instrument lights

[gatotom]

76 911S with a total rebuilt, well, almost total except for this little nagging problem. The tach and speedo lights can barely light the instrument let alone the driver see the numbers.

All the other instrument lights are normal, the tach is the worst.

Is it a bad ground??? The bulbs are new and all wire connects are clean and shiny. There is no rust anywhere on this car.

If someone can help this ol' gezzer out who has been driving these cars since the mid 60's and never had a problem like this, thanks in advance.

[RoninLB]

If I suspected a ground problem I'd run a test ground wire and touch the light ground to See what happens. Rick M was supposed to get higher watt bulbs that would fit the sockets. This went down about 3 weeks ago.

[Early_S_Man]

If the grounding isn't the problem ... pull out all of the bulb holders after taking pics of the wiring colors to all holders in each instrument.

1. Get some 9% pickling vinegar, and remove all of the bulbs from the holders.

2. Soak all of the holders in a bowl of the vinegar for 10 - 15 minutes, then dump the vinegar out and soak/rinse the holders in distilled water for five minutes ... while shaking/agitating the holders twice per minute.

3. Drain or blow dry with compressed air.

4. Polish the Faston tabs and external cylindrical surface which contacts the instrument body receptacles ... with auto rubbing or polishing compound, then rinse/wash in isopropyl alcohol and dry.

5. Dip each wiring Faston connector for the bulb holders in 9% vinegar and brush the 'inside' contact surfaces thoroughly with a soft tootbrush. Rinse in distilled water, and blow dry.

I believe you will notice a dramatic difference with those new bulbs!

After cleaning and testing for satisfactory illumination ... apply silicone grease to each Faston connection to protect from future oxidation!

[gatotom]

Early_S_Man

Thanks for your reply, I haven't tryed that one yet nor did I think that was the problem cuz the bulb holders were all clean and shiny from a good cleaning with emery paper.

Oxidation would make sense.

North Hollywood Speedo repair told me that it is a common problem with my vintage and their fix was to add led lights and wear sunglasses.