dash lights are not working they just turned off they were very dim

check fuses first. then if dash fuse is good you might have to pull odometer panel out and replace few small bulbs in back. hope its just ur fuse. sometimes headlight switch/knob controls dimness of dash lights to. not positive how it works on cougar

Try fiddling with the dimmer position. Those are notorious for having bad contact spots in them. If you move it around a bit and the lights get bright again' replace the dimmer.