Just like the title says, I have a 98' with the digital odometer and the LCD is very dim. It's not the bulb behind the odometer, it's the black numbers themselves that are dim. I'm guessing it's an issue with some solder coming loose, but I haven't been able to find an image of where to hit it with the soldering iron to try and get the connection back to good. It will come back on 'full clarity' so to speak every once in a while for a couple min. then it goes dim again. Anyone have images of solder points or suggestions? Thanks.

 

Any pictures?

 

What happens when you roll the dimming ****?

 

I guess I didn’t explain the issue well enough. The actual black numbers of the odometer reading are very dim, you gotta squint to see them in daylight or at night even with the dimmer turned all the way up. All the bulbs in the dash are working fine so rolling the dimmer brightens the bulbs like it should.

 

Why not re-solder all of the connections on the back of the odometer display ? Also, maybe the dimmer switch is failing. What is you try rolling that switch ?

 

Here is a pic of the odometer in the daylight. Maybe this will help visualize the issue.

 

My radio lcd acted like this before it went permanent blank. I think the component is failing due to age.

 

If it returns to normal occasionally, then it sounds like a bad / loose connection somewhere. If you're handy with a soldering iron it might be worth poking around and tightening up some of the connections as Rit suggested. The MAF related CEL codes on our cars are generally the result of cracked solder joints, so I wouldn't be surprised to learn the instrument cluster suffers from the same.

I am surprised to see orange gauge needles on an SE. I assumed they were all silver like my '96. If you can't fix your cluster maybe you could swap for an older one and roll it to match your mileage, plus you would gain the silver needles! (but I have no idea if they are direct swaps from a 96 to a 98, so don't take my word for it.)