Dash lights......Help!!!

[Car Guy]

I just picked up an 88' Aerostar for very cheap and wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. It runs/drives great with only minor issues which I can take care of - tires, brakes, etc. Well it didn't take long to make up my mind, in the time that it took me to drive it home (5 miles at the most) I decided I'm going to keep it. I never had the chance to actually drive one but always thought that they were sort of weird looking, well I've now learned to NEVER judge a book by its cover.

Now on to my problem, when the headlights are off the digital dash aluminates like it should, however when you turn on the parking lights or headlights the dash lights turn off. Not to serious if it's daytime but I like to travel at night (less traffic) so it's going to be an issue. Other than that everything else seems to work well, and there is a ton of other stuff to work. It is the Eddie Bauer edition so it has every bell and whistle you can think of including the magical adjusting rear view mirror which I still can't figure out the reasoning behind?


Any info on my problem is much appreciated.......

Thanks

[Ima Ludite]

I have an electronic cluster. I had something like that.
1. When they all failed it was the dash light dimmer rheostat.
2. It also looks like than when the individual bulbs in the binicle go out.