Hello, Great forum, Lots of data here but this one is unusual.

I just bought a 97 Dodge work Van 2500. An old GTE with the GTE added wiring additions. I found that the Panel Light does not light when I turn on the lights and when the Rt Door is opened, the Dome light does not come on. When the other doors are opened the dome light comes on. The Light Switch turns on the dome and the light of the radio clock wiill dim and turn off. The light swith will cut off the dome light from comming on when any door is opened.

Also, When I hit a hard bump there is a knock, jump or bump in the dash.
All fuses look good but I did not put a meter on them.

Guesses to what it is?
How do you get to it?
Fix?

 

The switch needs to be cleaned or replaced in the right door to fix the dome light issue. The dash lights could be due to the headlight/dimmer switch having a broken element. Again, if you replace this switch the dash lights should work again. The one other possibility is that all of the dash bulbs are blown.

 

Thanks, I have never worked on the insterment panel in a Dodge Van before. The way it looks I need to remove the piece on top of the instrument panel.

How is that done in a 97 Dodge 2500 Ram?

 

Depending on your trim level, you may have to start with the driver's side sun visor, then the trim over the driver's door, next the trim down the left windshield pillar and finally, the cover on the dash. Don't forget the one screw in the glove box! The panel will have 5 phillips screws attaching it to the metal part of the dash. I don't know about the light behind the speedo but the one behind the ammeter and oil pressure gauges can be accessed by removing the gauge background and the ammeter gauge. You can then pop off the light cover and pull the bulb out.

 

This is a generic image after the trim dash panels are removed.

 

One more thing -- depending on how many miles your van has on the clock you may find that the wiring harness connector attached to the rear of the instrument cluster has worked some of the connecting pins loose.

When these pins work loose it results in erratic gauge operation and flickering cluster lights or no lights at all. Quick fix is to run a bead of electrical solder around all of the pins near the base where they connect to the circuit board to reestablish a firm connectin to the circuit. Best results are achieved with a 25W pencil-type soldering iron; don't use the gun type, too hot.

I wrote about this a few years ago on this forum; use Search and you will find more detail and a also picture of a completed repair, I think.