my gages etc are suffering a blackout. all the other lights work. i was playing around looking to find the inline fuse for the cigar lighter and may have accidently messed something up. any suggestions?

Has the rheostat been turn down inadvertantly?

Check the panel light fuse...#8 in the left fuse box. If the fuse is OK...including no corrosion on the end caps ir clips....remove the wires from the back of the rheostat and jump them together. Report back if no change

Cheers
DD

thanks doug....will try shortly...what/where is that rheostat??

The panel light dimmer. On your '86 it'll be next to the trip computer.

Cheers
DD

ok..checked the fuse #8 and it was ok. i had the trip computer out and was peaking around at the rheostat. how do i go about jumpin the wires??

Unplug the wires from the rheostat and join them together with another piece of wire. You may have to remove the wood panel to do this.....depending on your dexterity in working thru the trip computer hole :-).

Cheers
DD

i think i got it doug.

i wound up taking the front panel off (very easy to remove by the way) and noticed only one wire hooked up...i popped the other on and hopefully problem solved... the tough part is i have to wait a few hours to find out if im winning b/c its probably the brightest day ever here in central jersey and i can t tell if the gages are illuminated.

it is working fine now that i reconnected the wire that was off.

thanks again doug.