Nige005

!!! Who knows but fingers crossed !

This all sounds good. When I had the Traction/Stability/ABS fault come on ( again ! ) whilst I was out and about I called in at the local indy as I was nearby. He put a generic Code Reader on and it just came up with a Code that was basically " Comms Error, " The Reader was talking to the Car but not helping much with any diagnosis. Had similar with other makes of car so real world advice from a Forum like this is invaluable. Later on when I returned to the indy he put the proper Jag one on and it revealed the fault immediately, very impressed with that. Nice bit of kit with dedicated tough display and a wireless connection, live data and everything, even CBeebies I think, which would be good right now to avoid the overblown school Sports Day claptrap everywhere I look...........

Jason, STOP !!! Before you start taking the Door Card off remove and clean the Connector Plug on the " A " Pillar that connect the car electrics into the Door. This is very simple and may save you a lot of time ! Do it on both doors if you have but do the Drivers one first and then test. If you still have problems then do the Passenger one. If you still have problems after doing both Connectors then then start digging into the Door itself. I'd put money on the ABS fault being caused by the ABS Control Module but cleaning the Connectors for each wheel is a good starting point. No idea about a Code Reader, my local indy is happy to do it for me for free so I haven't had to look into this. Good luck !

No problem. The previous owner of mine, who is a friend anyway, took about four years to find it !!!

A bit odd re the Boot thing Jason. A clever work around but don't you have a key opening for the Boot Lock ? My 1998 one has one. Admittedly it's a bit hard to see, it's in between the X and the K of the XK8 badge at the bottom of the Boot Lid. Oh, and about your Sport Button snag No idea really but it would probably just amount to removing the centre console bit and replacing or fixing a broken bit of plastic. Carry on the good work, Battery for you next !

Hi Jason, I should have finished this topic, my excuse is that I forget things a lot now, perhaps more ( or less ) beer needed ...... ! I solved the problem quite simply in the end. My initial thought was the Processor Module inside the door but as usual there are several different types so the Door Card had to come off to check which one I ( thought ) I needed. Before removing the Door Card I got some new fasteners/fixings in case I broke any removing it, I didn't in the end and found that the Door Card removal was remarkably easy. Once inside the Door I set to and unplugged and cleaned every connector I could find and also identified the Door Module type fitted. I then tested everything but found no improvement, still a problem. One thing still bugged me though, I hadn't found the connection point from the car into the door. Sitting on the edge of the seat pondering this I looked at the cabling going from the door into the car and bingo, what I thought was a grommet protecting the cables as they went into the " A " pillar is in fact a connector. Doh. This is a twist off connector, easy to remove and after a quick clean up and a few squirts of Switch Cleaner normal service was resumed all round - happy days ! Like you, when it first happened I was under the impression that the door was mechanically misaligned and so was causing the problem but NOT SO, the Door was fine. So for yours I would suggest that the first thing to do is clean the Connector on the Drivers Door, and if necessary, the Passenger Door one also. Do the Drivers one first and then test, you may well be a happy man ! Ideally use a proper Switch Cleaner such as Servisol rather than WD40. As has been said many a time it is absolutely essential that you have a good quality Battery in good condition on these, if you have any doubts replace and save yourself a lot of grief, go for a Bosch or similar high quality make. A Battery can appear to be OK, still start the car and appear to work normally but may still not be up to the job, any doubt just bite the bullet and spend a hundred or so beer chits..... So happy hunting, let me know how you get on. Cheers, Nige..

Fingers crossed Jason ! Sadly on mine it just got more and more and more " mittent " rather than " inter " and as it was getting towards MoT time ( ABS light on = instant fail ) I went for the fix. TBH I'm pleased I did, the lights were driving me nuts when they were on.

If the ABS Warning Light comes on with the Info display also showing, alternately " Traction Control Fail " and " Stability Control Fail " it may indicate a failure of the ABS Control Module, this is a known and common fault. The cure is to have the Unit rebuilt at a specialist company, it costs about £150 for repair of this module. This happened to mine, started off only happening occasionally but got worse over time, eventually I got sick of it and had it repaired at the local indy, the whole job was about £250. Another possibility is a poor connection from one of the wheel sensors. The best way to diagnose is to have the codes read with the proper Jag software, I've noted that the generic readers do not always give the codes and will come up with something like " Comms Error " rather than the fault code.

Could use some help here folks. I have the usual Drivers window not auto closing problem and usually a " reset " cures the problem - for a while. However today it really didn't want to reset and after several attempts it got even worse. The Window would not move at all using the switch and further checks showed that neither would the Passenger Window or either of the Mirrors. After about ten minutes everything started working again and I was able to reset the Windows. But after checking the Auto Drop about three times it all went wrong again and nothing was working. Again, but this time after about twenty minutes, everything started working. Repeated the Auto drop checks, worked OK for about three times but then everything stopped working yet again.This time it took more like a hour for things to start working. I have now managed to reset the Auto Drop on the Windows and so I'm finally able to close the door, not too keen on doing any more checks as I don't want to be stuck with the Window " UP " and the door " OPEN. " The only common thing I can see with both Doors having identical problems is the Body Processor Module but this is really a bit of a stab in the dark and I'm reluctant to start pulling the Glovebox out ( Module is behind this, I believe ) and then spending £££s on what is essentially a guess on my part. Desperate for any insight into this so if you have any ideas....... Thanks, Nige.

That makes sense - in every way. Thanks for the info.

