Re: {Chrysler 300} dash lighting on my 61 300 g

Jeff Carter at JC Restorations rebuilds gauges and switches.

Gas gauge moves around a lot, going to empty when car is off, then back up to wherever fuel level is, then comes down as fuel is used, and goes back down to the bottom when car is shut off, so the thin wire that is connected to the needle to make it light has a tendency to break after 65 years. ;-)

Depending on your dexterity and soldering skill, you can remove just the fuel gauge from the cluster and see if you can reattach the thin wire yourself, or ship it to Jeff.

The brightness of the electroluminescence is controlled by a rheostat built into the switch. Either, or both, the rheostat winding or the wiper contact could be suffering from corrosion after the same 65 years and can be cleaned once the switch is removed from the dash. If the 'jumper' was connected to the headlight wire coming from the switch, it should be at full brightness all the time. If it's not really bright, the power pack may have a capacitor that is not functioning as well as it used to, so it may also need a 'rebuild' or replacement of said capacitor. Jeff does that, too.

If you drive in the daytime and keep track of miles driven, you can remove the switch, the fuel gauge, and the power pack and send all three to Jeff and still use your car for daytime car shows if you don't feel like you want to tackle the repairs on the three items yourself.

On Thu, Feb 26, 2026 at 9:58 AM Allan Zolis <allanzolis@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi Everyone,
There is one item on my dash that does not light up anymore. It is the orange needle for the gas gauge. Every other light works fine except this one, even the "green" that lights up the gas gauge itself.

I should mention that the dimmer function on the light switch does not dim or brighten the dash lights at all. It seems that it is just somewhere between high and low. I believe that a jumper wire was used just to get them working.

My question is, if it's just the one gas gauge needle not lighting up, where does the problem likely lie?

Checking to see if anyone can help with the easiest remedy. I would hate to have to pull the instrument cluster and send it out just for this one issue.

I do want to send the light switch out for a rebuild, unless there is a source for a new one.

Thanks all,

Allan Zolis
Odessa, Florida
allanzolis@xxxxxxxxx
941-447-0925

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