Panel lamps/illumination have ALL gone off!

[elan_man]

Hey all,

I don't know if anybody has had this problem before but all my panel lamps/illumination have all gone off, when I mean the panel illumination I mean everything like speedo, rev counter, boost gauge, oil pressure, volt meter, temperature gauge and fuel gauge.

All instruments work normally, or, as they should, but just do not light up.
Not a big problem during the day, but I would not like to risk going for a drive at night not knowing at the very least what speed I was doing.

I have downloaded the electrical manual, and with the aid of a multimeter, I do not think it to be a fuse as the power for the illumination is fed from fuse box 'A' circuit 7 which is the R.H. side, side lamps.

The power is the fed into the 'Rheostat module' and from here is where I loose power. As I am a very tall chappy I cannot fit my big head/body under the foot well to get to the location of the rheostat module to test if there is power there or not, but i do have the rheostat module which I could reach to (Part No - A100M6059F).

I also took the top cover off the dash board and tested to see if I had power going into the 'Potentiometer' but had 0 volts.

So what I am really trying to get an answer to is, how likely is it to be that the rheostat module has gone into self destruct mode without taking a fuse out, if at all, the rheostat module, or have I overlooked something else and if it is the rheostat module does anybody know how to go about to get a new rheostat module.

Thanks for the time to read through,

elan_man

[GeoffSmith]

Quite often the potentiometer is at fault and normal service can be renewed by twidling the knob. In your case, it looks like you've lost power to it, which tends to suggest that something in the rheostat module has gone open circuit; this would not necessarily blow a fuze.

The list price is £126.29 but you can get one from Lotus aftersales for a far more palatable £7.50.

[elan_man]

Thankyou for getting back to me so quickly. I will try and get hold of one. Hope it works.

Thanks again.

Elan_man

[garymb]

Hey all,

I don't know if anybody has had this problem before but all my panel lamps/illumination have all gone off, when I mean the panel illumination I mean everything like speedo, rev counter, boost gauge, oil pressure, volt meter, temperature gauge and fuel gauge.

All instruments work normally, or, as they should, but just do not light up.
Not a big problem during the day, but I would not like to risk going for a drive at night not knowing at the very least what speed I was doing.

I have downloaded the electrical manual, and with the aid of a multimeter, I do not think it to be a fuse as the power for the illumination is fed from fuse box 'A' circuit 7 which is the R.H. side, side lamps.

The power is the fed into the 'Rheostat module' and from here is where I loose power. As I am a very tall chappy I cannot fit my big head/body under the foot well to get to the location of the rheostat module to test if there is power there or not, but i do have the rheostat module which I could reach to (Part No - A100M6059F).

I also took the top cover off the dash board and tested to see if I had power going into the 'Potentiometer' but had 0 volts.

So what I am really trying to get an answer to is, how likely is it to be that the rheostat module has gone into self destruct mode without taking a fuse out, if at all, the rheostat module, or have I overlooked something else and if it is the rheostat module does anybody know how to go about to get a new rheostat module.

Thanks for the time to read through,

elan_man

I'm having exactly the same problem and am going to attempt to replace the rheostat. If you've already done it what is the best approach (to avoid removing more trim/dash than necessary)? How did it go, all sorted?

[garymb]

Hey all,

I don't know if anybody has had this problem before but all my panel lamps/illumination have all gone off, when I mean the panel illumination I mean everything like speedo, rev counter, boost gauge, oil pressure, volt meter, temperature gauge and fuel gauge.

All instruments work normally, or, as they should, but just do not light up.
Not a big problem during the day, but I would not like to risk going for a drive at night not knowing at the very least what speed I was doing.

I have downloaded the electrical manual, and with the aid of a multimeter, I do not think it to be a fuse as the power for the illumination is fed from fuse box 'A' circuit 7 which is the R.H. side, side lamps.

The power is the fed into the 'Rheostat module' and from here is where I loose power. As I am a very tall chappy I cannot fit my big head/body under the foot well to get to the location of the rheostat module to test if there is power there or not, but i do have the rheostat module which I could reach to (Part No - A100M6059F).

I also took the top cover off the dash board and tested to see if I had power going into the 'Potentiometer' but had 0 volts.

So what I am really trying to get an answer to is, how likely is it to be that the rheostat module has gone into self destruct mode without taking a fuse out, if at all, the rheostat module, or have I overlooked something else and if it is the rheostat module does anybody know how to go about to get a new rheostat module.

Thanks for the time to read through,

elan_man

I'm having exactly the same problem and am going to attempt to replace the rheostat. If you've already done it what is the best approach (to avoid removing more trim/dash than necessary)? How did it go, all sorted?

ok, I checked he interior lights fuse (ok) and replaced the rheostat but still no interior lights (exactly as elan man). any ideas anyone?

[GeoffSmith]

Did you change the rheostat or the rheostat module? I think elan_man's problem is the module.

[GeoffSmith]

Check out the Electrical Manual, Section MJ.2 - Fuses and relays: Page 13 for location and Section MJ.13: Page 28 for details of operation.