A little problem that arose yesterday, after I had another issue with my stereo. They may be related or not, but no harm to mention it. First of all, while playing a CD I noticed that I couldn't adjust it in any way. The entire system froze and wouldn't allow me to eject a tape, select the radio etc. etc. It stayed on, even after switching off the ignition and removing the key, and the antenna stayed up.

I removed the Cd cartridge to no avail and finally disconnected the negative battery lead and after reconnecting it, the system switched off and the antenna lowered itself. All good, except that the following day, the instrument cluster didn't light up as usual when I switched on the ignition. No oil pressure light, ignition light, none of the usual warning lights at all. The memory seat and steering operated as normal.

The car started as normal, but the instrument cluster is dead. No speedo/ rev counter/ fuel/ temp gauges etc. It lights up when the driving lights are switched on. I have a dead radio also, so maybe there is a connection. I tried a hard reset, to no avail. Am I maybe looking at a dodgy ignition switch. PS I also checked all relevant fuses. 96 x300 4.0l Sovereign

Any input much appreciated.

 

Hello all.

I am quoting my own post here so I dont have to repeat the whole thing and to move it back nearer the top of the pile! It was slowly slipping into oblivion. Update is that I still have the same issue as stated above. I have checked the wiring from diagrams and schematics, as much as is possible ( some colour coding doesn't seem to match!) I have had the instrument cluster out and all seems fine with connections etc. Now I'm seriously running out of ides and have my NCT (annual car inspection) coming up in January, so this is really getting to be a priority. I read somewhere about an Instrument Pack Module. What and where is this? I will be at my donor car next week sometime and intend taking the ignition switch, instrument cluster and above mentioned module from it to try a swap over, if only to help identify the cause. Any, repeat, any thoughts greatly appreciated.

 

I think the instrument cluster is the instrument pack module.
You do not have to quote your original message to move to the top, it happens whenever a new message is added.
It is likely that there has not been a response because no one can think of an answer to your problem, but it does sound like a fuse to me.

 

Thanks for the answer. I have checked the relevant fuses and then some! The fuses themselves are fine, but this evening, just as it was getting dark, I found that there isn't any power cross any of the fuses? I even checked the ones in the front fuse box in the engine and same thing. I put a volt meter across the fuses and not a thing doing, no voltage. I will investigate this further tomorrow, as it occurred to me that I didn't have nything switched on, apart from the ignition. Maybe I need components drawing power, in order for it to show at the fuse. I will also try for power from the fuse to earth.

I will be looking into the "relay" situation also, as schematics suggested they should be blue, but a later upgrade substitutes them with brown.

I discovered also that the Instrument Module is in fact the Instrument panel, or "dash", so thanks for that also.

Watch this space! It's a little unnerving driving around without any warning lights or gagues, not to mention constntly topping up the tank!

Thanks again.

 

Bad Earth somewhere?

 

Thaanks for the reponse, but I have checked every earth that I know of and they all are fine, including beneth the ski slope, behind the radio, behind the instrument cluster, in the boot/trunk etc. I have also pulled all the fuses in the car, one by one and checked them all with a multimeter, likewise all fine. I have also swapped all relevant relays, one by one, with known good ones, no joy. I still have a niggling suspicion about the ignition switch, given my original issue with the radio staying on. And of course, maybe the instrument panel itself is suspect. I may get to my donor car during the week (3 hours drive away) and collect these parts for a look see swap.

Thanks again.

 

Just bumping this question up the list as I am still head scratching! Any thoughts at all?

 

A bulb only has two wires, power and ground.

So pick a particular bulb socket and test for power and ground. Whichever one is missing, start tracing back until you find the trouble spot.

 

Thanks for the response, but you've lost me! As stated, I have all lights on my dash when I switch on my driving lights. When I turn on the ignition, I have no warning lights and hen I start the car, I have no gagues. So far, I seem to have power and earths at every relevant point. Can you elaborate please?
Thanks again.

 

What is suppose Plums is saying (don't wanna put words in his mouth!) is that you must trace the circuit to resolve it. Your symptoms don't match some well known specific problem, so you (or somebody) must just sort it. It very well COULD be a loose ground strap near firewall, one of the firewall bulkhead connectors, the instrument module itself, a broken or frayed wire in the steering column.

