I'm sure most of us by this time have one (or both) of the backlights out in the J-Gate. While fiddly to get the actual display out of the car, it's not impossible to do so, you just have to take your time and think it through.

Some things I discovered along the way, in no particular order:

1. luckily I have thin fingers, so, releasing the large white connector on the left hand side bottom of the shift lever box (for lack of a better term) was doable; you just have to remember there is a button to the outside that has to be depressed (it's the same connector as is used for the phone connection in the rear of the console) in order to separate the connector.

2. the yellow connector (which goes to the 5th gear override when you move the shift from D to 4) is located on the right hand side, again, take your time.

3. I found that leaving the lever in P when removing the lighting assembly does 2 things: 1) makes it easy to remove the lighting cover, and 2) since it's locked by the solenoid, the chance you'll damage the tiny microswitches is minimized.

4. The lamps (there are 2...), as someone mentioned in a previous thread, at least in the US, assuming that your local Radio Shack store still has the parts drawers, are 12V 50mA incandescent bulbs. Part # is 272-1154, and they're 2.49 each. It was easy, with the use of solder wick and a fine point soldering station, to remove the old lamps, clean up the through-holes, and reinstall the replacement lamps.. Doesn't make any sense to only do one, it's fiddly getting back in there, so might as well do both at the same time.

5. When removing the faceplate from the backing mount, remember, at the D end of the faceplate there is a tiny philips head screw holding the faceplate to the mount. Ask me how I found this out...

6. Being somewhat OCD, I took the time, whilst i had the assembly apart, to take the disk, face plate, and mount to the sink and washed it clean to get all the crud, dust, dirt, and who knows what else (I think it was a spilled drink or some such) out of the assembly. I like working on clean parts...

Just some random thoughts. Basically, I picked up (as I said previously) a spare J-Gate from my wrench, replaced the lights, put it in my '00 XJ, which assembly I now have on the bench...I'll update the lights in that and put it in my '98 XJR...that removed assembly will get freshened up, and I'll return it to the mechanic's stock with fresh lights...albeit with the "D" LED (I'll try reflowing the solder with my SMD rework station and see if that corrects the issue...) dodgy.

 

Mine comes on sporadically when I go from park to reverse, hasn't bothered me enough yet to hunt it down, notice I say "yet" lol.

 

Thanks Bob. I was recently wondering about this. Is the J gate illuminated as a whole, or is it just the individual gear designations that light up when you shift to them?

 

Warm blue backlights come on with the rest of the backlights in the car, and illuminate the whole j-gate, when lights are switched on and car is at least in accessory mode. The gear pos indicators are red LEDs that should come on when the car is on, as individual gear designations.

 

That's what I thought. I have the red LED part but no backlight. I recently replaced my Jgate due to it being cracked. Where is the blue backlight?

 

The blue backlight is actually 2x 12v incandescent bulbs with blue filter condoms (for lack of a better term...but you get the image) slid over them. There are two bulbs, both soldered onto the circuit board that is mounted (buried?) in that center part of the plastic cover.

IIRC, I listed the part number in the first message of this thread, if you have a Radio Shack close to you (which is not as common as you might think here in the US anymore) you can get them there.

I realize I should have posted a photo...but was intent on actually fixing the thing. So, the next one I do (probably next week, after Christmas whilst I have time off from my day job), I'll take some photos and put a string together for the collective. It's not that hard of a job to do (like anything else, if you have the right tools...), but it does require taking the time to do it right.

Here's what the light looks like:



lead spacing is correct, once you solder in place, clip off the excess.

 

I'll be doing mine soon enough, here's a thread I've flagged for my reference....
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...cklight-75330/

 

Thanks for all the information on this subject, I have no backlights so will be doing this fix soon, going into Maplins today which is an electrical store over here to see if they stock the bulbs.
Have a good day everyone
Andy

 

The guide in the link provided by High horse is the best guide you could want as it includes photos and detailed information about doing this job.


A.J.P. Good Luck getting any sense out of Maplin, I went to them to get bulbs and they weren't able to help me. Even when I took the specification of the Radio Shack bulbs to them they were clueless. In the end I got my friend who wrote the guide in the link to send me $20 worth of bulbs from the USA.

 

Hi Stu,you were quite right had no luck at Maplins as you say clueless,I emailed Radioshack and they have the bulb but do not ship to U.K. but I shall not give up,I take it you have done your backlights on the jgate,did you have any problems or did it all go according to plan.
Have moved house since Xmas so not had time to do much,also the weather is against me at the moment.
Enjoy your Jag,
Take Care
Andy

 

Yes, I had my friend in the USA send me a load of bulbs, they work perfectly. I'm sure one of the nice folks on this forum would be willing to help you out.

 

I plan on doing mine soon, I live maybe 3 blocks away from Radio Shack as well. PM me your info.(shipping address,# of bulbs you need & we can work it out).

 

Now I know I need to replace a couple bulbs, but my question is what would make the still functioning bulbs only work sporadically when I go from reverse to neutral or over to 2nd gear. Once I get it apart to replace bulbs what's the light catalyst I need to check for, is it a button etc.