Dash lights and A/c control lights don't work

[knux511]

Hey guys, wondering if anyone had any experience with this kind of problem. I have a 98 XLT 4.0 2wd w/ the 5spd. The other day driving home from superior i noticed that my dash lights dont work, i have no speedometer or gas guage lights, and when the cruise is engaged, there is no light, but only when the lights are turned on. When the lights are off, it says that the cruise is engaged. The lights for the A/c control panel also don't work. I pulled every fuse and checked each one, and so far they are all good. any ideas?
thanks alot.

 

[Dusty_Ranger]

my 88 dose the same thing ...... any help would be cool

 

[knux511]

ok, so i went to the local bumper to bumper and the guy said it may be from the headlight switch. so i went home and pulled the swithc out of another ranger to see if it really was the problem, and still no dash lights. i figured that as long as the dash was out, might as well do the swap i've wanted to so i had a tach, and i pulled the dash out, and the speedo didnt work, but the tach did..... any ideas? the cab that i pulled the stuff out of was a 95-97 model, not exactly sure, and my truck is a 98. the wiring plugs were all the same and fit into the gauges just fine.... anyone have any experience?

 

[knux511]

ok, so i figured out what my problem was. the person that onwed the truck before me made a shoddy trailer light hook up, and in doing so, enabled it to short out and blow fuses for the taillights, dashlights and license plate lights. once i fixed that, no more problems. Also, i got the gas gauge to work... ford made a bracked that holds the wires up against the body with a bracket, and over time the wires got rubbed through and eventually grounded out. so theres a good place to check if you are having the same problems

 

[94 lngbd]

I was about to post ,but you found your problem & other lights that weren't working. Most all vehicle on the roads today are designed that if the dash lights aren't working then your taillight wont be either.

Whats weird though is that you KNUX511 said that you had already checked all of your fuses