I had previously posted this on the jag-lovers web site.

My odometer/status display in the dashboard was flickering
on/off regularly - it finally got to the point where the
display was readable maybe 2% of the time, the rest of the
times the display was dark.
I disassembled the instrument cluster and noticed two things
- both part of the switching power supply that steps up the
voltage (the vacuum fluorescent display requires more than
12 V).
a) the electrolytic capacitors were bulging a bit (top
safety vent was no longer flat, but slightly convex) - a
sign that they are beginning to fail (the caps that Visteon
- manufacturer of the cluster - used are pretty good ones /
I looked the part up).

I replaced these as a precautionary measure with Panasonic
FC series caps - 220 microF, 50V - bought those from DigiKey.

b) Resistor R1 (a surface mounted part) had a rather
questionable solder joint (very little solder, solder joint
looked 'cold') - furthermore, the resistor was not properly
aligned in the first place. Likely cause of this is that
insufficient solder was applied on its mounting pads - when
reflow soldered the solder melts, and surface tension aligns
the component to the pads.

I resoldered the resistor (though I did not realign it as I
don't have the heated SMD tweezers and I definitely did not
want to damage the circuit board).

The odometer/status display is now working fine, at full
brightness with no flickering/cut-out.

Photos are located at
http://www.jag-lovers.org/snaps/snap...?id=1237525124

 

Thanks for the tutorial , I added the images i nyour message so that it would be easier to track down and FAQed

 

we can always use an electrical genius around these forums, hope you stick around!

 

Thank you for sharing cstich, nice job!

 

Which year car please? Original design, redesign (2003ish) or 2005MY?

 

This is for the earlier S-Types, prior to the first redesign: 1999-2002
Christian

 

Wow THANKS this is actually the reason i joined the web site but i didn't think anyone would be able to help me because its such an odd issue. now can anyone point me to a guide on disassembling the dash?

 

Glad to be of help.

First, disconnect the negative terminal from the car battery.

All I remember was that I needed to remove the wood veneer part that stretches from side to side on the dashboard. To do this you need to remove the center air vents (and I believe the driver's side air vent), the trip computer/emergency flasher switch panel (pull out, and disconnect wiring harness - might have to do this through the now open vent opening, don't remember). Once the wood veneer part is free, push it toward the driver's side to unlatch it, then remove it. After this just remove the screws holding the instrument panel in place and disconnect the wiring harness without pulling the instrument panel to far out.

Now, fix the dashboard, then do everything in reverse.

 

that was.... interesting i broke one clip completely of and bent 3 of them so they are now only held by a thin piece of plastic i dont know how well the vents are going to go back in if they are wiggly ill probably pop them out and get some double sided tape. anyway now that i have it out i grabbed a multimeter and did a continuity test and OH MY the resistor our tech guru told me about had a cold solder joint....i think this fix doubles the value of the car since i bought it TMU. =)

 

Wow, nice post there Christian
Lovin the write up, and glad to have you here with us...looks like you'll be a great asset to the site!

 

Hey odometer is still working. Little tip if you break the clips some superglue will make them good as new.

 

I know this is an old post but I am now having this exact problem and wonder which capacitors to use because there is several different types on the Digikey website. Part number would help. Thanks, Blake.

 

He gives enough data - anything matching will do. Higher voltage would also be OK.

If you still don't know, maybe post some links to each of the ones you're wondering about so someone can say "the 3rd (or whichever) one".

 

Don't have the part number ready. But any low ESR and 105C electrolytic capacitor should do. You should also look for 2000+ hours rated life. As I wrote above I used Panasonic FC series caps - I think they had the highest rated life at 7000+ hours.
Christian

 

Blake,

Are you 100% sure capacitors are blown?

We did this very repair last week - just 10 seconds with a 15w fine solder iron. Sorted and working.

I didn't touch the capacitors - I placed a flat edge across the vent and was satisfied no "bulging".

Regards,

 

Okay I am going to attempt this on my baby. I have never soldering or taken my dash apart. I bought this soldering gun, is it the correct for this application?

Shop Weller Electric Pro Series Soldering Iron at Lowes.com=

Does anyone have a clue how to take the dash apart or a diagram?

 

Just an update on this odometer issue. I finally got it fixed!!! I tried the soldering but it did not work. I then broke down my cluster to the bare "nuts & bolts" and saw that my display has some blackening in the inside like something had blown or been fried. I found a guy in Dallas, Tx that said if I found an old odometer he could reprogram it from the information that was on my current broken odometer.

I was a bit skeptical due to the info on here stating you CANNOT start an S-type without an odometer programmed to your car and that only a dealer can do it. The dealer wanted about $1500 plus my car would be out of commission for 2 weeks as they would have to send the odometer to Great Britian to get it recalibrated to a new one.

So I took the risk with this guy at the business of Zepco, (972) 690-1052, after I bought a used odometer on eBay for $65. He charged me $180 plus tax (which was extremely reasonable compared to the Jaguar dealer), and he had it done in less than a day. It works perfectly and I paid about 1/6th of the price. I highly recommend these people as they were easy to talk to and saved me a boat load of cash. If you have any questions just let me know because it's been awhile that I've been trying to figure out this problem and the nightmare is finally over, until the next one that is.

 

Thanks for the update, that is interesting and useful information.

 

I'm going to have to try this. My odometer doesn't even light up anymore.

 

Hi, i'm italian and i've try to repair odometer of my 2001 x-type 2.5 petroleum whith no result. The information on display is off. I've changed 3 electrolytic capacitors on the odometer 1x4f-10849-df mounted on my jag. Now I want try to change the odometer than I woud like to know if I can use the 1x4f-10849-ej or -ab or -dj or -eh ...... Another question is if when I change the odometer is necessary to make some setting to confirm km registred on old odometer. Thanks to all. Alessandro