I have a 1997 Land Rover Disco Series I... the other day i pulled in to wash my rover everything was illuminated and working great... I got out washed it real quick 5 mins later get back in and turn my lights on the head lights come on but no dash illumination... the air controls do not illuminate either.... the shift area does illuminate but oddly enough only when i have the headlights off as soon as i turn them on that goes out as well. Also another issue i noticed I had a tail light out so i replaced the bulb which was infact bad but it still is not working with the new bulb. Any input or help would be much appriciated as i know if i take it to the dealer i will end up spending way more than I want to fix this problem.

Thanks!

 

do the dash lights come on when the switch is in the first position (parking lights only) or nothing at all no matter what?

 

Did you check your fuses?

Willie

 

checked all fuses.... twice. dash lights do not come on ever.... i replaced the passenger side tail light bulb this morning and it still doesnt work even with a new bulb.

 

first place I would check is the switch. you will need either a 12 volt test light or a digital multimeter. 3 screws on the bottom of the clamshell (part the ignition switch and headlight switch are in) be careful popping it open to make sure you dont break any of the tabs (may want to try prying it open slightly with a knife, but make sure you keep it away from any wires or the airbag)
find the small harness of wires going to the back of the switch, if you need to you can turn the steering wheel and unscrew the switch just be careful of the little retaining tabs that hold the switch in. then you need to test for power coming out of the switch on the parking light wire. the parking light wire is red and the 2 headlight wires (low beam) are blue and blue/red (you can use those wires to help identify the correct plug. just ground one lead of the multimeter or the test light and probe the red parking light wire with the other lead, then turn on the switch and see if that wire gets power, if it does then your problem requires more troubleshooting but if it doesn't then the problem is most likely your switch. if it is your switch you now can pop it out easily and either try to clean/fix it or replace it. my switch went bad and I through a relay in between the parking light wire and the headlight wire and now everything works fine.

 

also before going through all of that do any of the taillights come on? or the city lights in the front?

 

my two cents. sounds like a ground issue. if you can come up with a wiring schematic look for all grounds in and out of the truck. make sure they are clean and tight.

 

i thought it might be the switch too... but the driverside tail light does come on when in the first position.

 

well if it wasn't for the 1 taillight not working I would have to go with possibly a dimmer issue or a bad ground. I wouldn't think its a bad ground because of the fact that the shift area lights are working when the lights are off, however generally a grounding issue does cause some strange unexplainable problems.

 

I would still test the PL wire coming out of the switch for power this will give you a better sense of where the problem is and(at least for me) its not too difficult to pop the steering column apart and test that wire.