2000 Instrument Cluster Not Dimming

Driving my 2nd gen out from Houston in a serious down pour 3 weeks ago... lost the dash/ dimmer function. I was also pulling a trailer and i lost a trailer light in the same trip, but that turned out to be a bad trailer ground wire. not sure if they are related...

No blown fuses... with the dimmer knob rotated all the way up i still get interior lights (map lights) and when you click the dimmer knob down one click it dims the odometer light as normal. Then when you rotate the knob down one more click to start dimming the dash the cluster and HVAC controls all go out.

Searching didn't come up with much avail. i was just looking for common problems. ie. is the dimmer switch known to go bad? any known problems with grounds or bad connections behind the fuse block?

Thanks for any leads:nail:

Rheostat probably gave up.
Not too uncommon.

Mark.

the rheostat in the switch itself? thanks man, i will put a ohm meter on it after i pull it.

i just wanted to see of that was a common problem with the switch because this ol girl has a LMC dash cap and bezel so its not exactly friendly to remove... but its gatta be done.

Yes, it's in the headlight switch assembly.
Just be careful pulling it apart, is all I can say.

Mark.