Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I just bought an Elan Plus 2 and this may be a bit of a silly question but are the gauge lights supposed to come on when the headlights are on?

Yes, at least on the S130 they come on with side or head lamps however, there is a switch to turn them off!
iirc it's first position is off, then dash lights on, then interior lights on... Have not sat in it for a while though!..

no......
on my early +2 you had the pull switch for the headlight up....the twist to turn them on....
then a flick switch on the dash that said panel.......this turned the dash lights on

Is it the panel switch? Second to the left on the top row?

http://classical-dash.co.uk/product-det ... an-2s-130/

A +2S130 has a three position switch (labelled PANEL as you said) that controls the interior lights. On my car (which seems to be pretty original), the function is as follows:

• Up - Gauge and interior lights off
• Middle - Gauge lights on if side lights are on, interior lights off
• Down - Gauge lights on if side lights are on, interior lights on

The middle position is the normal setting. No idea why Lotus chose to have the gauge lights user switchable... there is no situation I can think of where this might be desirable.

[edit: Just as vxah said...]

JonB wrote:A +2S130 has a three position switch (labelled PANEL as you said) that controls the interior lights. On my car (which seems to be pretty original), the function is as follows:

• Up - Gauge and interior lights off
• Middle - Gauge lights on if side lights are on, interior lights off
• Down - Gauge lights on if side lights are on, interior lights on

The middle position is the normal setting. No idea why Lotus chose to have the gauge lights user switchable... there is no situation I can think of where this might be desirable.

[edit: Just as vxah said...]

? Parked on the road with the sidelamps on and dash lights off? Might give the battery an extra 5 minutes

I had always been told that the three position switch was;
Off
Dim
Flicker.

Well it looks like I have some troubleshooting to do since there appears to be be no sign of life with the gauge lights!

vxah wrote:? Parked on the road with the sidelamps on and dash lights off? Might give the battery an extra 5 minutes

Hmm, good one...

Do all gauges go off? If speedo stays on it might be an early SAAB cockpit light switch version to have interior dark for better night driving

Cant say I've used mine at night to recall what happens.