Dash Lights

[StinkyFatPig]

there is this thing you can get, people use them for large car sterios and it stores X amount of power in the tube. Its for the cars with lots of power going to there subs. So when they dont have one each time the bass hits the lights dim. This might help your problem. sorry I cant remember what there called but i am sure if you went to any pro audio shop they would know what i mean.

[Mr Camouflage]

The Things you are refering to are capacitors, but they wouldn't help in this case as the voltage isn't getting to the globes in the first place because of the dimmer control.

If I rememeber correctly they are big heavy chunky things with a contact and a coil resistor in insulative housing. The coil and the contact corrode (or get dirty) increasing the resistance, so your lights go dimmer.

You can clean up the contacts with a bit of wet and dry, or if you never use it, short circuit it, taking it out of the circuit, so you get 12 volts going straight to your dash lights.

Mr C

[mmagnus]

I tried pulling the lumination switch last night but couldnt get to it.Feeling around it looks like one of the two wires has disconnected. Any idea how i can remove this switch. Do I need to pull the dash off?

[Mr Camouflage]

No I dont think you need to go that far! It been ages since I owned a 240z and I cant really remember how it fixed to the dash.

It's underneath, pointing towards the ground isn't it? It's probably held on by a nut around the center of the knob, either on the knob side of the dash or the other side. But I'm just guessing.

Have a good look at it in daylight, crawl under the dash with a torch if you have to. Better still, use a small mirror so you can see behind the dash. It shouldn't be too difficult to see how it's held in there.

Mr C.

[Cliff. Elford]

The first thing I did to get at that pesky little rheostat is to remove the drivers seat and put a pillow down to lay on. Thre are two screws holding the rheostat in place that are accessible from behind the panel. You will disconnect the connector plug and withdraw the rheostat complete with the mounting bracket. It sounds easy but it is a real pain. Give the rheostat a good shot of electrical parts cleaner and hope that does the job. no promises, cliff

[mmagnus]

Cliff thanks for the reply. I think I know whats wrong with the switch. When feeling around there is a wire that is disconnected.

Looking at my repair manual it has two wires, one that controls the dimmer and the other that makes it brighter. I think if I can get back there I can just reconnect the wire. Problem is getting back there. How hard was it to remove the seat. Did you have to go under the chasis?

[kmack]

If you find out you still have the dim lights at idle even after you fix your dimmer switch (or jump it), there is something else you might try.

My wife had an '80 Fiat X1/9 which are notorious for having weak alternators. I had the same problems with dim lights at idle but it also carried over to everything else, including turn signals, wipers, headlights. A relatively quick fix was to run two (2) 8 or 10 gauge wires from the alternator to the starter (instead of the standard one 10 or 12 gauge wire). The other part of this was to install an additional ground wire, either off the transmission or engine to the body.

The result was amazing! After the fix, you could drive with the lights on, defroster on, stopped at a light with the turn signal on, in the rain, and actually have the windsheild wipers work!

[Daniel]

Hi Mark,I haven't had time to look at my Z but I did look at the wiring diag.It shows only two wires connecting to the rheostat.If one is loose ,the dash lites should not work at all.There are just connectors that put the rheostat in the circuit.You should be able to just unplug the two wires from the rheostat and connect them together. This should not require removing the rheostat.Also I read where someone had written of the difficulty in replacing thdash bulbs.Its not hard.You just wiggle them back and forth.They are held in place by the "spring" tention of the bulb holder.The small gauges require the removal of the glove box liner.You just bend the liner to remove it.Its cardboard.Ihave a friend that made one that was easier to remove.I find that removing the clock gives better access to the other gauges.It is held in place by a "Y" type yoke.You'll see what I mean once in the dash.Remove one screw and remove the clock from the rear of the dash.It's easy!Be sure to disconnect the battery before starting this "funfest" Daniel

[mmagnus]

thanks for the response. I'll give that a try. I was trying to remove the radio/heater center panel last night but could not get off. I removed all of the heater switches, the maplight and radio but there was something holding it in. Any ideas on how to put that panel off?

[Cliff. Elford]

Mmagnus: The bolts to remove the seat are located at the four corners of the seat. The front ones are easy, the back ones are knuckle busters. I am talking about a 71 Z I don't know about the others. No need to go under the car. cliff

[kmack]

There are four screws that hold the panel to the dash. You need to remove the control knobs from the heater controls and the fan switch. The panel should pull out about an inch or two.

The sliders for the heater controls is mounted to the back of the radio/heater panel by four screws. These have to be removed before the panel can be taken completely out of the car. Remove the glove box liner and then reach in behind the panel to get to the four screws (mine had phillips head screws). It's a little tight but not too unbearable. Removing the passenger seat helps. It's more fun trying to get the screws started when putting everything back together.

The other option is the disconnect the cables from the heater controls. Not a good option if the dash is still in the car, IMO.

[Daniel]

mark,The heater panel is a real pain to remove.If you are going through with it you may try to find a 73 panel.It is lighted Daniel