Hey guys, 1993 w250. It was brought to my attention last night that i have to tail lights or license plate lights or sidemarker light or parking light infront. Turn signals work and brake lights work. Dash lights and gauge lights work. Any body got any advice??

 

Fuse #4 and the headlight are in that circuit. Not unusual for part of the switch to go bad while another part is good.

 

If dash lights work, it's usually the fuse.
The fuse blows because there's a short to ground somewhere. Might be fun to find.

 

i checked the fuse it didnt seem to be blown

 

could the headlight switch have gone bad? Fuse #4 didnt look blown

 

Fuse 4 is before the switch. The circuit divides inside the switch to terminals R (tail/clearance lamps) and a rherstat going to terminal 1 (dashboard lights)

It's unlikely the dash lighting would work if the contact is bad, but the connector could be bad at terminal R. If you have a 1 ton (lotsa clearance lamps) or pull a trailer, that connector contact catches a little heat.

I'd crawl under the dash and look at that connector. You can probe the wiring at that point also.

 

where are these terminals at? And to replace the headlight switch do i have to take down the entire dash or just the instrument panel cover piece

 

It was the switch. I sprayed some electric contact cleaner up in the plug and in through the back of it and put dielectric grease on all the prongs of the new switch and everything worked

 

That's a common failure. It's pretty easy to put a commodity relay (mini-iso with tab) fastened to the underside of the dash near the switch for that circuit. That eliminates headlight switch failure.