'86 5KTQ instrument cluster lights out

[L DC]

Thank you all for your responses. I will look into the dimmer control next to see if there is the problem. I also have a spare dimmer (trip computer) that will swap to see if that does the trick.

John, should the '86 5KTQ share the same relays as found as in the '87 model you mentioned, does the glovebox need to be removed to get to it?

Thank you all again.

LDC   


--- On Mon, 10/13/08, john at westcoastgarage.net <john at westcoastgarage.net> wrote:

> From: john at westcoastgarage.net <john at westcoastgarage.net>
> Subject: Re: '86 5KTQ instrument cluster lights out
> To: "L DC" <ldc007usa at yahoo.com>, "quattrolist" <quattro at audifans.com>
> Date: Monday, October 13, 2008, 5:34 PM
> You said" The instrument cluster lights on my '86
> 5KTQ went out last 
> night as I pulled into the driveway. The lights on the
> diff. lock 
> control panel also went out.
> 
> I checked the fuse panel under the hood and all fuses look
> fine.
> 
> I've read about a kink on the wires near or at the
> trunk lid that causes the instrument cluster lights to go
> out but not sure about which models it affects.
> 
> Thanks in advance for your input!"
> 
> LDC
> 
> I'm not sure about the '86 5000Qs, but the '87s
> have a light control relay above the glovebox.  A few months
> back I spent WAAAAAAY too much time looking for this puppy,
> and it was only by luck I found it.  There were a few well
> meaning efforts to point me in the right direction, some
> referencing the Bentley manual, but in the end it took me
> parting out a car to find it.  About the size of 2 normal
> relays, with venting for the heat, and clipped to the
> underside of the front of the dashboard.  In my case, it was
> probably bad contact at the pins, and plugging/unplugging it
> a few times after spraying it with a good quality contact
> cleaner/enhancer did the trick.  I have a spare if you need
> it.  BTW, it's a couple of hundred bucks, I think, at
> the dealer.  John