No Speedo w/Headlights On

[orange57]

Hey guys,

89 olds 98

The speedo works fine when I do not have the lights turned on. When I turn the lights on the speedo does not work, and it goes to the position where it rests when the car is off. Also, when the car is turned on there is a faint lighting of both of the turn signal arrows. When the headlights are turned on the dim arrows remain and the light for the brights is dimmly illuminated. Could this be caused by a faulty headlight/dimmer switch? I tried searching bud didn't find much results.

Thanks,

matt

[orange57]

More info to pass along. The speedo works at night if I have the dimmer turned all the way down only. If I try to turn the interior lights up, the speedo dies. I get lights on the climate control panel but the only lights that go any brighter in the speedo cluster are the two turnsignal arrows and the signal for brights. I replaced the headlight switch and the dimmer switch with a couple I picked up from a junk yard same problem. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
matt

[maxwedge]

Start looking for bad grounds in the affected circuits, get a wiring diagram for reference. autozone.com, repair guides, has some diagrams.

[orange57]

Thanks for the reply. I started looking into it, and I found that over at the battery ground cable, there was a small 12gauge wire with a crimp on the end but no wire going into it. I looked around and found a free floating wire. I hooked it up and all is good again. I found out a couple of the bulbs behind the instrument panel need to be replaced, another issue all together Thanks for the help, much appreciated. I always get some good answers here to help keep the car on the road.

thanks,
matt