Instrument dash light LED upgrade
 

So, having owned my 1988 XJS for a year and realised the instrument and warning lighting is pretty poor I thought it's got to be changed. Forums helped a lot in how to remove the instrument panel but on my own initiative pretty much after that. It's not for the faint hearted and certain tools will help, such as a 15/16 socket to remove the steering wheel, however the results well worth it.
Had to remove both tachometer and rev counter to get those green filters out. Also the LED's only work one way so worth testing after installing. Having completed this little project, happy to help others who may want advice.
Overall cost £25, well worth it, I can drive at night and see what speed I'm doing 😁
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...daf2233fca.jpg
Looks neat and MUCH brighter than factory lights

Where did you get the LEDs from please? Were they a direct push-in replacement?

Hi Greg, got them on eBay from Malvern Audio and were push in replacements, simple enough once I'd managed to get the old glass ones out !

I used T5 LED's from eBay. Why did you remove the steering wheel? I didn't.

Blue LED is bad for the eyes.

Removing the instrument cluster was a bit tight without taking off the steering wheel for me, didn't want to risk damaging the flexible copper tracks

I have blue instrument lights and they would get very tiring if I drove the car a lot at night. I went blue as my stereo had blue lights, oh well I don't drive at night much any more.

Wow, really? I have been thinking about putting blue LED's because I really like the looks of blue lights. Also, Vancouver states that blue lights are bad for the eyes, hmmm. Well, maybe I won't do this, besides, the instruments lights on mine (face lift '94) are pretty clear and quite readable, plus, the greenish shade is a pretty presentation, maybe not as pretty as blue lights, OK, but I guess you just can't have everything.

Funny because I need to remove the cluster anyway, since I appear to have a high resistance ground connection to the temp gauge, oh well..

With just the T10 blue LED's I could not see the instruments very well, I ended up adding strip LED's top and bottom to make them readable.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...99b2eb4afa.jpg

Hi Livetorock

Those Blue Led's would really do my head in and so on 'Greg's' recommendation, I got these which are the same standard fit as the OEM only a lot Brighter being 5watt from ebay

Brighter Bulbs For The Dashboard Light Binnacle