Dash lights do not turn off when the car is off?

Tiny
DAVEM16
  • MEMBER
  • 1966 MERCURY MONTEREY
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 1,200,000 MILES
I have a the vehicle listed above S55 Convertible and some of the dash lights wern't working but most were. The center fuse (the one I pointed to on the attachment) didn't have power. I had changed all the fuses and it had never worked.

I thought that was the reason some of the dash, clock and trunk light had never worked.
Today I cleaned the fuse box connectors with a little sandpaper, I pulled the fuses out and rubbed the connectors with a little sandpaper and replaced the fuses. Now they all work and have power going to them. But still some dash lights do not work and the instrument cluster which worked fine before now does not turn off, even when the key is off.
If I pull the middle fuse out (the one that never had power on the attachment) the cluster goes out but before it would turn on when the car is on and turn off when it of was off. So right now, the clock, wipers, map light and trunk light do not work (they have new fuses) and the instrument panel does not turn off.

It's crazy, I thought by cleaning the fuse connectors would fix everything but now I think I made it worse. Can you help me out? Thank you!
Saturday, February 24th, 2024 AT 5:06 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,555 POSTS
Is the vehicle stock? No added stereos or lights or LED lights? It sounds like you have a power feed returning through the dash. I would look close at the fuse panel first, maybe a holder got bridged with corrosion or the box has an issue. Next would-be a failing light switch. The attached might help. The instrument panel, ash tray, and switch lights are all on that fuse. If you pull that fuse and they go out it likely isn't the fuse box. Then you need to go to the light switch and unplug it, then use a pick on the tab to release the blue, red terminal from the plug. Plug the connector back onto the switch with that wire disconnected. If the lights stay off now it points at a bad switch (dimmer section might be shorted).
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Sunday, February 25th, 2024 AT 10:20 AM

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