It's not a "problem" with the dimmer per se... If you leave any adjustable control unused or unadjusted for long enough it will become intermittent. Leave your car sitting long enough and your fuel level sender will flake too... amhik...
If it's really the dimmer rheostat you can bypass it and they'll go full bright. Then you can clean it or work it quickly for a couple of minutes to bring it back to life again, or you can replace it.
The dimmer in my 87 began dropping out randomly sometimes after 15 years when I didn't drive the car for a few months and I'd first turn the lights on. Confused me for a few seconds the first time it happened but a couple of quick rolls of the dimmer and they'd come right back on and set to whatever brightness I wanted and work fine again....
The fuel sender however, came and went at random as I turned corners and filled the tank even after I cleaned it, 'till I finally got tired of it dropping to empty at random replaced it.
Of course there are other things that can cause the dash lights not to work but in the case of the dimmer, if you just adjust it every now and then it should go back to working if that's really the problem.
If it's really the dimmer rheostat you can bypass it and they'll go full bright. Then you can clean it or work it quickly for a couple of minutes to bring it back to life again, or you can replace it.
The dimmer in my 87 began dropping out randomly sometimes after 15 years when I didn't drive the car for a few months and I'd first turn the lights on. Confused me for a few seconds the first time it happened but a couple of quick rolls of the dimmer and they'd come right back on and set to whatever brightness I wanted and work fine again....
The fuel sender however, came and went at random as I turned corners and filled the tank even after I cleaned it, 'till I finally got tired of it dropping to empty at random replaced it.
Of course there are other things that can cause the dash lights not to work but in the case of the dimmer, if you just adjust it every now and then it should go back to working if that's really the problem.