I've pulled out the instrument panel and have the supplies I need to add a redundant ground. However I'm not sure where it should be attached to. Can someone shed some light, please?

Also, based on the contacts you see in the picture...do these look like dirty contacts to anyone. Just trying to get a point of reference of what a bad ground looks like so i can identify them.

 

See thge metal bar running horizontally at the top? Run a wire from that metal bar to a known good ground under the dash. That's it.

The contacts don't look too bad....at least not from what can be actually seen....but clean 'em all anyway. You'll kick yourself if you don't.

Be gentle !

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks, Doug. By known good ground under the dash you mean physically attached to the car right?

Removing all the green gels from the instrument too. Hopefully this will really brighten it up.

 

Right....a metal piece that is part of, or very securely attached to, the actual body of the car.

Cheers
DD

 

i'm so upset. Got all the connectors cleaned and was about to make the redundant ground when i realized the spade connectors i bought are too small to house the wire!!!! Waste of money.

So here are my next two questions: 1) can i run the redundant ground using bare copper wire (looped around the screw/bolt like you would wire a household ceiling lamp...is that a stupid question???)? 2) if found 2 bolts just behind/slightly above the steering wheel that are bolted to a horizontal piece of metal. Would this suffice for the chassis side of the ground??

 

That doesn't make for the cleanest, most professional looking job.....but it'll work







Probably. I can't say for sure. It's been a couple years since I've been under the dash of an XJS so I can't quite visualize what you're describing

Cheers
DD

 

here is the bolt i'm talking about....see the arrow:

 

Yeah, I think that'll do it


Cheers
DD

 

ok, so I cleaned the PCB, added the redundant ground, removed green gels from under the tach and speedometer...dropped everything back in and then......drum roll please!

Realized I accidentally bent my temp gauge needle, noticed the upper bulb by the speedometer still looked a bit dark and had no horn.

I just pulled out the instrument panel again to check the bulb. Bulb looks good, but looks like a piece of the copper track that touches either side of the bulb is missing. Looking for a home remedy for that online right now. Any ideas?

Have no idea what happened to the horn.

Fixed the temp gauge needle ever so gingerly.

On a positive note, the dash looks 150% brighter without the green gels. Huge difference. I definitely recommend removing the gels to anyone who hate how dim the instrument panel is. I also added some brown leather trim to the panel and surround to replace the cheap headliner material. The brown matches perfectly with the burl wood in the car and looks super sharp. I'll post some pics when I drop the panel back in.

 

Temp gauge fixed - check
Torn copper track on PCB fixed with a piece of aluminum foil - check
New leather trim added to instrument panel dash to replace headliner materials - check
Redundant ground added - check
Oil pressure gauge is now working - check
green gels removed from instrument panel- check
lighting on instrument panels 1 million times brighter - check
bulbs changed on switch panels - check
Driver side map light is now working - check
New interior rear courtesy light assemblies installed - check
New Hazard switch installed - check

Still need to figure out why horn isn't honking.
Also need to address turn signals. New hazard switch fixed them partially and now I have turn signals, but the left signal blinks normally (front and rear), but left side blinks super fast (front blinks so fast you barely notice it is blinking, rear blinks very fast but visible). Still no blinking on instrument panel, but I can now hear the blinking noise to left me know the blinkers are on.