No dash illumination left side?

[carnut]

I replaced my broken speedometer (odometer inop) and my clock today. Now my left side dash gauges wont light up except for the three warning lights at the bottom. Did I loose a ground by replacing the speedo or the clock? It was fairly straightforward. I then swapped bulbs and holders but no luck. The new speedo and clock work great, but no left side illumination? All the gauges work normally as well. If it matters, I did the swap with the cluster dangling from the dash. I did not want to disconnect the shift indicator cable where it attaches to a brace above the steering column. Last month I soldered a jumper wire on the reostat and all the gauge illumination worked great till today. Thanks in advance. 73 280C column shift.

[Mr.Kenny]

Check your fuses?.....Also If it was me, I'd recheck my solder joint on the rheostat.
Otherwise?????

[meltedpanda]

you will need to remove it and check to make sure you have not damaged the connecting traces, all the lighting is connected so I suspect it must be something this side of the non illumination. Also the bulb holders must be put in correctly to connect the traces from one side to the other , I suspect your problem lies there

[carnut]

How can one install the bulb holders incorrectly? I lined up the notches, installed and rotated them. I installed the speedo letting the cluster dangle in the dash. I never removed or disturbed the left side printed circuit board. Yes, I will remove the cluster and look at the circuit board as suggested. Thanks for the reply.

[meltedpanda]

the little copper tabs on the sockets need to line up with the traces - cant be off or they will not work. Use a continuity checker to make sure you are getting current from each side. I once had a bad socket, the copper wings broken inside, never saw it , but found it with a continuity check

[carnut]

Thanks! I will check next Monday and Respond.