Another "British" vehicle

[The Seeker]

I lost my mind today and bought an '08 Jaguar X-type 3.0L V-6 AWD.

Not sure yet if this is something to celebrate or not.

It's absolutely cosmetically perfect inside and out with brand new Continental rubber. The drivetrain & suspension is equally good (31,000 miles). It's got a couple dumb problems that don't affect it's performance, but are something I need to correct. I got the car relatively dirt cheap (WAY under book value) or else I wouldn't have taken a car with those problems.

One is that the remote locks aren't working (even with a new battery)...probably will have to replace the unit from the dealership. The other is that one headlamp is dead even though the bulb is good, the fuse is OK, and I get power at the socket when tested. Strange??

Anyhow, when I get those items squared away, I'll have a perfect Jag with AWD...... which should come in handy around here.

 

[devo]

sounds like a nice car.
re the headlamp, faulty earth maybe.?
:y18:

 

[Silli]

Congrats Seeker. :y115:

Devo.... I was gonna say that.......... :ya2:

 

[DaveM]

Congratulation now we just need to see some pics :ya2: I am sure those small defects should be easy to fix

 

[The Seeker]

I only paid $9,900.00 for a car that would normally book for almost twice as much. The reason was two-fold.....(a) the problems mentioned above and (b) the car was the dealer's Daughters personal ride - a dealer who is going to file for bankruptcy after getting a letter from Chrysler that they are closing him down. He sold Jaguars and Chryslers/Jeeps. Since Jaguar went to India and Chrysler will no longer give him cars, he's left to liquidate all his inventory.

the headlamp, faulty earth maybe.?

I of course first checked the fuse to find it was good. I next bought a new halogen bulb (single pole- low beam). After that not working, I unplugged the bulb and tested to be sure it had power at the socket...it does. The bulb and socket are just single pole spade-type which would ground through the housing when installed. What's very strange is that there are actually TWO wires going to the rear of the socket. I tested it by inserting the probe into the actual socket where the bulb would plug in and not the "back" of the socket where the two wires go in. Why TWO wires though?? Today I'll actually test the two wires themselves. I can't make-out where the two wires lead when they enter the back of the socket as it's like a sealed unit. I just can't figure-out why there would be two wires and what they would mate with when there is only one spade terminal at the rear of the bulb??? It's quite obvious that the bulb would ground through it's base when it's in place clipped to the rear of the headlamp housing. I'm going to run a "jumper" wire today from the actual headlamp housing to a good ground to see if it's not earthing correctly...but I can't imagine why that would be the case.

I wish I could blame it on Lucas electrics, but everything electrical seems to be Bosch or Ford!

 

[CarlS]

Congratulations, AJ. I like Jags. That was a steal. You could double your money selling it for parts! I suspect the headlight socket itself is faulty. Let me know testing the wires reveals. I wonder if the two wires means that the wiring is set up for a high and low beam and the contact makes it a low beam unit?

 

[Geoff587]

Jags my all time favourite car, reference the central locking not working, I had that on my Ford and cured it with some WD40 ( doesn,t it cure everything? ) . Took the door panels off and sprayed it in the lock internals. May not be the answer but is a cheap fix if it works .

MK2 3.8 Jag The choice of all the Best Gangsters in the 60,s

 

[CarlS]

The last Jag I had was an XK-120 back in the '60's. I always wanted (and still want) an E type.

 

[Geoff587]

[quote author=CarlS link=topic=5779.msg32148#msg32148 date=1243430749]
The last Jag I had was an XK-120 back in the '60's. I always wanted (and still want) an E type.
[/quote]

The Ultimate phallic symbol

http://wholesalecalifornia.com/64_red_xke.html

This ones for sale Carl :y115:

 

[CarlS]

I like it!! But there are 28,900 reasons why I can't buy it - all with a $ in front of them. :y114:

 

[DaveM]

I can buy a new one for that price :y114: and I have a choice of colours :silent:

 

[CarlS]

Those aren't cars; they are toys! This is a real vehicle:

 

[The Seeker]

Well, doesn't it figure that I shouldn't have been attempting to diagnose the headlamp problem when the sun was going down? All it turned out to be was bent metal "pincers" on the outside of the plug. Evidently, someone tried to change the bulb and must have bent the two pincers apart...they acted as the ground to the outer part of the bulb (it does ground thru the one wire afterall). Once I took a good look with some light and tested the two wires, I realized those two things were meant to be the ground. A quick bend back with a pair of needle nosed pliars and there was light again!

Well, you requested pictures....I wanted to take a front and rear view but my battery needed charging so I only got this one for now:

 

[CarlS]

Glad is was a simple fix. I thought it might just be something with the socket. Nice looking ride!

 

[The Seeker]

Thanks Carl.

Yeah it turned out to be simple.

The remote door locking thing will probably require a (dealer only) receiver module that mounts in the the trunk (boot) behind the liner. I talked with a mechanic who said since everything stopped working (trunk opener, alarm on/off, and remote headlight on/off) and the fuse is good, then it's most likely the receiver. There is a remote possibility that if the batteries were left dead too long, some cars have to be reprogrammed afterwards. He's not sure about Jags though.

 

[devo]

nice car
well done
:y18:

 

[CarlS]

I hope it will be as simple as a reprogram. I am sure Jaguar wants an arm and to legs for parts.

 

[The Seeker]

Yeah, with the low mileage, I'd be surprised if the entire unit is junk already!?

That wouldn't say much for the quality of their parts.

 

[DaveM]

Wow nice ride well done :y115:

 

[CarlS]

You might even be able to find a used one through an auto salvage yard.