Hi there, I have a 1968 Mercury Montego wagon and I'm trying to get my dash cluster to come back to life. The previous owner said that he "replaced all the bulbs back there and nothing happened." He says it could be the circuit board delaminating. I'm not too sure about that because there is one bulb to the far right that still works, I can see it glowing green when it's dark out. My left turn signal dash light works as well, but the right does not. Previous owner did a horrible job of putting the dash back together and used drywall screws..... Everything else works on it, all the exterior lights (besides the taillights which are a whole different project if anyone has suggestions..) Runs and drives, starts every time, just needs the little weird ford things done. I have a shop manual and will be testing my fuses soon, and one is actually missing but it's considered an 'accessory fuse.' Wondering if anyone has any suggestions before I dig in. Thanks!!
The illumination bulb sockets likely need the terminals cleaned with a pencil eraser (they have very fine pumice in them), and the terminals might need to be bent to make better contact. It's also possible the bulbs might be burned-out used bulbs; some people recycle used bulbs. But I think the socket terminals need cleaning and tightening.
Yes, the turn signals and all exterior lights (besides reverse) function. I'll have to open it up to find out, thank you for the reply. Definitely sounds like something he would've done, this guy didn't care at all about this vehicle and probably put old bulbs or the wrong size back there. I'll let you know if your suggestion helps!
Member Leadslead has a '66 Monterey Breezeway, and his wife went through to install 194-equivalent dash lights; they made a huge difference, considering the gauges and speedo are silver-faced. I may still have a pic somewhere of it; I'll post it if I find it.
