Hello all

can anyone recall which of the switches and instruments are supposed to have backlighting?

I have fibre-optic lighting on the window switches, the lighting slider, the dash dimmer and one other switch in the console above the gear lever (rear screen heater from memory). Is there no illumination to the other switches in the console or to the heater controls eg fog light switches?

cheers

RDS

Hi
When i used to work for fiat in the early 80's i had many of these dashes inc the Strada and i i thought they were all fibre optic lit
Just to add i don't recall any other car manufacturer lighting there switches in this way
I think there were two light sources for the fibre optic cables
Luigi

No spcific answer..

Have you had the housing out with the bulb and array of fibres..

Count the fibres.. that SHOULD correspond with bright spots

There was only one single bulb feeding the fibres in my 85 VS.
I don't know which dash switches were illuminated as I took the fibres out and replaced them with LEDs years ago.
The heater illumination is by a separate bulb.
It could be that the tail of some of the fibres have fallen out from the switches.
The bulb - source - for the fibre is in front of the gear stick and under the central console.

Thanks varesecrazy and Scotty

Yes I had the gear gaiter off a while back but neglected to count the cables or indeed check/change the bulb. Scotty do you know off hand what the LED replacement bulb was? The fibreoptic is just too dim even using the rotating disc in the centre of the console to adjust brightness

The light really is poor.

During my other foray into the Haynes schematic over the weekend (see other thread),Ii also saw that as Scotty says, the heater controls have a separate bulb, as does the cigarette lighter.

However, in that case and for the other switches, when I had the panels off i do not recall seeing the light sources or cables. Perhaps they have just become pushed out of the way. Next time I am "in there" I will investigate.

Thanks again all.

RDS

Hi, the filament bulb was either a 3W bayonet or the bulb with just the bent wires for a connector type. The fibres were sheathed in black plastic and look very like just another black wire. I am aware (try searching online) some have upgraded that fibre source bulb to an LED one but as I said, I painstakingly mounted LEDs in each switch (also in the instrument pack but I am not happy with it yet). I changed the switch illumination to red although the pack is RGB. Think you can source very bright - like 3watt RGB LEDs that with a good heatsink would be many time brighter than the old bulb.
I don't smoke so many cigars these days so swapped the lighter for a dual USB charger and voltmeter (a few £s from china) that was almost the same diameter.

Yes I think I will save myself the mental anguish of converting each switch to LED (i know when i am beaten by proper enthusiasts!) and will eventually change the single bulb to LED.

As for the cigar lighter, my consumption of hand rolled Havanas has reduced commensurate with the increase in the price of petrol. Yes I also plugged in a voltmeter there though there must be some voltage drop as it it always reads lower than battery voltage. Still it is a nice touch BUT the display is almost 100% of the time obscured by the steering wheel for me.

cheers

RDS

Ha yes mine is also obscured by the wheel, can't win em all!!
If its a cheap Chinese thing then its cheap for a reason and accuracy is probably what took the hit. I also had to replace the innards of the clock as the original dropped a row of segments. So I thought - no probs and tried to look up the chip part no in my library from the 80's of integrated circuits - completely obscure, next I bought a cheap Chinese led clock/temperature/voltmeter module and a bit of mucking about and one wouldn't be able to tell. Ok it doesn't dim at night, but I can see the voltage.

So I am not the only one!

I didn't realise the clock could or does dim: doe sit happen automatically when the lights are switched on or is the function on one of the buttons? Nice idea of yours there to make it multifunction. I used mine to count down to the inevitable engine spluttering to a halt before the carb inlet valve issue was sorted.

I will try my voltmeter across the battery terminals when next there: you may be right about the accuracy then again with the convoluted electrics on these cars....

Cheers

RDS

There is a wire from sidelights to the clock, should dim when on.

Makes sense! thanks.

Ahhh the joy of FIAT fibre optics
Easy to find that single bulb holder in an X1/9
Darned if I have any clue where to find it in our Ducato Hymer Motorhome