Cluster lights went off, then on?

[Ranger4x4.0]

I noticed the left half of my cluster lights were out, and figured it was just the light burned out. But a month now, and I caught it flicker for a second. I tapped on the dash and they lit up. Could this just be the black screw on things loose or a short, or worse? Tia

Sent from my SAMSUNG S7 using Crapatalk

 

[RonD]

On '99 Ranger instrument cluster I see TWO power wires on TWO separate connectors for the instrument cluster lights, 3 bulbs on each wire.
It is the same for '97 as well so your '98 will be the same.

So yes, 1/2 the bulbs(3) could go out if one of those connectors is loose, or has some corrosion on the connection.
You would need to pull out the cluster to look and reseat it.

Dash lights use light blue/red stripe wires

The fact that they came back on when you tapped on the dash would indicate problem is most likely in cluster not Dimmer switch