Expert: Roland Finston - 1/31/2012

Question
I HAVE A 2003 CHRYSLER SEBRING SEDAN 2.7 ENGINE ABS. MY DASH LIGHTS ARE OUT ON THE GAS GAUGE,TEMP. GAUGE, R.P.M.GAUGE,AND SPEEDOMETER. THE ODOMETER IS LIT. AND SO ARE ALL OTHER LIGHTS.THEY WILL DIM DOWN WHEN I TWIST THE CONTROL. I NOTICED ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO, SOME TIMES I WOULD HAVE THE DASH LIGHTS SET ON HIGH. THE LIGHTS THAT WILL NOT COME ON NOW WERE REAL DIM . THE NEXT DAY THEY WOULD BE BACK TO NORMAL. THIS WOULD HAPPEN ABOUT ONCE A WEEK. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IS WRONG, AND HOW TO REPAIR THIS. THANK YOU.

Answer
Hi Roy,
If it is just the variable intensity cluster lights, but not the other variable lights around the dash, then it is probably a connection issue at the cluster or its grounding wire connection.
I would remove the instrument cluster, then on pin 12 of the plug is the orange cluster lamp voltage wire that should be variable from 12V down to near 0V. So check whether that is what it shows. If so, then check pin 11 which is the ground wire to see if it shows a resistance of near 0 ohms to ground (nearby shiney metal surface). If both those check out on the plug I would open up the cluster and check the connection of the socket pins for those two where they connect to the circuit board. Chances are one of the solder joints is loose and needs to be re-heated with a soldering pencil. Let me know if you need the instructions for removing the cluster to get at the plug/socket/circuit board.
Roland
PS Sorry for the delay in answering but I just found your question in the 'pool' to which it had been referred by Kevin.