electronic instruments not consistently working

[ea81turbo]

On my 90 Subaru Dl, the temperature  guage and  4wd indicator lights (not super important) don't consistently work, I would have thought they would either work or not work, they sometimes work. The dimmer/dashboard backlight does not work at all. Any solutions?. Dodgy relay?

Thanks

[DaveT]

Look for loose connections?

 

[el_freddo]

Could be a dodgy earth, or a loose connection behind the instrument cluster. 

The back lights could be the dimmer wheel not plugged in, faulty or set to the lowest setting (off!). 

Cheers 

Bennie

[ea81turbo]

13 hours ago, el_freddo said:

Could be a dodgy earth, or a loose connection behind the instrument cluster. 

The back lights could be the dimmer wheel not plugged in, faulty or set to the lowest setting (off!). 

Cheers 

Bennie

Looked at all the connectors, and none were loose. The bulbs were all in tact too. Could there be a fuse for the cluster light. Or even a relay that is playing up?

[el_freddo]

5 hours ago, ea81turbo said:

Could there be a fuse for the cluster light. Or even a relay that is playing up?

Dunno mate, you’d have to look into it. 

Is the thumb wheel for the cluster illumination lights plugged in? If so, do you have a second one to swap in and try?

Cheers 

Bennie

[Naked Buell]

Check your ground connections. You could even run a separate ground to make sure you have a good one. 

For them all to be having problems, I'm thinking ground, only because I have had that problem before and it was the ground. 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Naked Buell