showing and were all wet from the snow. So I think I might have a friend of the family look at it and check it out because he is a mechanic because I hate electrical. lol.

[Koots]

Yes I have one for like a big trailer with the electric brakes and all that stuff, but when I got the truck I dont think it even worked because it wouldnt light up when I would push the brakes. And yes mine is doing pretty much the same thing, I put in a new fuse and turn the lights on and boom, the fuse blows. Also the other day a few times when I would hit my brakes my lights would come on very dim though. And, now my hazzards and buzzer fuses are blowing so I have no running lights, gauge lights, brake lights (Except for the cab light which works for brakes), turn signals, hazzards. And its all just a pain in the ass. :dunno:

You can simply disconnect the trailer wiring harness from the stock harness itself, because it usually fits in between two connectors on your truck. It's usually behind the bumper near the license plate. just unplug it and plug the female and male connectors back together of the stock harness.

[mike3770]

This happened to me when one of my parking lights broke and it grounded out and kept causing my fuse to pop

[Chevy K1500]

This happened to me when one of my parking lights broke and it grounded out and kept causing my fuse to pop

What did you do to fix it? Because Ive had enough of it because I just cant find anything.

And I tried doing connecting the female and male ends by bypassing the others. And they still keep blowing.

[thebigo432]

Check your parking light fuse, I had my dash lights go out driving home once, and was surprised to see that he parking light fuse was blown. Was kinda stumped as to why the parking light fuse controlled my gauge lights, but check that fuse.

[Koots]

Check to see if the wires are grounding themselves elsewhere on the chassis. If they are anything like the 73-87 models they will probably ground themselves on the frame near the rear end after so much use.

[Chevy K1500]

I finally got it all solved.

But now we have this problem. My hazzards work but no turn signals, i got a new relay and check bulbs and all. so i have no idea again.