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Today I was reassembling my dash and as I was bolting the gauge cluster back in a couple of the bulb holders for the various indicator lamps fell out onto the floor of the car.
In looking at them it seems the small tabs that hold them into place as the are twisted into the back side of the gauge cluster broke off.
Then when I pulled the gauge cluster back out, I discovered that there are a total of five of these missing on the left hand edge of the gauge cluster.
Anyone know if these are still available? The ones I have are a brownish orange but there might be blue-green ones available too but I don't know if they are any different. green or green or brownish orange?
I can never remember the year and model of XJ40 you are working on - it helps to add that info to your signature line so it shows up in all of your posts. For the 4.0L cars, the bulb and holder assemblies are still available from Jaguar. The part numbers all supersede to JLM1928. Unfortunately, ten (10) bulbs are required to renew all the bulbs in the cluster, and even at a "discount" price from a dealer like jaguarmerriamparts.com, the price is USD $31.17 each:
For our '93, I searched and searched for the correct bulb holders from a less-expensive source and found lots of them that were similar but not exactly so. Here's an example of one that's close but no cigar:
The solution I came up with was to purchase a used XJ40 instrument cluster on eBay for USD $40.00, which gave me ten good bulb holders. I then replaced the bulbs with new grain-of-wheat style bulbs which were less than USD $0.50 each from bulbtown.com. I can't recall for certain, but I think the bulbs are T1-3/4 size and the bulb number I used may have been one of these:
I remember the bulbs I used worked fine but were not quite as bright as the original bulbs. If you search you may find similar bulbs with higher wattage ratings.
red vs warm white vs bright white led lamps in gauge warning lights?
Yes, I found the led ones from the place in the UK however my question is "What color to get?"
They have an article on their web site that talk about how the light quality/type from an LED is much different than a incandescent bulb.
WHY YOU SHOULD NOT USE WHITE LEDS BEHIND COLOURED LENSES
April 25, 2017
The spectrum of light emitted from an LED is very different to that of the light from a halogen or filament bulb. This is particularly relevant when looking at tail/brake lights and indicator bulbs where you need a red or amber output. The same goes for warning lights etc. The picture below shows the light spectrums emitted by various types of light. This shows that white LED has very little red or amber in it. Warm white improves the issue but if you want a red light for example, use a Red LED - a much greater portion of the light gets through the lens. So, even though a naked red LED will not look as bright as a white halogen, stick it behind a red lens and you get a brighter result and a much richer colour too. If you need to light a number plate as well when using a red lens, then we recommend our range of warm white LEDs. They are much more effective than a bright white LED.
So the JLM1928 replacements from them come in red, bright white, warm white, blue, and green.
Are all of the XJ40 warning lights on the right and left edges of the gauge cluster red?
If they are then I would probably try ordering all red replacements for them like they recommend rather than the bright white or warm white.
What about the lights for the actual gauges themselves? Green? Warm White?
Are all of the XJ40 warning lights on the right and left edges of the gauge cluster red?
If they are then I would probably try ordering all red replacements for them like they recommend rather than the bright white or warm white.
What about the lights for the actual gauges themselves? Green? Warm White?
Hi Steve,
I didn't mention LEDs because some of the guys who installed white LEDs in their XJ40 clusters posted photos that didn't look right to me, and the explanation you found makes sense.
Also, from what I remember, not all LEDs are dimmable, and even those that are have a cutoff voltage below which they go dark.
The brown-base bulbs Larry found look like the best option I've ever seen. Kudos, Larry!
If I remember correctly, all the warning lamp lenses along the left and right edges of the XJ40 cluster are orange/red. The original bulbs for those lamps and the gauges are all white. In the center console I recall a couple of bulbs that were blue - maybe for the climate control panel or clock?
need dash light bulb holders - jlm1928
