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Igor, hi. In the end I got a towbar fitted to another car we have, a Volvo. Sorry but I have given up on the idea of fitting a towbar to my XJ8. Yours is a bit newer than mine so have you asked the Jaguar dealership? - Terry.

HI all I've got a 2004 4.2 XJ8 aka x350 and I would like to get a towbar fitted. afaik that model is homologated for towing and I eventually found a supplier. However the fitter I talked to said that he "wouldn't want to get involved" in this. He said he remembered fitting towbars to these back in the 2004 era and it was awkward back then, when replacement brackets or what-have-you were readily available. The dealership says the parts are no longer available. fwiw I'm only going to tow a 10-foot boat on its trailer or one of those 1 metre long Erde trailers to take garden rubbish to the tip. Anyone got a towbar on one of these please and if so how did you go about getting it supplied / fitted? Thanks, regards, Terry.

Hi Peter, thanks for your advice re that cover. Just need a dry day now and nothing more urgent on schedule! Regards from Terry.

Hi Jim, sorry to disappear for a week or so, I had to urgently repair a bit of fencing cos the area next door is being sold with planning permission so I wanted to clarify where the boundary is so I don't wake up one morning to find a JCB munching through my front lawn lol. Anyway, done that. I'll try to get to car soonish. Thanks again for your help. I ain't ruled out the OBD thingy though. - Terry.

Great thanks Jim!

Thanks Jim. I'll have a think about that OBD reader, looks good. Meanwhile I'll try to have a look at the reluctors and sensors, maybe on a day when it's a bit drier underfoot (or under-backside since I'll be lying on the ground!) Fortunately time is on my side since I'm not supposed to be going anywhere anyway 'cos of the lockdown. - Terry.

Hi Jim, tried third cycle and still got the fault. I'll have a look at the reluctors as you suggest. Are any of these things that claim to read OBD-2 codes any good? They seem a bit cagey about what they can read (P codes and/or C codes) and about whether any of the codes would be meaningful outside of a dealership workshop lol! - Terry.

Thanks Jim I'll try another cycle tomorrow.

Left battery on charge overnight then took it off about 1200 today. Waited 1 hour then checked voltage with my new multimeter. Result was 12.84 volts. Stuck it on car. Still got ABS/DSC fault but I expected that on 1st cycle. Drove around then left it for a while. Started it up again and still got faults on a second cycle. Maybe this is some thing like sensor(s)? Dunno!

Got battery out but boot lid doesn't seem to close properly it closes almost completely but there is usually a whirring sound as in gets pulled tight the last few millimeteres which of course doesn't happen w/o the battery

Thanks Jim it'll be on charge overnight now I guess so I'll bring it indoors. I'll get back on here tomorrow. - Terry.

Hi Jim, just wondering, are there any things to watch for when I disconnect and remove the battery, or do I just undo the connections and take it off. (I've got the radio code somewhere - I think!) Regards, Terry.

Thanks Jim, it'll be tomorrow before I get the battery on charge now, so I guess leave it overnight till Saturday, then test it. The battery was bought from the RAC when they came out on a "home start" call afaik and is under a guarantee so I can pursue that. The donkey starts on the button though - is that amperage rather than voltage I wonder? Regards from Terry.

Ah hi Jim, yeah sent that multimeter back, the return process was a bit different but I hope I'll get my money back, only £11.98. (The process seemed a bit hit and miss, I'd be worried if it was a couple of hundred quid lol! As it it, no big deal.) Anyway I ordered another multimeter @ £29 quid, so two-and-a-half times as dear, but seems (fingers and toes crossed) pretty amazing. Auto-ranging, and when you set the rotary switch it lights up the ports you should plug the leads into. So it should be idiot-proof which is good for me. To cut a long story short I've just measured the battery voltage at 11.93 volts. That's short of the 12.8 we were looking for. Regards from Terry.

Right I'll bounce that back to Amazon, maybe get something a bit better. Thanks for the help Jim. I'll report back when I get another multimeter. Come to think of it my son-in-law might have one. A known good meter would be great around now. But lockdown ..... I'll get back to you anyway.

Ah I just get "1" when I touch the leads together for all the ohms settings, all the green settings, in the picture. (I guess there's a reason why some of these meters cost hundreds and this one was £11.98?)

Think so here goes :-

Ah not winning here Jim. The new multimeter arrived and although the instructions to fit the battery into the multimeter were wrong I eventually got the battery into it. It's one of those 9v square batteries. Result : nothing. I tried voltage testing on several known good (new) 1.5v batteries. Tried putting 2 other 9v batteries that I had into the multimeter instead of the battery that came with it. Tried resistance but nothing. The display lights up and also has a pretty blue backlight feature, but it just shows 000 or 0.00 etc. for voltage, and "1" for resistance. Just for luck I tried the actual car battery on the Jag - 000. I guess it would be possible to order a multimeter and it would arrive defective and not work - but this is after my old multimeter didn't work ... it too just showed zeros or a "1" .... What the two meters have in common seems to be - err - me! Is there something I'm not doing like maybe you have to hold the positive in your right hand and the negative in your left lol Going mad here lol. Thank goodness it's nearly beer o'clock! Regards from Terry.

Ordered another meter, supposedly will be delivered tomorrow.

Ho hum got multimeter in bits now lol. Shows zero on Jag battery and on another car's battery and on a 9v battery in the house. (btw both cars started on the button.) I think it's an ex-multimeter I think it's had it. It was only a cheap thing that I got for 1 job a while ago as I recall. Might order another one. Will keep you informed. Regards from Terry.

Thanks Jim back soon-ish weather permitting!

Hi Jim, I've googled around a bit but can't find my exact make of multimeter so still unclear - I guess I want it switched to V with a solid line and a dotted line over it? Then there's a rotary dial with stuff like V, K Omega in red and 2, 20, 200 in black. I ask 'cos I can't get anything out of it trying with torch batteries. The display lights up but that's about all (-: Not tried on actual car 'cos of weather and boot's full of stuff which I would have to take out to get at battery and I don't want to get it wet. Regards from Terry.

will do

Ah Jim, thanks for that. I'll have a look in the morning, or later if the forecast is right and it's heavy rain. - Terry.

Jimbov8, blimey, we were wondering about that actually. Course, everything has gone wonky with the lockdown etc. With another of our cars I even had to break out the battery charger - and the last time I used that was on a Cortina! But battery troubles are more likely now I suppose with cars sometimes standing for a long while. What's the best way to check the battery please? I've got a multimeter (but hazy on how to use it!) - Terry.