I've had both the ABS/TRAC not available problem and the Failsafe mode problem. I've sucessfully solved both but it took a bit of detective work. The ABS/TRAC problem was a dry joint on the circuit board in the ABS Brake Modulator where the hydraulic pump motor gets its supply. David Marks will repa...

Yes, I would have thought that your car has the latest type of tensioner. As it's still under warranty the dealer is the obvious port of call......My own experience of my local dealer is not good but I am sure they are not all bad. If you need a second opinion the best independent I have found is Da...

I got rid of the Pzeros when they were worn out and put sportmax on my XK8 and much prefer them. They are grippier and quieter in my view. However, correctly inflated Pzeros should not make your car jump about in the way you describe. Have someone who is experienced on the front suspension have a lo...

If it wasn't for the fact you have a XKR I'd suggest the variable valve timing units which are well kwown to sometimes make ticking noises from cold. However I don't think XKRs have them so it's not that. Next I would suspect the dreaded timing chain tensioners - have you had them changed? If not, i...

One thought on your handling issue. Have the V mounts on the front subframe checked. They have a tendency to suffer from delamination betwen the Rubber V and the aluminium mounting block. This was a problem on my car. The handling was what I can best describe as insecure. Since replacement the handl...

Now I come to think about it, measuring the current being drawn after switch off may not be straight forward - perhaps Mike knows how to do it. If you leave the boot open, you have to wait long enough for the light to go out. Then if you disconnect the battery to fit an ammeter, the act of reconnect...

My XK8 is coming up for 10 years and 80k and still on the original battery. I frequently leave it for weeks without a restart problem. I did leave it for a couple of months once and had to charge the battery before it would start but thought that fair enough. I wonder why people's experience of this...

Without any input signal the PAS defaults to its "at speed" setting. At standstill this gives steering which has significant assistance but is not finger tip light. I remember when the PAS cooler blew on the motorway once. I had to drive home with no PAS. You do need big arm a shoulder muscules for ...

My XK8 has had quite heavy steering at parking speeds for sometime. Difficult to pin point when this started but seemed to be when the car was under warranty and had to go back to the dealer to have a wiring fault fixed that kept on giving me "Failsafe Engine Mode" indication. The dealer said they h...

I would recommend David Marks in Nottingham. Very experienced, good service and reasonable cost.

I am suprised that you have found toothed belt driven camshafts are bad. My experience of years of company cars is that I have never had a problem. I bet that if the Jaguar V8 had had these, this forum would contain virtually no discussion on them except for the need to ensure they were changed ever...

That's the best bit of advice so far Bob, just enjoy the car! The XK8 is my first Jag so I've no experience of ownership of one before. I remember as a callow youth being given a lift in a 420G and thinking: so this is what a Rolls Royce must be like! Given the V8 was an engine design departure from...

I am an Engineer by profession (though not automotive) and it beats me why Jaguar used plastic for this component. Other than oil seals it must be just about the only engine internal part made of plastic. The only other one I can think of is the water pump impeller (is there a theme here!). Lightnes...

It is not actually the splitting of the tensioner that does the damage. The tensioner looses the steel slipper that bears angainst the chain (this gradually debonds from the plastic tensioner body). Only on the top tensioner can this feed itself into the in-running nip between sprocket and chain. Th...

I guess style could be the reason and I recall that models having Sat Nav don't have a "minor instrument pack". Looking at the wiring diagrams reveals the following: The oil pressure warning light is a separate wire and operates when the oil pressure is <3psig = <3V The gauge has four wires:A pair f...