2006 Roadtrek 210 Popular dash lights hard to read

[LaneG-iRV2]

Wife and have had tent camping trailer but never a powered RV. Bought an 06 Roadtrek 210 Popular.
I'm used to driving our Mazda 3 or Ford Ranger. This thing is HUGE. Going to take some getting used to.
It's needing a tune up and tires and a thorough reading of all the owners manual etc.
We are super excited about it. Didn't sleep very well the night before. Thank you all for this wonderful forum.
Question, I found that the dash and speedo very hard to see and read. Like looking into a very dark tunnel. I played with the lights etc but it didn't get any better.
Anyone have similar experience?

 

[DaveBad]

Is anything covering the ambient light sensor (small dome-shaped sensor near the windshield) or is it dirty?
Did you locate a scroll wheel to adjust the brightness?

 

[booster]

Wife and have had tent camping trailer but never a powered RV. Bought an 06 Roadtrek 210 Popular.
I'm used to driving our Mazda 3 or Ford Ranger. This thing is HUGE. Going to take some getting used to.
It's needing a tune up and tires and a thorough reading of all the owners manual etc.
We are super excited about it. Didn't sleep very well the night before. Thank you all for this wonderful forum.
Question, I found that the dash and speedo very hard to see and read. Like looking into a very dark tunnel. I played with the lights etc but it didn't get any better.
Anyone have similar experience?

During the day or at night? Depending on shading do to direction of the sun and darkness of sunglasses, I have found ours had to see also. When there is low sun to the side of the van coming in the door window it gets behind sunglasses and tires my eyes quickly so I will put on dark tint wrap around goggles so two layers of dark and dash readings is near impossible.

 

[LaneG-iRV2]

During the day or at night? Depending on shading do to direction of the sun and darkness of sunglasses, I have found ours had to see also. When there is low sun to the side of the van coming in the door window it gets behind sunglasses and tires my eyes quickly so I will put on dark tint wrap around goggles so two layers of dark and dash readings

Is anything covering the ambient light sensor (small dome-shaped sensor near the windshield) or is it dirty?
Did you locate a scroll wheel to adjust the brightness?

Yes I found the scroll wheel. No difference. Didn't know about the light sensor. I'll check it out. In doing research I found that the light switch that the scroll wheel is attached to frequently goes bad in these models of van. I fiddled with it quite a few times and noticed that it is not consistently dimming the dash lights. I've ordered a new one from NAPA. Thank you for your reply.

 

[LaneG-iRV2]

During the day or at night? Depending on shading do to direction of the sun and darkness of sunglasses, I have found ours had to see also. When there is low sun to the side of the van coming in the door window it gets behind sunglasses and tires my eyes quickly so I will put on dark tint wrap around goggles so two layers of dark and dash readings is near impossible.

During the day. And thank you for your reply. Read my answer to DaveBad above.

 

[GallenH]

My PW is almost 10yrs older and I don't know the style of your dash but: I also had same problem with reading speedo especially with sunglasses. So I installed a small LED light on steering column pointed at that display. Works well. I put a switch on it but never botheri turning it off since it is only receiving current when ignition is on.

 

[booster]

My PW is almost 10yrs older and I don't know the style of your dash but: I also had same problem with reading speedo especially with sunglasses. So I installed a small LED light on steering column pointed at that display. Works well. I put a switch on it but never botheri turning it off since it is only receiving current when ignition is on.

I have thought about doing that myself, do you have a source on what you used?

No I mainly look at the Scangauge or GPS for speed and on the new Scangauge 3 I will also have fuel level so should be covered with it's hopefully bright enough screen.

 

[TX-Trek]

In addition to this forum, this site was a great info resource when we bought our 2020 210P:

Meryl and Me Hit the Road

Roadtrek 190 Class B RV motorhome how tos, life and travel in an RV and Roadtrek, motorhome vacations.

roadtrek190popular.blogspot.com

The menu at the top of their site breaks info down into 4 main categories with very good explanations of the systems.

I use Mitchell online DIY (subscription) but this site provides factory manual info on the Express van itself:

Free Car Service Manuals from LEMON Manuals

LEMON Manuals provides free repair/service/workshop manuals for about 10,000 US and Canada market vehicles from 1960-2025. No sign-up, no paywall!

lemon-manuals.la

 

[LaneG-iRV2]

My PW is almost 10yrs older and I don't know the style of your dash but: I also had same problem with reading speedo especially with sunglasses. So I installed a small LED light on steering column pointed at that display. Works well. I put a switch on it but never botheri turning it off since it is only receiving current when ignition is on.

That is an interesting idea. I went ahead a purchased a new headlight switch and dimmer unit from Napa, hopefully that will fix the problem.

In addition to this forum, this site was a great info resource when we bought our 2020 210P:

Meryl and Me Hit the Road

Roadtrek 190 Class B RV motorhome how tos, life and travel in an RV and Roadtrek, motorhome vacations.

roadtrek190popular.blogspot.com

The menu at the top of their site breaks info down into 4 main categories with very good explanations of the systems.

