Dear All,
Transfered from RR.net. I've searched but cannot find anything on this subject on this forum. I recently did a dashboard out HEVAC re-vamp. When the instrument cluster went back in the message center LCD is dead. Everything else works. looking through the RAVE wiring diagram it looks as if all the backlights in the cluster are powered from a single feed and return via connector C242. Ergo if some of the lights are working then there should be power to the message centre lights. If they all died at the same time i'm wondering if the PCB has failed / cracked somewhere. Anyone else had this issue? Anyone else had experience of re-soldering joints / cracked conductors on the PCB? is there a connector to the LCD similar to the HEVAC ribbon? Anyone got a clue? I've done some work re-soldering a known issue with dry joints in Skoda Fabia's but am grateful for any knowledge before i dismantle the entire cluster.

Is the LCD not displaying anything or is it just not illuminated? If it is the backlight bulbs, you should be able to see the display if you shine a bright torch across it. If it is lit with the ignition on, then the backlights are OK but it may not have a display. See the second pic in my post here https://rangerovers.pub/topic/2091-dashboard-cluster and you can see the ribbon cable that connects the LCD unit to the main pcb. Simple enough to get at, all you need do is pop the translucent back cover off.

Don't forget though, the backlights for the message centre come on with the ignition while the other illumination comes on with the sidelights. I seem to remember someone having a broken track in the feed to the backlights at some time in the distant past and the fix is fairly easy. I'll pull my spare out from under the bench and stare at it closely in case the fix jumps out at me.......

Thanks again, at least that was buried further in the archive. I'll check at the weekend.

Quick question, i know the Dashboard stores a mileage and can cause issues with synching with the BECM. from my reading of the RAVE electrical diagrams the lights are supplied via connector C242 and the feed and return do not connect to any other part of the binnacle cluster. So it will be OK to power up on those two pins and not risk screwing up the mileage in the memory? I'm aiming to work on the lights and test it on the bench.

One side of the three bulbs is connected directly to pins 14 and 4 (which are commoned on the pcb anyway) but that is a permanent supply, according to the ETM (E2 page 4) the other side of them is connected to the LCD display and, via a resistor, to pin 20 which connects to the HEVAC. I can't see putting power to pin 14 and grounding pin 20 doing any harm to anything else. HEVAC pins can tarnish and benefit from contact cleaner so it could be as simple as that. Mine would intermittently lose the ignition switched supply when I first got the car.

Dear All,
Doh! - turns out all three bulbs were blown, relief its not an LCD problem. Whilst i'm there i'm going to play with LED replacements and have a variety of options so will set the dash up on the bench.
I'm seeking reassurance that everyone thinks this will be safe and not fry anything. Going from Gilbertd's contribution above and pages J1 and E2 from the manual, on connector C242, putting 12v+ on pin 14 and the negative to pin 20 should light up the 3 LCD back lights.
Putting 12v+ to pin 6 and negative to pin 7 or 17 should light up the back lights for the dials and gauges.
Anyone disagree?
Regards
Paul C

Looks right to me. 12V on 14 (or 4) and ground on 20 should cause the message centre lamps to light up, while 12V on 6 and ground on 7 or 17 should do the same with the rest of the illumination. Don't forget that the gauge lights are dimmable which might cause you a problem if changing for LEDs (although I know Marty has done it so maybe not).

Dear All,
OK so i found my dashboard message display was dead because all th bulbs had failed. So continuing the LEDification of my car i purchased a few of these in green
https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/286-t5-led-dashboard-upgrade-bulbs-t5-74-various-colours?_pos=1&_sid=d2feb8952&_ss=r

they are a direct physical replacement but when fitted as is the SMD emitter on the top of the plug in produces an overpowering amount of light, see below
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=0B7E93546DBB33C9&id=B7E93546DBB33C9%2131556&parId=B7E93546DBB33C9%2131552&o=OneUp

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Askzu21Uk34LgfZEnIr8VFMcNQzYRQ

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Askzu21Uk34LgfZE8sqGSdDejlCiKw?e=hH0AfM
So out came the dash and knowing i was going to be in trial and error mode is first set up the connections to the plug using heatshrink so as to keep the wires in place to allow for lots of shifting and changing, see here

the wiring is pin 12+ on pin 14 for the LCD backlights and negative to pins 20 and 7 with 12+ on pin 6 to light up the instruments

anyway at first i tried with teh top SMD emitter decapitated, you can use a stanley blade to cut of the top emitting layer whilst still leaving the electrical connection below, as per below

but that then leaves th opposite, a dark shadow where the emitter was once creating (too much) light. See below

i then knew i had to start bodging until i found a solution. i tried a variety of things, covering the top SMD with hot glue so as to create a diffuser lens, covering it with a semi opaque dark plastic, etc. long and short of it i found that what worked best for me was to glua snmall disc of white plastic cut from the side of a butter container.

and here trimmed to fit

which when fitted to all three positions gives a much better and more even distribution

still not ideal but acceptable.

This final pic shows the dash with LEDs replacing all the bulbs, much brighter than the OEM set up and the instruments remain dimmable.

I know that still looks a bit uneven light distribution but in real life its far more even tahn that, the mobile phone camera seems to enhace the difference in lighting in the LCD panel

Apologies again for the mess up wit the embedded photos, i still cant seem to get the site to work as it should, these are all uploaded to Onedrive which i understood worked.

Onedrive works but only if you copy and paste the URL for the actual image not a link to the page the image is on.

Suitably edited except for you first links. The first is a URL to a web page so can't be embedded as a picture and the second one was the same link but trying to show it as a picture. I suspect you pasted the wrong link there.