No dash lights, dimmer or buzzer

[DarrenS]

Just had the ABS pump and sensors done ready for the MOT Re-Test tomorrow morning, thought I would just double check the lights etc tonight and ahhhhh the dash lights are not lighting no dimmer and no buzzer. When I bought the car this was a problem but after driving it In and out of work with the heaters on last winter it all started working again - why I don't know - obviously being the summer I have not used or noticed the lights being off on the dash. So I have a few questions:

1 - I suspect this will be another MOT fail ?
2 -If I did not know better this would sound like the rheostat problem - but why would it have started working again last winter then failed again - is that possible, any electrical experts ?
3 - If it is the Rheostat - how long does that job normally take ? Could I start that tonight and get finished in the morning?

Any advice as always really appreciated.

 

[NZ00Z3]

Its a very simple and straight forward repair to bypass the Rheostat. See this resource https://zroadster.org/threads/rheostat-head-light-switch-repair.6029/

 

[colb]

I don't think the panel illumination is on the MOT test, as long as the switch turns the lights on and off you should be good. The repair guide posted is straightforward to bypass the dimming function that has gone bad, just some soldering of the link to be made once the switch is removed from the dash.