Hey guys- I just got a 1998 Xjr- I had one like this 20 years ago. Great car! And a bargain.
question: the clock and the side steering wheel controls for the radio and cruise control don’t light up at night. I assume they are supposed to. Are they on the same circuit? I’m checking to see if bulb or fuse.
( I have 2 e types 68 n 69- troubleshooting those are simple- I’d hate to see a schematic of this car!)
One reply said nothing on the steering wheel is illuminated? That’s odd!

 

Nothing on the steering wheel illuminates.

 

Yes my friend, these cars are very sophisticated, and well engineered......
so well-engineered that most drivers find little need to be visually reminded that
the higher button means increase speed and the lower button will decrease
speed on the cruise control which is conveniently placed on the right of the
steering wheel and easily located by tactile touch. However, I am certain
there are those who find that a little too demanding of their memory.

 

Wow now I see that some old XJR owners may be a db, unlike my fellow e-type owners. Sorry, Lousy design and ineptness in engineering aren’t excused by “sophistication” I’m afraid. Cars costing one third of this had proper common sense dash illumination.

 

Just sell the piece of **** and get a Toyota!!!!!!!!!!!!
You will be much happier! (Screw those non lit steering wheels)

 

If you were my children I would call a time out…

The quality of the control markings for both the illuminated ones and those on the steering wheel are all high quality (even 20 plus years later) and difficult if not impossible to differentiate when not illuminated.

As such, it’s easy to wonder if the ones on the steering wheel should illuminate and ask the question. When answered by one of the more respected Forum members that they do not, that should probably have been accepted, perhaps even noted as a quirk but surely not as a reason to insult the engineers who designed the car. Even the XKE’s - arguably the most beautiful cars ever made - have their quirks.

Then a rebuttal that was probably meant to be humorous - and we could all use more of that, not less - perhaps tipped into irony or even sarcasm but internet posts are probably not the best places to interpret nuance…

Then the insults and name calling started to get traded back and forth, all over whether the steering wheel controls on a 24 year old car should have been illuminated or not! Most of us are here because we love these particular beasts and it shouldn’t come as a shock that insulting something loved is likely to illicit a passionate reaction…

 

ahhhh well...humor is a dish that is not universally tasty. In a forum with many personalities
present, it is possible a comment meant as humorous was taken as an affront. If so, then let
me offer a sincere apology as no slight was implied or intended.

 

Aren't the controls on the Jag steering wheel there so that they could be operated by feel, i.e. without having to look at them so that you can keep your eyes more on the road (safer driving)? If this presumption is correct, then the engineers have designed the controls properly.

 

Yes...they are.