Drove my 86 XJ6 for first time in dark. Dials were hardly lit. I thought well I will just rotate knob to raise level. It was all the way up!!

Are these dash dial lights notoriously dim or another todo to add to my fix list? 😁

If a problem any suggestions? No burned out bulbs just very dim

Thanks. Randy

 

they are always like that.

if you replace the bulbs with higher wattage bulbs, they will burn the plastic color lenses inside the gauge Typical mistake.

some owners bypass the Dimmer rheostat but you gain little brightness.

some use LEDs and supposedly fixes the problem but creates other problems such as having to use relays.

 

Ha ha - Love it.... Thanks Jose!!

 

I've had good luck bypassing the resistor.

On my present car I jumped on the bandwagon and went to LED bulbs. But it wasn't easy. The six instruments require three different bulbs. No problem finding LEDs to fit. The problem was getting the brightness to match on all the instruments . I found a mismatch to be very annoying.

Eventually, with the help of a fellow poster, I found the right combination of LED bulbs. It required changing the socket on the speedo or the tach....I can't remember which. All's well that ends well but I was just about ready to throw in the towel and go back to the standard bulbs.

If you're interested I can try find the thread that covers the details

Cheers
DD

 

Doug, I'd love to try the LED route as an "overwinter" project. If you ever find those details, I would take the plunge. Ian

 

Oh me. Mine are "lights out".. Jump the rheostat? last year, aye. Today, no matter, not likely to drive it at night. And, if I do, a small flash light in driver door pocket...

Carl

 

ask me about the anemic WIPERS in my '84.
i replaced the wiper motor, no cigar. I still have the 1983 Vintage Collectible Collector's Item original wiper motor. The 1985 motor is as anemic as the original.

Enter my 1965 S type. Two speed Lucas wiper motor. Fast as any modern car. It actually copes with rain storms. The XJ ? forget it.

 

Thanks for the replies... this item is kind of low on my to-do list DD so I will see how Ian fairs (fares?) with his winter project. I am sure he will write up a step-by-step procedure for us all to use - ha ha.

I get a free weekend with good weather and have so many little projects planned. Half the fun of owning an old car is cleaning it up and fixin' stuff !!

Oh, by the way, my trip compute appears to be toast. Not a flicker of life. I need to do a serious fuse check and someone I thought said there was a "reset" procedure.

Also, my 15 year old daughter was so psyched there was an old cassette player in the car. Until we fed it a tape and it ate it and... nothing. The radio doesn't do much and the lights on the unit just kind of randomly flicker on and off. But the antenna grinds its way up and down -

Randy

 

See posts #3 and #12 in this thread

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...s-pics-191007/


I ended up with these for the smaller gauges

https://www.ebay.com/itm/182544151604

And these for the tach and speedo

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079KPD2P1/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=viglink 21907-20


Cheers
DD

 

Randy:

I guess I am fortunate. The radio and player in my 83 work decently. Some casettes uust fail. A glue joint of the tape parts. " I have some really old ones. The
play OK in either the Jaguar of my 94 Jeep.

OTH old 8 tracks are worse and rarely survive... I've a bunch of 'em!! Two decks to run them, not hooked up anywhere..

Carl