My gauge cluster sent up smoke signals the other day. It only happened when I turned on the exterior lighting. The dash lights flickered and then went dark. The smoke then appeared along with the smell. I thought I had an issue with the cluster ... boy was I wrong. I took the cluster apart, checked the ribbons and dial lights. All appeared normal. I put it back together and had the same result.
I started looking elsewhere, check the grounds and that the fuse connections were good. I then looked at the ashtray light and noticed it was out. I thought it might be the bulb and tried to remove it. I broke it, so decided to remove the window switch/ashtray assembly and that's when I found my problem. It ended up being an issue in the center console. A mouse had gotten into the car over the winter when it was in storage. It left a nest in the center console and had chewed the insulation off the ashtray light wires causing a short. The problem manifested in the dashboard / gauge cluster.
I had searched the forum and not really found an answer. I thought I'd post this so anyone unfortunate enough to have this happen might find my solution a help one day or at least give them something to inspect.
Linear Mode
