The other night I was driving home in the dark when I noticed my the lighting for the gauges starting to fail. Soon, all I had left was the lighting on the speedometer, and it failed shortly after that. Fortunately I had a GPS unit running, so I could monitor my speed, but I was filled with dread thinking that my parking lights also went out.
I checked the fuse and found it blown. I replaced it, but still no lights. I checked the connector in the steering column. It had suffered heat damage