Instrument panel lights

[les 900T16S]

All my "general" panel lights have gone, the two at the top and the heater ones. It`s not the bulbs or the fuse, might it be the rheostat?. Any ideas on replacement or bypassing or testing gratefully received, the nights are drawing in!

[bunny hopper]

Hey there.

If it's just your dash lights and not the instrument panel, it's probably your rheostat if it's not the fuse - it's pretty sketchy as it gets older. Turn the thing around a bit - sometimes helps to push in while turning, I find, and you should be able to get things rolling once more.

I guess if you like everything at max-brightness you could just bypass the rheostats . . . . wouldn't be hard at all.

good luck,

aleks!

[alan forsyth]

deffo sounds like the rheostat it took me weeks to figure this one out

[Fakie]

I found changing the bulb holders sorted mine out. They were only like 35p so were a really cheap fix. They were connecting on the track on the circut board. Probably best way is to get a multi meter to check it.

[bunny hopper]

Fakie, the bulb holders for the instrument panel are on the circuit board, but the dash bulbs are behind their respective thingies, heat, vent selection, etc . . . harder to get at and change. Bypassing the rheostat shouldn't be TOO time-consuming - I don't remember if you've gotta pull the dash to disconnect it though.

The bulb holders on the Instrument panel are pretty flakey though - Mine seem to rattle loose every few thousand miles and need to be jammed around a bit

cheers,

aleks!

[les 900T16S]

It`s the rheostat, thanks guys, I tried the fidding around suggestion and it works, but it looks as if it could be intermittent, so EXACTLY how do you bypass it???????????? and can it be replaced, that looks as if it might be a "panel out " job, OUCH. What is it that`s failing, is the rheostat the type that has a "wiper" on a wound wire plate, if that`s the right description? Any ideas, as always, gratefully received.

[john-w]

If you can find out the 2 wire colours that go to the stat, you could just join the 2 wires at the multiplug that goes into the back of the instrument cluster. Easier than removing the dash, just take the speaker out.

[les 900T16S]

Thanks John, I`ll have a look at the circuit diagrams and see where I get to, I`ll post results so others may benefit.

[les 900T16S]

Some info before I try this. The circuit shows the rheostat is fed by a green wire and a brown/white wire. I think these feed into the connector on the inboard side of the instrument panel,on a UK car the left hand, clock side, just about possible to get to through the speaker hole, if John W is correct and I have no reason to suppose he isn`t, I connect these two wires together and the rheostat is bypassed, the lights are on full intensity all the time.
Any comments anyone?
By the way, does anyone ever use the dimmer facilty? in what circumstances? I`ve never thought the lights were particularly bright anyway.

[bunny hopper]

I think that most everyone leaves them at full intensity - they're not all that bright by today's standards Seems that everyone's dash is getting brighter and brighter . . . As for my instrument lights I replaced the 3watt bulbs for 5s for in-city driving at night (which is most of the time in the winter months.

Don't have my Bently in front of me (at work) but I'll give it a look once I'm home later today. If you followed the diagrammes then you should probably be right - give yourself a bit of room on wire if you're going to cut and splice, that way if it doesn't work you can just splice them together!

Maybe someone else here has already tried to bypass in this way? Sounds like a good idea, though, let us know how it works out!

cheers,

aleks.

[bunny hopper]

What year is your T16? Might be different when I check the diagrammes in Bently.



aleks.

[les 900T16S]

It`s a 1988 Turbo 16 S.

[bunny hopper]

Okay, sorry 'bout the delay.

So: a GREEN wire feeds both the rheostats for the dashboard (continues after the rheostat as a BROWN/WHITE wire as you already surmised) and the instrument cluster (continues after the rheostat as a black wire).

If you can splice the green with the brown/white while still letting the green continue onto the black wire for the cluster, then you're in business.

Like you say, the green's coming in on the left-side . . . there's lots of wires coming from the harness through the bulk-head there - if you can get at them go for it, but there's lots of muck there with the heater matrix, etc, etc. Also, I'm used to the steering wheel being on the left side of the car, maybe you've more room to manoeuvre (sp?) on your car, with the steering on the right. So this probably hasn't been as helpful as I set out for it to be, but we're all here for moral support in any case!


Hope that helps somewhat,

cheers

aleks.

[les 900T16S]

One for the archive guys. It is indeed the green and brown/white wires that have to be connected to bypass the rheostat.See above for where to find them.
A few warnings. It is a fiddly job because unless you have amazingly long arms you have to work down in the speaker hole with a mirror. Saab don`t waste wire by giving you plenty to play with so I had to cut off a couple of cable ties to get the two relevant wires together.Make sure you only cut cable tie, they are on very tight.
I used one of those plastic things that has two grooves and a metal bit that presses into both wires.
I also double and treble checked that I had got the brown/white wire- there is a yellow and white one too so take care.
Thanks for all the help.

[GearHead]

for some reason the light over the tach doesnt work even after replacing the bulb...and the left blinker(in dash) blinks intermititly(can still hear sound,but sometimes no light)