I've noticed that on my tachometer the left half doesn't seem to be illuminated as well is the right half. Is that normal, or do I have a bulb out? And if it's a bulb, how hard are they to replace?

 

yup, bulb out...try tapping the dash a few times, maybe one good knock, if it doesn't return...you must change it.

Mine was loose once (and out), one good rap on the dash a year ago, and it has never tried it again!

 

Check out this thread
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...+cluster+bulbs

I had the exact same bulb out.

 

Well shucks... It looks like I'm going to have to tear open the dashboard.

When I replace the bulb I'm going to replace the bad one plus all of the others with LED lights. They are only about $4 each and they last forever. I won't have to worry about having to tear open the dash again.

 

I added a picture pages link in the FAQ sam, under interior

 

I replaced all four bulbs tonight. OMG! That's a pain in the ***! The biggest problem I had was reassembly. The knee bolster below the steering column just did not want to go back in.

Anyway, either the far left bulb is still out, or the lighting is just set up in such a way that the left side of the tachometer isn't illuminated very well.

I used LED bulbs, and they were supposed to be white, but the instruments now look blue. I'm not really sure how they looked before. I've only driven it at night a couple of times. I'd like to get some opinions from the other members. Does the instrument panel lighting on your cars have a blue tint?

 

sorry, green here. Most LED 'white' has a blue cast, so you'll get a little different color.

 

When you had the cluster out did you notice the "FORD" sticker on the side of it? I had the same bulb go out and I too replaced them with 194 bulbs. All of your gauges should look the same, no dim or dark areas.

 

Well now I'm wondering if I trace on the circuit board is bad, or if something else is wrong. I guess I'll open it back up tonight (what a pain) and see if I can see anything else. Maybe the base just isn't twisted in good.

 

That knee bolster is a PIA! I've had mine off numerous times and now I'm getting pretty adapt at reattaching it.

 

I finally got this fixed! After removing the instrument cluster about 3 times, I now think it's easy. I can change instrument panel bulbs in about 15 minutes now!

I replaced the 4 instrument panel bulbs with LED bulbs. Even after I had replaced them, the original one that was giving me trouble was still dark! I took it apart again, switched the sockets around to see if I had a bad LED, and sure enough, the problem moved to the new location. I guess it was just coincidence that the bad LED happened to get installed in the exact same socket as the one where the bulb was burnt out. So, since LEDs usually last forever, I started fiddling with the LED and the socket to make sure I was making a good connection. I took the led back to the trunk and got some alligator clip leads to see if the LED worked when hooked directly to the battery. It did! That was weird. So I reversed the polarity of the leads, and it didn't work. Apparently these LED are polarized, and if you install them the wrong way they won't light up. There are no markings on the LEDs to indicate which way is positive and which is negative.

Either I just got lucky with the other three LEDs and installed them correctly (not likely), or the LEDs have a circuit built into them that allows them to be plugged in either way, and the one LED I was working with wasn't operating correctly (more likely).

Also, when I connected the LED to the battery it was clearly a white LED, but when they are in the dash, the dashboard lighting now looks blue. I'm assuming the LED is causing something to fluoresce and the incandescent bulb didn't. I can live with it for now. It actually looks kinda cool, but if the dasboard lighting is going to be blue, I would prefer everything to be blue. I might change the bulbs back out to the incandescent bulbs. I haven't decided yet. I'll have to take a night time drive and see how I like it. Also, since the high beam indicator is blue, I might not notice it if the rest of the dash is lit up in blue.

 

By the way, the PDF file that shows how to change the bulbs is incorrect for the 2003 model year XK8. It doesn't say anything about removing the knee bolster to get to the instrument panel screws. I was pulling and pulling on the wood trim panel, as shown in the PDF, but I couldn't get it to come off. I finally gave up, went back and read another thread about how to do it, and it showed how to remove the knee bolster under the steering wheel to get the IP screws out. I could have broken the wood trim piece trying to do it using the PDF instructions. It might be correct for earlier models, but it's definitely not right for the 2003.

 

The reason the white LED makes your dash look bllue is beause LED's that are white are a COOl slightly blueish white. Incandescent bulbs on the other hand a a WARM slightly yellowish white. Cool blueish + blue/green dash = Blue result like you are seeing. WIth the yellower incandescent bulb you ge a greener look - yellow-ish + blue/green dash = Green original result. If you want the green look, use green LED's or search for the newer warm white LEDs as opposed to the original cool white LEDs

 

I'll take a pic tonight. It's not just a little blue. It's BLUE. I might go try to find some green LEDs.

 

my feeling is that the screened colorfor the guages leans to the blue side VERY much...even with original bulbs it is VERY teal

 

If you want to update the DIY instructions Sam, please do to note the extra steps.

 

There's already another set of instructions with the correct info for my model year in the FAQs. That's how I learned about the screws underneath the knee bolster. It looks as if the design changed at some point, but I'm not sure when. It would be nice if we could tell when the change too place to save future bulb-changers the trouble I went through.

 

Here's what I mean by "blue". For comparison, check out the blueness of the high beam indicator.

 

LEDs are indeed polarity sensitive. That's the nature (and generally the purpose) of a diode - to pass current in only one direction. The polarity is indicated by the length of the leads. The longer one is the anode or positive lead or in some cases it's indicated by a flat side for the negative or cathode on the base of a round LED. Here's a link to more than you ever wanted to know about LEDs:
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm

 

I like the blue...I'd leave it.