I use Mitchell online DIY (subscription) but this site provides factory manual info on the Express van itself:

https://lemon-manuals.la/?fbclid=Iw...IIvMN2zdR2g1iMEI0_aem_M03mFIpLlcQio6Mb3KrR1Q[

http://Thank you very much. !

 

[LaneG-iRV2]

In addition to this forum, this site was a great info resource when we bought our 2020 210P:

Meryl and Me Hit the Road

Roadtrek 190 Class B RV motorhome how tos, life and travel in an RV and Roadtrek, motorhome vacations.

roadtrek190popular.blogspot.com

The menu at the top of their site breaks info down into 4 main categories with very good explanations of the systems.

I use Mitchell online DIY (subscription) but this site provides factory manual info on the Express van itself:

Free Car Service Manuals from LEMON Manuals

LEMON Manuals provides free repair/service/workshop manuals for about 10,000 US and Canada market vehicles from 1960-2025. No sign-up, no paywall!

lemon-manuals.la

Thank you very much!

 

[sbslider]

For me, when I can't see the dash I turn the lights on. Overall it's not a big deal, but perhaps is moreso for your vehicle. I have a 2006 Pop 190. I didn't even know there was a light sensor that could fail . . . .

I will add I have gotten a lot out of the Meryl and Me site.

 

[sbslider]

For me, when I can't see the dash I turn the lights on. Overall it's not a big deal, but perhaps is moreso for your vehicle. I have a 2006 Pop 190. I didn't even know there was a light sensor that could fail . . . .

I will add I have gotten a lot out of the Meryl and Me site.

Oh, I will add that I add I had issues with the headlight switch early on. I was able to get it to work again with the original parts, unfortunately I don't recall exactly how now. I believe the switch button pushed the circuit card away from the headlamp switch, preventing the switch from functioning. I was able to clip it all back together. What I do remember is when I pushed in the switch to disable the light from turning on when the door opened, I somehow disconnected the headlights. It happened once at dusk when I was 15 miles down a two lane road in the middle of almost no where. Fortunately I had fiddled with it before and got if working again. I've not had a problem since I secured everything back in mid 2025.

Hopefully you're new headlamp switch unit does the trick, let us know!

 

[LaneG-iRV2]

For me, when I can't see the dash I turn the lights on. Overall it's not a big deal, but perhaps is moreso for your vehicle. I have a 2006 Pop 190. I didn't even know there was a light sensor that could fail . . . .

I will add I have gotten a lot out of the Meryl and Me site.

I did have the lights on. I ordered a new headlight switch with the dash illumination dimmer. I hope that does it.

 

[Scottie409]

Yes I found the scroll wheel. No difference. Didn't know about the light sensor. I'll check it out. In doing research I found that the light switch that the scroll wheel is attached to frequently goes bad in these models of van. I fiddled with it quite a few times and noticed that it is not consistently dimming the dash lights. I've ordered a new one from NAPA. Thank you for your reply.

Dash lights are poor on my chev 3500 so I replaced all bulbs with led ones available on Amazon in different colours, I went with standard white, big difference!

 

[Mr. Merk]

If your dimmer is working properly, the factory lights should be more than enough. In fact, I normally dim mine down as far as possible while still remaining visible.

Making your dash lights, radio, or rear-view display brighter only hinders your vision further down the road—it is the same principle as driving with your fog lights on. Increasing the light intensity in the foreground causes your pupils to constrict, which reduces your ability to see clearly into the darkness ahead.

 

[booster]

If your dimmer is working properly, the factory lights should be more than enough. In fact, I normally dim mine down as far as possible while still remaining visible.

Making your dash lights, radio, or rear-view display brighter only hinders your vision further down the road—it is the same principle as driving with your fog lights on. Increasing the light intensity in the foreground causes your pupils to constrict, which reduces your ability to see clearly into the darkness ahead.

All true especially about having the fog lights on when no fog and doubly when on the brights.

But, what I was talking about, and perhaps others is seeing the shaded dashboard in bright daylight, especially with sun glass on. Same principal as at night, but pupils close in the bright sun and can't see the much darker shade of the instruments unless very brightly lit.

 

[LaneG-iRV2]

If your dimmer is working properly, the factory lights should be more than enough. In fact, I normally dim mine down as far as possible while still remaining visible.

Making your dash lights, radio, or rear-view display brighter only hinders your vision further down the road—it is the same principle as driving with your fog lights on. Increasing the light intensity in the foreground causes your pupils to constrict, which reduces your ability to see clearly into the darkness ahead.

Dash lights are poor on my chev 3500 so I replaced all bulbs with led ones available on Amazon in different colours, I went with standard white, big difference!

Scottie409 thank you for this info. Was it much of a chore to replace those bulbs?

 

[booster]

Scottie409 thank you for this info. Was it much of a chore to replace those bulbs?

Scottie409 has a 2001 Roadtrek so would be the previous generation van that ended in 2002. Various places I have looked are contradictory about if the the 2003+ vans have bulbs or leds soldered on the circuit board. Some say they changed in 2007 but many don't say that.