Xantia dash warning lamp

Philjw · Post by **Philjw** » 07 Jul 2003, 15:32

Last night when I turned on the dipped beam there was no accompanying warning light on the dash. Can this only be a failed bulb?
Main beam functions as normal.
The car is due for an MOT this month. Will it fail for the lamp?
I have changed the lamps on a ZX. Is the Xantia worse? Will I have to remove the steering wheel & deal with the air bag?

Post by **RichardW** » 07 Jul 2003, 17:07

Assuming that dip works as normal, it's probably only the tell tale bulb. Try tapping (bashing?) the top of the insturment binnacle - this brings the fuel gauge light back on on mine!
I checked on motuk.co.uk, and only tell tales for indicators, hazards, and rear fogs are required, so no fail.
Some people have removed the binnacle without removing the steering wheel, others haven't - I think it may depend on whether the wheel is rake adjustable or not (I haven't done it - yet - so can't comment from experience!)
RichardW

Philjw · Post by **Philjw** » 07 Jul 2003, 17:34

Richard,
Good news on the MOT front, thanks.
I will go out & thump the car at the earliest opportunity.
Here's hoping Basil Fawlty got something right.
Coincidentally, the only other lamp which does not light is the fuel guage.

farnellp · Post by **farnellp** » 07 Jul 2003, 17:41

I replaced the illumination bulb on my 96 Xantia last week. I did remove the steering wheel / airbag, and following the haynes manual instructions found it a fairly simple process. One word of warning though, when the steering wheel is reluctant to part from the column, don't try giving it an almighty heave! (this worked well on my Series 111 landrover, but resulted in me breaking the case that holds the cables for the radio buttons on the Xantia) a gentle side to side rocking of the wheel is advised

Pete

wheeler · Post by **wheeler** » 07 Jul 2003, 23:25

if you leave the steering wheel nut on a few threads then you can pull on the wheel,then when it releases it wont fly off & rip the wires.

franciscolunn · Post by **franciscolunn** » 07 Jul 2003, 23:36

Good point i did the same and was ok cos i left the nut on a couple of threads.

wrinklet1 · Post by **wrinklet1** » 08 Jul 2003, 15:53

Hi Philjw, I have news for you, the Xantia does not have a warning light for the dipped beam, BUT, When I got my Xantia SX TD, I had a couple of dash lights out, so I had no choice but play. I am one of those guys who has to tinker. When I took my instrument panel out I found that there was no light in the hole for the dipped beam, so I put one in and Hey Presto, it worked. I also changed a few light that had blown and put bulbs intop the ones that had plugs in the holes. The dash now lights up better and I have a dipped beam warning light.
One tip though, go to the local car acc's shop and get at least half a dozen bulbs before you start the job.
Regards
Paul

surfer · Post by **surfer** » 08 Jul 2003, 18:00

The Xantia does have a dash light to show you are using dipped beams but I think you will find that it lacks such a thing for sidelights.
That is rather a cheapskate measure in my opinion and even my knackered old Renault 21 had one.
Regards,
Simon.

Philjw · Post by **Philjw** » 08 Jul 2003, 18:20

Mine definately has a bulb fitted, green for dip, blue for main. Sadly though I thumped the binnacle many times in the traffic yesterday, no missing lights have re appeared.
I agree with Surfer that the failure to fit a sidelight warning is penny pinching. I'm sure my old BX had one.
Are the bulbs the same capless ones as fitted to the ZX?

stuartb · Post by **stuartb** » 08 Jul 2003, 18:35

My '93 Xantia VSX 1.9TD has warning lights for sidelights (green), dipped beams (green), and main beams (blue). The bulbs on mine are all 2W capless types (I know because I replaced most of mine a little while back!).
Hope this helps.

Post by **RichardW** » 08 Jul 2003, 21:06

Ah, interesting, my 95TD has no sidelamp warning - I assumed the bulb had gone as my mate's and my parents' 93 cars both have them - maybe the bulb is not fitted. Still, better than most of the newer cars we have here at work which don't even have a dip warning light - just main beam - you have to check the switch to see what you've got on when it's not dark (eg raining).
Richard

Fox · Post by **Fox** » 09 Jul 2003, 03:02

My Xantia certainly has an indicator for Sidelights, however, it's only ever worked about 3 times. I used to think it didnt have one until I saw it illuminated one day. It never lit up again for about 3 months, when it did it again once..

wrinklet1 · Post by **wrinklet1** » 09 Jul 2003, 17:39

I think you may find that the xantia should have a sidelight and main beam warning light as standard. The dipped beam bulb normally has a plug in it. Later xantia's have a different type of circuit board for the dashboard with led type lighting (well at least for normal illumination) according to haynes.
Anyway, you can just put a bulb into the dipped beam hole and you will have a warning light then. I think it also may be that the warning light bulbs are forgotten or they just couldn't be bothered to fit one, they are french after all..
Paul

akojic · Post by **akojic** » 09 Jul 2003, 18:13

What about bulb that warns or reminds you that windscreen washing liquid is about minimum level? Has somebody experienced that in practice. I have 1.8i from 1993 (might be LX version). I have never exeprienced that bulb warning me although couple of times spent all liquid from its reservoar. I was adviced by sericeman not to be waried too much about that 'cause sensor on reservoar might be faulty and needs cleaning. In order to do that, front bumper or whatever must be taken off from vehicle. Any experience?

wrinklet1 · Post by **wrinklet1** » 10 Jul 2003, 12:22

AKOJIC, The washer bottle doesn't normally have a sender on it on your model unless its a vsx model. I have a Xantia TDSX and that didn't have one until I fitted one from off a car at the scrap yard. Sll the wiring is there to do the job.
Another thing, if you go to the scrap yard, why not get two interior lights for the rear passengers? I have a daughter and she loves reading, so she can now read her books at night time without a problem.
If you do get a pair of interior lights, make sure you have the metal surround for them too otherwise you wont get them to stay put. The wiring is already there to connect up. just remove the grab handles from the roof and you will see where they go, cut the lining with a stanley knife but make sure you don't make the hole too big.
Regards
Paul