In my 97 Chevy Blazer, I have an overhead display (compass, temp). This has gone out, as have the two spotlights on that same panel.

I have gound that the rear wiper control isnt working as well.

Electrical issue, are these issues one in the same?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Do the rest of your dome lights work? They all (including the rear wiper) pretty much use the same ground point which looks to be on the back of the passenger side cylinder head so that might be a good place to start looking. You can test for proper ground at each accessory. Should be the black wires.

 

Not the dome light. THe two spotlights in front that you can control off and on at the touch of a button, the overhead display (compass and temp) and the rear wiper are all off.

 

The dome light uses the same ground as all the rest which is why I mentioned it. Sounds like you need to get out a multimeter and start testing. There are several splice joints that could be suspect, but it really depends on whether or not you are losing power or ground to the affected items.

 

whats the best way to access that passenger side cylinder head?

 

Check the ground at each of the affected components first. If you have good ground, then the problem is elsewhere.

As far as the best way... Get a mirror and take a look. There isn't much room back there. It really depends on what tools you have available to you. I will typically take out the distributor to get at that ground, but you have to make sure that you mark the rotor position and scribe a mark on the lower intake manifold to ensure that you get it set back in properly both in terms of the rotor position and the body position.