Your statement that you have power and earths at "all the relevant points" is not accurate, since, as Plums said, the light would light if you had power at it's power lead and earth at it's earth lead, right ?

So, what to do next... When the lights to the dash are off, I would check the power and earth to the instrument cluster module. If you can get to that module's connectors, then check back if you need specific measurements to make with your meter.

 

Pretty much what Sparkenzap said. Just substitute "gauge" for "bulb" if you wish.

However, you said: "No oil pressure light, ignition light, none of the usual warning lights at all."

Do you know for a fact that there is or is not both ground and power at the oil pressure light socket with the key on in position 2? And how is the bulb? One of the three is not there.

So, you take one defect and you completely trouble shoot that defect. In the course of doing so, you will likely fix the whole thing. But, you must be completely methodical in doing so.

 

Thanks for the replies folks. I have tried to be as methodical as possible, following wiring diagrams and circuits etc. This has been made a little more difficult with wiring diagram colour codes and actual colours not always matching up.

I have already had the instrument cluster/dash out and checked connections etc. but didn't check for power or returns at the warning lights, which I will look ino tomorrow. I think the problem may well be related to my radio issue which preceded the dash problem, and so thought it might be a relay or ignition switch problem. It's one of those things you have to walk away from every so often or else you get lost and it does your head in!

But I have kept a note of all the specific things I have checked. Will look at my wiring diagrams again tonight!

Thanks again.

 

Well, after clearing my head and studying wiring diagrams etc. I approached this issue again, with a methodical checklist approach in hand, as suggested by some posters. I read somewhere the fact that relays may sometimes work in pairs, or in conjunction, at least, so my first approach was to swap out whole groups or banks of relays, as opposed to just swapping them with known good ones, one at a time. I felt that the problem might be relay related, as it started with a radio that wouldn't turn off and the instruments and radio share a relay.(apparently)

I started with the heel boards, all clear, then moved on to the boot/trunk. As mentioned in a previous post, I found that the wiring diagrams/ colour codes, didn't always match up with what was actually in place in the car. The same is true for the relays, as an original blue relay was substituted by Jaguar, with a brown one at one stage.

My car is a 96 model, but the daigram of the boot relay layout in the workshop manual bears little comaprison to my cars set up. Mine is much more like the 97 year model.

It was while checking the relays in the boot fuse box, that I noticed that I seemed to be missing a relay!! The Auxilliary Positive Relay! According to the manual, ( 96 YM) this is the one beside the large positive power terminal at the bank of fuses and should be black with a violet stripe.

In actual fact it is brown, as per the 97 YM. Except that it was missing! It occurred to me that at the initial investigation, I must have removed this relay and returned it again, but into the wrong socket. I put it into the High Mounted Stop Light socket, which had been empty, as my car isn't fitted with this. So, I placed a dodgy relay into an unused circuit, so it went unnoiced as there was no input or effect.

It was a lghtbulb moment and just seemed so obvious! In the words of Homer, "Doh!"

I popped a brown relay into the Auxilliary Positive socket and hey presto! All gagues, warning lights and radio back up and running! Happy camper!

I have tried to include a pic of my boot fusebox, to illustrate the layout and the supposed/documented relay colours, as opposed to what is actually there. It shows also the difference between what the manual says a 96 YM layout should look like and compare it with what is in my boot! I will try to post this again at another time.

Apologies for the long post and many many thanks for those who contributed and gave me food for thought. It is always too easy to develop tunnel vision when chasing a problem and an alternate viewpoint is always appeciated.

Thanks again!

 

soggod-
Thanks for the result post! It will almost certainly help someone else in a similiar predicament. And we all do those stupid moves... for me, it has included swapping heater hose placement and putting stuff back together leaving out a step requiring a complete head dis-assembly!

 

Hey guys, i have exacte the same problem but i havent fiddled with the relays in the back, is it positie that a relay is broken?

 

There are 2 or 3 fuses for the instrument panel

See page 22

www.jagrepair.com/images/AutoRepairPhotos/X300 1996 LWB.pdf