Part of dash light bulbs pulsating/flickering

So I recently had a good amount of work done to my truck and driving home tonight, there is portions of the dash light bulbs that are pulsating/flickering. They are screaming bad ground but I’m not even sure where to begin looking aside from the obvious. I removed the cluster to check connections which were good, all grounds by the battery clean and tight, nothing really obvious that I am seeing.

It’s a 21 y/o truck and I’m sure taking things apart, rattling things with an impact, hammers, etc may have jarred something loose. Battery is brand new and alternator tested good.


You will mostly notice it on the temp gauge, 30mph notch volt meter and fuel gauge.
https://youtu.be/TkUXgHlCpXU

It’s one of those things that it never had any issues until it was worked on lol. Kind like when you take your car in for a windshield and your brakes start squeaking lol. I played with the dimmer and it does not seem to affect it. Anyone have any points where to begin looking?

 

Are those LED replacements? They look very white. If so, maybe it's a source of the problem. Cheap diodes can be problematic. If so, replace them and see if that fixes the flickering. Good luck.

 

Yes they are. I replaced them a few months ago and have never had an issue till tonight. I did remove them and reinstall to make sure they weren’t loose but that didn’t change anything. I’ll defiantly put some new ones in to see if anything changes. Good suggestion.

 

@SouthPaw as another means of troubleshooting you can also temporarily reinstall the original incandescent bulb to verify if you can replicate the issue. As well as installing a LED bulb from another known working position as @chunk suggested. I came to realize my 2006 uses LEDs in the factory gauge cluster when I replaced all other interior incandescents with LEDs. Do keep us posted!

 

Sometimes the leds 'prongs' slide to the side of the contacts when installing and eventually make intermittent contact. Could be a simple re-seat to fix as well.

 

I have extra bulbs so I wanted to try what @chunk suggested and swap the bulbs. I started the truck and everything worked before I even touched it. Took it on a 15 min test drive and all was good. I decided to head home figuring it ‘fixed itself.’ As I rounded the corner, it started pulsating again.

I popped the cluster and switched the three bulbs that were the problems. Took it on the same 15 min test drive and they stayed solid, no flickering. I think and hope that fixed it. I always figured that LED bulbs, especially that size, either worked or didn’t so I learned something new. Appreciate the advice Chunk!

 

That is clearly your future self telling you something just like Cooper was talking to Murph on Interstellar. Take notes.

 

Had a set of headlights to do so I tested one of the bad bulbs with my 12v bench supply.

https://youtu.be/jBrpBIyCreU

And eventually it died.


The other two bulbs held steady for 10+ min.

 

yea ive had bad luck with cheaper LEDs. sylvania or philips is all i buy now..

 

I've had Chinesium LEDs burn out. I just try out other Chinesium bulbs. Plenty to go around.

 

Pretty much the same. I have a box full of CHYNA led bulbs from over the years. The fun part is guessing what color they are...

 

On the tundra not a big deal. On my tacomas... yea no. Too much of the dash has to come apart