When headlamp switch is in auto position, and the headlamps turn on, the instrument illumination does not turn on. Cannot see the speedometer and tachometer gauges. When the headlamp switch is in the manual on position, the instrument illumination turns on. Sounds like something is wrong, - correct?

 

Just wondering....did you try changing the instrument gauge dimmer in both settings...might tell you if has anything to do with dimmer.

 

Just tried it and now everything is working fine. Starting to wonder about the flakiness of the electrical system in this car.....

 

Well...you know the old saying why the British drink warm beer...Lucas fridges
You will find being a long time British owner that you really have to get Sadistic/Masochistic pleasure from these vehicles and their intricacies (read as quirk and outright flaws). We are getting into an age where it is becoming more and more unreasonable to put up with these things especially in a used car not covered under warranty as your costs to repair by unknowledgeable technicians (which most that I have seen are....and maybe not really their fault) can skyrocket. I find it somewhat amusing (not really...) to be lectured by a pompous service advisor about my levels of ethanol in my gas with an air of scolding (checking ethanol appears to be the latest excuse for engine related problems...at least at my ex-dealer). This was a response to MY rough idle episode. When I told him I got gas from Costco he responded with a knowing "Ohhhhh"...and proceeded to lecture me (while moving back from me...you know "the unwashed masses" in his presence) about how the Jaguar is a precision mechanical instrument and it requires only the best to run properly (I held my tongue but that really isn't a quality I exhibit much if you have know any Texans)...I probably should have told him that my Ferrari runs just fine on the Costco gas (it actually runs better than on some gasses :-). I sat there and listened to this fool that probably really does know less than the majority of people that frequent these boards. The normal people that I run into at dealerships are satisfied with self serving simple answers (replace and covered under warranty...bring back if doesn't solve the problem) that quite frequently don't ultimately solve these complicated problems that crop up on these vehicles. Kick the problem down the road and explain away complicated problems with simple incorrect answers. Once out of warranty you should be prepared for the worst...and on top of it all you are still beholden to the replace and not fix the problem syndrome but with the added caveat..."it needed it anyway...so pay up". It really isn't all the dealers/technicians fault in that the design SHOULD account for things like long term issues with theses advanced electronics and design failures that occur due to a wide variety of reasons....what I have found they are generally resistance and component failure (sometime at the black box level in the forms of things like the individual components of something as innocuous as individual capacitors)....which falls way outside the level of scrutiny that most technicians can/will get into....and in all fairness I'm not sure they should have to. It does take time and we are all struggling through to pay our bills and ultimately come up with more time in all aspects of our lives...including making a buck.