PD Miller

Morning all. I have an agreed valuation of £10,000 for my 2001 XK8. It would seem that the insurance company will consider an agreed valuation up to this figure based on photographs and condition declaration forms completed by the owner. My car is a low mileage (38000) convertible in excellent condition and looking at recent prices i think I would struggle to replace it for 10K. In order to increase the agreed valuation I will need to obtain an independent valuation and wonder who would provide this service. Would it be a Main Dealer or an Independent or maybe a club? Any advice most welcome. Pete

After reading horror stories about fuel tanks falling out I thought it might be time to replace my rusty support straps. New straps cost about £13 each plus postage and VAT which brings it up to £50 something. The straps have an eye formed at the front end and a reinforced hole at the rear, the right hand one has a bracket to locate two wiring connectors. A 13mm bolt through the hole at the rear of the strap keeps it in place and a steel pin through the eye at the front located inside a housing / bracket arrangement supports that end. The bolt is no problem but to access the pin in the eye at the other end I had to remove both long underbody splash guards which was an unexpected pain. The housing has a hole at one end big enough for the pin to go through and a small hole at the other. The whole arrangement is very loose and I tried to push the pin through from the small hole with stiff wire but it's difficult to see when the pin is lined up with the large hole. I eventually stuck a magnet over the hole and moved the strap around until the hole lined up and the pin stuck to the magnet . Replacing the new straps was straightforward and everything was given a splash of underbody wax so it should be good for another 14 years. As shown in the photo one of the old straps snapped as I was trying to wrangle it out of its location so they are certainly worth looking at. Hope this helps someone contemplating the same job.

I knew I had some photos somewhere. Sorry they're a bit mixed up but hopefully you can make sense of them. There's a write up on Jaguar Forums in the X350 forum under Flickering lights when turned off.

Mine used to flash at inappropriate times such as when someone passed me or someone in front was waiting at traffic lights so it was quite important to get it fixed. I took a chance on a used switch off Ebay which had other faults but I managed to make one out of two and it's been fine ever since . Very easy to fit on the X350 and I'm sure it's the same switch on the S Type. If I remember correctly either 3 or 4 screws keep the bottom half of the cowl behind the steering wheel on, then three more accessed from underneath keep the top half on. The switch assembly is held in place by a couple of clips so you press the clips in and pull the switch off. When you look at the new one all will be revealed . Quite an easy fix with a soldering iron and shrink wrap if you fancy having a go. Good luck

Agree with Raistlin. My X350 drove me nuts switching lights off and on at random and I think it's the same switch. Lots of info on forums about it but probably under X350 , check under flickering headlights. Might be worth checking earths as well. My problem was a frayed wire inside the direction indicator / light switch. Good luck.

Hi Tony It would seem that each side of the windscreen has it's own supply so I suppose a wiring check is the first port of call. If Not sure about the X type but on one of my previous cars the terminals were accessed by popping off the vertical trim panel at each side. I would think they are reasonably accessible to facilitate windscreen changes. If you get a healthy voltage at the terminals try disconnecting them and do a continuity test to establish if there's a break in the element. If there's no continuity I would think there's nothing that can be done other than replace the windscreen. As for the boot lamps I seem to remember that the switch is built into the boot lock so assuming that the bulbs are ok have a look at the lock. I don't know if it switches live or earth but by passing the switch should establish if it is faulty. Hope this helps and maybe someone more knowledgeable will be along with more info. Keep us informed on progress.. Pete PS Just noticed an interesting post on the S Type forum regarding partial windscreen heater failure. Worth a look.

No Problem Joe. I think the two small square sensors that sit close to the commutator above the brushes might have something to do with the positioning of the glass but my understanding of electronics is too basic to work it out. I sometimes miss stuff like hand operated window winders, key operated locks, points etc but I suppose things like this keep the old grey matter ticking over

Joe I still have the faulty motor/controller unit from my window saga ( I always keep stuff like that that's why my garage is full or rubbish ). I'll take some pics and you might be able to fathom out how it works. Pete

I used a 12v motorcycle battery as a slave but a 12v car battery would do, and I connected it as you would for a jump start. On my car the pos lead goes to a junction box and I was able to connect the slave battery pos to it using a cable with crocodile clips and the neg from the slave went to any good earth point. So now the leads would be live when the original battery was disconnected. Then it's just a case of swapping the batteries without the live lead touching an earth or the other lead.. Not sure what difference it would make if the voltage is slightly different between the two batteries. Hope this makes sense and if it works you can turn your heating on and prove that the Yorkshireman's reputation is undeserved. Just reading back and I noticed that you had the battery off when it all started, did the BBM need to be re-set then? Good luck and hope your wife has a warm jumper to wear till it's sorted.

Just renewed my membership and must say the new club window stickers are a big improvement on the old ones. Thanks to everyone who gives up their time to organise stuff like that Pete

Thanks for that Dave. I went through the same saga with my XJ and had a job to get the old ones off . I'm sure the combination of being hammered on with a windy gun and the passage of time didn't help. I replaced them with original spec ones but wondered about the after market stainless items that are available. I think I read somewhere that some Toyota items fit. Cheers Pete

Hi John. I have the Icarsoft reader and it has worked well for me with general code reading MIL reset and live data. It seems that the Mongoose is available now for around the same price so maybe this would give you more for your money? Great looking car BTW.

Yes very easy. don't have to take the window out or anything like that. Just noticed the date on your post and hope it has all been sorted by now.

Has anyone noticed that some car flashers have become ridiculously small? VWs and Audis seem to be particularly bad but I noticed a Vauxhall today with an indicator so small that I wondered if it was flashing or not. No doubt something to do with fashion trends or LEDs being brighter but I still think it's dangerous and ridiculous. Bring back big flashers. That's what I say. Rant over.

Where i live there is a lot of not so much waving but one finger salutes between some of the general ( usually BMW and Audi ) drivers on the road . My X350 had a long standing peculiarity ( now rectified) where it would flash the headlights when it pleased. Often at passing German cars but sometimes at Police cars and vans full of totooed builders at traffic lights. .Maybe we should leave it up to the cars to decide if acknowledgements are in order. I'm convinced that they have a mind of their own anyway.

When on a motorbike all other bikers either wave or nod. I once had a wave from the driver of another XK8 same colour etc as mine and both of us with the tops down but usually other Jags don't wave. If the Owners Club sticker was bigger or if we had a grille badge they might.. If they were in the club that is.

Specialist in Northumberland. Coquet Motors in Amble deal in all makes but the owner is a time served Jaguar Technician and very knowledgeable on all JLR models. They have full diagnostics and seem like a canny bunch of lads. My only dealing with them to date was an MOT on my X350 today but I will certainly use them again.