Can't help with the Fusebox, never had it apart, sorry. Re the Alarn Sounder. When I've accidentally set my Alarm off it seems to me that it is the normal horn that goes off and on and off etc. Do Jaguar consider that an Alarm Sounder ? Might have to look at the Fusebox, do you mean the one on the right looking from the front ? The Heater on mine does not get very hot, fairly warm, but not toasty hot. I s'pose a possible reason for this would be the Heater Pump not running, hmmmmmm. At any rate, glad that everything is back to normal operation for you.

Have fun !!!

I'd forgotten about the knob on the mirror, never even think about it as the Auto Mirror doesn't work anyway, hasn't done for years to my knowledge. Did look for used ones of these and there are a few around but was discouraged both by the price and the need to remove the existing one to be sure that you buy the right one. Odd this as reading about these in other places it seems the main gubbins of these things are all made by the same company and they are pretty cruddy devices. Maybe one day I'll revisit this, perhaps when Uncle Ernie coughs up a decent about of beer coupons.......

I apologise if I'm teaching you to suck eggs but are you sure that you have the auto function fitted ? On my 98 model although the Switch has the auto position the auto function is not fitted, believe it was an option. No idea about the connectors, usually connectors have obvious clips to disconnect but I know there are some types which are very different. Hope you can sort it all out.

Excellent info, thanks for telling us. Might get around to looking at mine sometime now........... !

I have heard that moisture in the connectors inside the doors can be a problem and cause the connectors to tarnish and hence create these little niggles. The solution would be to disconnect, clean and then spray with a Switch Cleaner such as Servisol. I have similar, but not as severe, little niggles on my Drivers door but so far have not found the courage to remove the Door Card to investigate..... As above, the Loom itself is about the last thing I would suspect although I s'pose there could be a problem where the loom flexes as it goes into the Door. Good luck, would be interested to hear how you get on as I suspect a lot of XK8 owners would be.

A quick update on this. Had the car into the local Indy to check out the weep and it's apparently from a connection under the RH Bank ( looking from the front ) near the front. It only weeps a very small amount and then only when cold and is not an unusual problem. Told to ignore it for now, just check the coolant level once a week and if only losing a smidgen, as it is now, leave it alone. When the time comes to do something about it the the cure is to replace the pipe itself and also replace the plastic Thermostat Housing with an aluminium one availabe from the USA. Not a huge job but takes a bit of time as the Manifold has to come off to get at all the bits. So for now I'll live with it, just have to locate the correct Antifreeze ! Had a heart racing moment when I collected the car after leaving it at the Indy overnight. Started up and then the " Stabilty Control " and Traction Control " warnings came on, s'pose that if this had to happen at least I was in the right place......... The Diagnostics showed that the Sensor on the Front N/S wheel wasn't doing what it should. Checked the connection which happens to be behind the Washer Bottle, removed and then reconnected it and all seems well so can only surmise that this was disturbed whilst looking into the leak. At least I hope so...........;

The street where I was dragged up is still there in name only, the new houses run across the hill now instead of up and down. Must take all the fun out of sledging down it and then ending up scooting across the busy road at the bottom ! I think they now have 'leccy too.........

A blast from the past then Peter although it could be a bit lonely and windswept !

Whilst chomping on a Barnsley Chop and slurping Oakwells best. ( The beer, not a footballer........ ! ) Rarely visit the place now, effectively left in 1970 and very little family and few friends to go back for.

Well it's an XK8 that I have Richard so dunno about any problems with the XF. The fault on mine is not the Header Tank itself but a meeting of pipes a little underneath it, no point in posting a pic as it's almost impossible to see. On other cars though I've certainly had at least one Header Tank fail, quite spectacular as it lets go, hot brown showers all round !!!!!

Thanks Peter. A bit more research seems to indicate that a Ford spec Antifreeze is the one that is the same as the Jag one, albeit a lot cheaper than the Jag version. A chat with the previous owner confirmed that this is the stuff that is in there. Just three days before I got the car he had a slight weep from the Tee Piece that is under the Header Tank repaired, or so we thought...... Weeping there again so back to the local Indy who did it. Should just be a matter of replacing the hose clip but it's a very awkward place to get to. If it was out in the " fresh air " I'd do it myself but it looks like eyes in the fingertips and a quad jointed arm is required so I'll pass on that, my deformities may be extensive but not of that ilk !!! I'll be using the gift thingy, actually it's a prepaid cash card that British Gas gave me on contract renewal last year, to stock up on stuff from Halfords. The card can be used at other places like Argos, John Lewis etc but there isn't anything I really need, I'm obviously a lucky man or just maybe living the minimalist Yorkshire live like what I did when we lived in a cardboard box on the cobbled steets of Barnsley............

Thanks Peter, good to have your views.

Looks like I need a slight top up on the coolant. Looking at what is in there right now it appears to be a light orange colour and having done a bit of research I reckon it's an " OAT " type fluid. Thinking of getting the Halfords version of this ( mainly because I have a gift card thingy that I can spend at Halfords which needs to be spent very soon ) but from what I can make out this appears to be a pink colour so I have reverted to my usual state - confused......... Any advice, as usual, greatly appreciated.

Morning all. I think it's time for a new set of Blades for the XK8 and thinking of getting the Wipex ones, these have the built in Washer Heads. In the past I have used these on other cars and was very happy with them but have seen comments on other Forums where people have had distinctly different views. Has anyone here used them and if so what are your views ? Or do you have any other suggestions ?