PD Miller

Evening all 

My latest x350 is the first black car I've owned in 50 odd years of car ownership. Being a low mileage car the paintwork is in very good condition apart from swirl marks when the sun shines on it. I'm sure that a good polish would fix it but what type? I've got an electric polisher but I'm a bit reluctant to use it in case I make things worse. Tried Colour Magic Black , Meguiars scratchex and a carbonara polish but if anything they made it worse.

Any advice most welcome.

Pete

While on the topic of Sat Nav I wonder if it is possible to get the Sat Nav to accept entries while on the move. It would be handy if the passenger could enter destinations etc. The car is a 2005 X350 with the Denso system. 

Thanks

Pete

I gave up looking for a new clamp and managed to make one up using 2mm thick stainless and a piece of 10mm dia tube . It seems to be working ok and when I get time I'll make one for the other side before that one drops off. If anyone needs dimensions I've made a note of them .

Cheers

Pete

Evening All

I'm trying to locate a new top bracket for the rear height sensor on my X350. It's the bracket that connects the top of the sensor rod to the wishbone. I can't find a part number or a supplier. Maybe a case of cobble something together. Just wondering if anyone has had the same dilemma.

Cheers

Pete

Now that I'm in my dotage I can't remember when my membership subscription is due. Is there any way I can tell of will I receive an email reminder?

I removed my dreaded Leaper by taking the large plastic nut off then using dental floss to cut through the unbelievably strong double sided tape,Just use a gentle sawing action and work your way around it. What's left of the sticky tape cleans off with white spirits. I took mine off because I was having the bonnet resprayed. I would have loved to have left the B$&&$y thing off but the paint shop were none too keen to fill the holes as they thought they would always show through. I suggested that I could place an aluminium patch underneath and weld it through the holes using the Aluweld kit but they convinced me that the bonnet would distort. I suspect that the Paint Sprayer just liked leapers but anyway it's still there    smirking at me every time I look at it, As mentioned by Jon the S Type badge fits perfectly and I got one off eBay which I'll fit if the smirking ever becomes unbearable.

To spray the bonnet BTW cost £330 but they made a cracking job of it. 

this is how it looks with the badge. A bit BMW for my liking  I know        Some people are hard to please.

Hi Khalidm

Sorry for the ridiculously long time taken to reply. I bought the straps from one of the dealers who advertise on the internet but I noticed recently that someone is selling stainless steel straps on eBay. If I were to do the job again that is the way I would go as the oe ones are quite flimsy.  When I find my perfect Sovereign which I have been looking for for about 5 years, I'll be fitting stainless tank straps.

Best wishes

Pete

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.

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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.

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Worth getting the codes read Kevin. Even a cheap code reader should point you in the right direction. loads of info on which one to choose on this and other forums.

Might be something simple like a  sensor or even a battery on it's way out.

Good luck and let us know how you get on. Merry Xmas

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 

17 hours ago, JOE-DOT-COM said:

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if you did pull it apart take some pictures

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.

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BMMs and stuff like that all a bit modern for me but I changed my battery without losing codes etc by jumping a supply from a 12v battery to the leads then disconnecting the original battery and replacing it with the new one. Not sure if this would do the trick for you but you wouldn't interrupt the supply during the change over . Obviously you need to remember that the positive lead is live all of the time.

In the past I have found Varta batteries to be excellent and from personal experience with my wife's Range Rover the Varta performs much better than the Bosch which it replaced I believe that they are made by Bosche but wouldn't swear to it.

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

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Looks like a faulty alternator,. Did you check the voltage with the engine running? I think it should rise to 14 odd volts but someone more knowlegeable will be along with the exact figure. Silly question but the drive belt is ok and turning the alternator? I think if it wasn't you would've noticed other problems on your 20 mile run.

Hopefully not too expensive.

Good luck

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Hi Paul

I went through exactly the same thing with the passenger side window on my X350. No amount of lubrication could coax it to work and even with the whole regulator assembly out and on the bench with an independent supply ( Battery ) it was still jerking and intermittent. I suspect that a black box of tricks with a PCB is the culprit as the motor seemed fine. The black box no doubt controlled the limit stops etc but I couldn't fathom out how it worked. A £30 replacement regulator /motor unit from ebay saved the day and is still going strong.

Interestingly the first ebay offering turned out to be the wrong one and was from an S type. The main parts looked the same and I tried swapping over the black box onto my regulator/motor It then worked fine but stopped in the wrong place no matter how many times I tried to reset it. 

Good luck

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.