The dashboard/radio lights flicker from time to time. Whether applying the brake (occassionally) or using the turn signal it's becoming more common. Any ideas?


2003 Sebring LXi, 2.7, sedan.

 

i Had that problem on a town and country does your car have a wheel type dimmer switch for the dash and interior lights a whell like a couputer mouse but bigger if so its in the switch wich is your problem rotate it down a little and see it it does it any more if not you need the switch replaced.

 

Replace the multifuction switch, There is a TSB for this problem.

 

Is this something I have to take to the dealer to get fixed? Is this a do it yourself item? I'm kind of tired of taking this car into the shop.

 

Sorry for resurrecting a thread dead for years, but I might have a similar problem with my 01 Sebring I bought about two months ago. The dashboard lights - gauges illumination, to be more precise - work intermittently. Most often not at all, but sometimes they do, and sometimes they flicker. I've been searching for a fix online and all I could find were cases when the gauges illumination did not work at all, which is caused by the inverter going bad - as in when it fails, it fails completely. In my case, the gauges sometimes work, sometimes they flicker, but most often, only they do - nothing else. The radio and trip computer dimmer (operated by the ring on the multifunction switch) works fine 99,9 % of the time - only sometimes it flickers once or twice as well, but not in the same manner as the gauges illumination.
My question is - could both of these problems be caused by the dimmer ring on the multifunction switch?
Also, the speedometer needle is a bit jerky sometimes, as in it does not move smoothly, primarily when braking harder it jumps from i. e. 60 to 52 to 47 to 44 to 32 mph instead of lowering smoothly. (I suppose either a speed sensor going bad or bad electrical connection somewhere, though the connection might relate to the illumination flickering, or am I wrong?)
I bought the car in not very good condition (which I found out only a bit after the purchase) and these are one of the last things to fix it up to my standards.

 

Things to check:

1. Bad ground in dash. There are several grounds. Can be a bugger to get to.

2. Inverter in instrument cluster. Likewise.

3. Transmission output speed sensor. Cheap, easy repair.

4. Multifunction switch. Not very hard to change out.

 

Thanks for the advice

 

The "limited" model is the only one that has an inverter. The limited cluster is white with black letters/ needles. The white part lights up, not the letters.

 

Yes, that's my dashboard. It's beautiful - when it works. I live in the Czech Republic and the car is in EU spec, I'm not sure about the "LXi" designation, I looked it up somewhere... and I see I was mistaken, according to wikipedia, it's called LX in Europe, later to be renamed as Limited. Top trim, in all cases:

"Trim levels offered in Europe were LE (equivalent to North American market LX) and LX (equivalent to North American market LXi). From 2004, Touring and Limited versions started to replace the LE and LX designations respectively." from wiki