LairdScooby

I was going to say the same as Jim but was preparing dinner. Worth checking your brakes before any decisions on wheels i reckon.

I wonder if by adding the lights he's inadvertently fixed the fault? He should know what i mean by that. Also, i'd suggest selling the Merc and buying a Honda if you want reliability. A friend of mine does a lot of work for a Merc indy, just as something to keep him busy in his early retirement and they have a lot of electrical faults. I know Jags have their fair amount but to be honest, less than most other brands.

Petrol - it warms up quicker and won't cause you DPF or similar expensive problems. Also the larger the engine in a car that size, the less it has to work hard so better fuel economy as a general rule od thumb. Obviously if you go for a 5.0V8 supercharged then economy won't be as good. Whatever you go for, make sure to give it one long high speed (motorway) run every so often to help keep things cleared out.

Welcome aboard! Try the CKP - Crank Position Sensor - these won't give a fault code but will cause a non-start. They also usually fail suddenly. Had that happen on my S Type a couple of years back, fitted a new one on a hunch and fired up immediately. Not sure where in the world you are but give Rock Auto a try in the USA, it's a fiddly job but doesn't take too long.

Thanks for letting us know and glad you got it sorted! 👍

Have you tried the spare key?

It might be your sat-nag needs updating, usually a service item at a Jag dealers but some haven't had it done. Not sure if there's a way of DIY updating, someone who knows better than me will hopefully be along soon.

I'm in Lakenheath, next door to the USAF/RAF air base.

Welcome aboard Jamie. What part of Suffolk are you in, i'm in the west on the borders of Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

Has anybody thought to check the fuse? We've had a lot of cold weather lately and it's all too easy for the wiper blades to freeze to the screen without anybody realising and hit the wipers to shift the "condensation". Result - overload the wiper motor and pop the fuse.

Not that familiar with the diesel engines but usually temp sensors are on the head, usually one or the other near the thermostat housing. If you had dislodged something there's a fair chance the gauge wouldn't be working at all and you'd have error codes flashing at you on the instrument panel.

It does sound as if you have a weak thernostat there Jason but you are quite correct, DPF regeneration doesn't normally occur until the engine reaches a minimum temperature. Often what works is manually selecting a lower gear to drive in and drive at motorway speeds in that gear so the revs are much higher than normal for the speed. This should also bring the engine temperature up a bit.

Welcome aboard Luigi, car looks great, hopefully it fulfils all your dreams!

I would first check for major corrosion around the area, it sounds as if your inner and outer sills are heavily corroded or it could be simpler and have worn suspension bushes. However, given that you say the doors and boot are out of alignment, i'd hunt for corrosion first.

Thanks for confirming my memory John! Searching the part number on ebay UK, i found these : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/157386222514 Probably less than the cost of one metric tyre! Bit of a hike to Brum to pick them up but often people have networks of friends on various fora that can offer a pick up and delivery by passing to various people along the way or there's even Shipley.com. It works out that 225/65/15 tyres are very close to the original size (overall diameter 676mm original, 674mm is diameter of 225/65/15) and i daresay a set of 225/65/15 tyres plus the cost of the UK 15" wheels from ebay would be close to about 2 of the metric tyres without the need in a few years to repeat the hunting exercise.

If memory serves, Jaguar made some Imperial (normal) size wheels for the XJ40 in the same style. If you keep an eye on ebay for a set of 16" Jag wheels, you should eventually come up with a set. Then you can have them refurbed and new 16" tyres fitted. Check the manufacture date on your Avon tyres, if they're over 5 years old i wouldn't use them at all. I had a brown trouser moment in my S Type not long after getting it when the steering failed to respond due to the (near new in terms of tread) Pirelli P6000 just did not grip - they were ~10 years old at the time. I now run a set of new Maxxis Premitra HP5 tyres, similar to the P6000 in tread pattern, feel and probably better in grip having driven on new P6000s some years back. Would definitely recommend them!

Enjoy your trip Keith! Welcome aboard too!

There are a few on here that know the XK electrical system pretty well, sure one of them will be along soon to help out. Welcome to the club too!

Put all the windows down and then spray silicone lube spray into the top of the window channels for a few seconds, preferably using one of those long spouts. Only spray onto the vertical/near vertical parts of the window channels. Once all sprayed, start the car (to avoid flattening the battery) and exrecise all windows up and down several times. Not sure if you have Toolstation in Eire but this is the sort of stuff : https://www.toolstation.com/action-can-sp-90-silicone-lubricant/p34151 It's also good for spraying on door seals, leave to soak and then gently wipe off the excess to help prevent the door seal freezing to the doors in cold weather.

Friend of mine had this on a Merc recently, turned out to be throttle switch giving a false idle situation to the ECU - might be worth looking at. The logic behind it was you don't want the engine revving when you're meant to be at idle or braking etc.

Having worked most of my life in electrical/electronic engineering, I can confirm there is nothing more frustrating than having to write on the job sheet "NFFAT" - No Fault Found At Test. Over the decades ive had many "Intermittently Intermittent" faults as i call them. Sometimes it's has been a long and extremely annoying process to find the fault and often when i do, i find it's a "Compound Intermittent Fault" - one where two or more problems contribute to not only the intermittent fault but the overall intermittency of it occurring in the first place. I wish you and your autoelectrician luck with finding it, you may have to lose this battle to win the war and come to an arrangement with him whereby he comes to you when it faults to investigate. This isn't just a "Jag thing", it happens to all makes and some are much worse than others! 'Tis the nature of the beast with electrical/electronic systems sadly.

This might be a solution for you but you'd need to get the right one for your car : Obviously yours is newer and the "updated" S Type but there should be a bespoke kit for yours.

Welcome aboard! I'm sure if you have any questions if you post them in the correct area you'll get a fairly quick answer. Meanwhile some pics of your Sportbrake would be nice! If you use a photohisting service such as PostImage or similar, use the "Direct link" code to post your photo.

I would suggest you drive it somewhere very carefully where someone with more mechanical skills can assess the problem. Several possible causes come to mind such as air in the system, dirty/old fluid, siezed calipers, weak/broken seal in master cylinder - there are many other possibilities. It would need to be seen/diagnosed by someone rather than "remote diagnostics" on the forum. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

First thing i would do is pull and refit all the light fuses for the lights concerned. Over time, corrosion builds on the fuse blades, pulling them out and refitting cleans them. If the problem comes back, renew the fuses. If it still comes back, put another post up as it will be something deeper.