Hi - sorry if this seems a dumb question but I just wondered if it is possible to illuminate the dash without putting the head lights (or any lights) on?

I find the dash a little dim without the lights on in daylight and obviously whilst it isn't a big problem, if there is a solution which avoids me forgetting that the lights are on, that would be great.....

Thanks
Ant

Are you talking about the dash or the message centre? I wouldn't have thought lighting the speedo, rev counter, etc would even be noticed in daylight but the message centre can go dim if it gets dirty inside.

I know exactly what you mean, the clocks can be hard to see depending on the weather conditions, I don’t think even with them illuminated it would make that much of a difference.
If anything I’d look at illuminating the speedo needle in a different colour, ( led ).
it makes it stand out more, then possibly run a switched supply to just that bulb holder, I know a few were talking about doing LED bulb sets, but don’t know if it ever left the drawing board !.
If you think ours are bad, try a Peugeot 407, worst clocks I’ve ever seen, illuminated or not.

Message centre is fine on mine - I know some can lose illumination.

I guess I'll just live with it - if I wasn't used to more modern dials in my other daily driver then I probably wouldn't have thought about it.
Thanks anyway :)

You could maybe fit some small LEDs to the binnacle with their own switch to illuminate the dials?

I did a full LED conversion on mine, and it is definitely visible in daytime if I switch the side lights on.

Easiest way would be to intercept the red/white wire at the BECM and then power it off a separate switch, with diodes in the wiring to protect the BECM output