Dash Button Lights

[Guest Dave.Brady]

My dash button lights only work when I turn on the fog lights. Nothing when the headlight or park light switch are activated. Any ideas what the problem is? :confused:

1989 Red Reatta Coupe / Tan

Edited May 4, 2010 by Dave.Brady
spelling (see edit history)

[Ronnie]

Hi Dave, Welcome to the forum.

Please add the model of your Reatta, (and any other relative information), to your signature line. It will make it easier for us to help you with answering your questions without repeatedly asking you about the Reatta you own.

Click "User CP" in the menu at the top of this page and scroll down to "Edit Signature"

Thanks!

[Howard]

Dave, you did not state if your CRT dims when the fog light button is pressed. I'm assuming that is the case. If your dash pod lights turn on and CRT dim only when the fog light button is pressed, your problem is a very common one. The issue is the headlight switch. This is an often covered problem and using the "search" feature on the forum will allow to view all the comments. When I got my Reatta back in 1998, my dash lights and CRT dimming did not function. I got everything working again by spraying WD40, using the attached straw on the can to spray a very small amount of the product between each button of the headlight switch while turning the switch off and on for each of the buttons many times. That solved my problem. My dash lights, Transmission Display, and CRT dimming circuit worked correctly for the next nine and half years. Many people have questioned my use of WD40. They said I should have used an electrical contact cleaner. The reason I didn't, is that some contact cleaners are caustic to plastics. They will etch the surface. WD40 did not harm any of my dash parts. The fact that the light pod worked correctly for such a long time, at least in my case, proves the worth of WD40. Assuming the WD40 trick does not work for you, another headlight switch is in order. While new switches have long since been discontinued, a used one can be found pretty easily. May I suggest our own Jim Finn. Jim is a member here and has many Reatta parts that he sells for very reasonable prices. His customer service is second to none. I don't have his email address handy, but a search of the forum will turn it up. I hope you get your pod lights working soon.

[Guest Dave.Brady]

Thanks for the information. I'll give it a try. As information: my CRT doesn't go dim when I turn on the fog lights. New wrinkle: when I put the lights on bright I loose the pod light even with the fog lights on.

[Ronnie]

Although he covered most of it in his last post, Howard wrote an excellent tutorial about the problem you are having that you might want to look at. It can be found here:

Reatta Owners Journal - Instrument Panel Lights Troubleshooting

Edited May 8, 2010 by Ronnie (see edit history)

[Jim]

Howard is right I believe. The two parts to go bad the most often in the '88-89 Reattas are the CRT/touch screen and the headlight switch module. When the headlight switch modules go bad often it is hard to turn the lights off, the slider/dimmer does not work and all the background lights on the dash and console will not come or or will not dim.

Headlight switches are the one item I recommend folks do not buy on Ebay unless the seller states that all functions work.

Thank you, Howard, for the recommendation and I do have a good headlight switch module available and can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

[Guest tomt]

But you know: after a while you really don't care that much about the pod lights. Mine were intermittant as long as I had my 89. I did the WD-40 thing, and it worked some of the time.

I'd be driving down the road, and all of a sudden they would start working. That was always a good day. Enjoy your Reatta and its quirks.

Tom T.

Former owner.

[DAVES89]

When you drive down the road and all of a sudden the pod lights go out, in my opinion that is the inverter gone bad.

When one pod or the other pod goes out that is a backlight issue on that particular pod.

[Guest Dave.Brady]

Thanks so much for all the information. I tried the spray lube trick and now everything is as it should be. I'll hope for the best for the long run. Nice to have everthing working again.

[Howard]

Glad you got everything working again. Just a quick comment. The reason the dash lights turned off when the high beams were on, the fog lights turn off when the "brights" are activated.

[Guest Richard D]

Dave, Thank You for letting us know what worked. Some folks forget to post the fix and it gets confusing for my few brain cells that still work.

[Ronnie]

Dave, Thank You for letting us know what worked. Some folks forget to post the fix and it gets confusing for my few brain cells that still work.

I'll second that. It's always good to know the outcome.