www.jec.org.uk

I am presenty trying to nurse an early facelift (1991) XJS back to health. As I cure one problem another seems to appear. The latest problem is that the glove box will not open. The knob turns (and can be locked and unlocked) but does not release the catch. Any ideas or suggestions?

Ian Strachan, Bathgate

It sounds like a spring has snapped in the look, which is letting the lock, lock and unlock, but not letting the spring push the catch down. other than a wide screwdriver, and very gently at the top of the lock, with a bit of cloth for padding behind the driver, prize it open.... other than the catch is corroded to the bar. i don't know.

Without making light of your difficulty. You will need a replacement I think. I had a similar problem a little while ago with my 1992 car. To cut a very long boring story short. I bought a new one from Jaguar at a cost of about £80!

In reality this was quite cheap since at the time of my original order the item was listed as NLA. The nice people at Jaguar were able to locate the tooling now owned by an engineering company in Germany and hey-presto I had one.

Have a look on ebay and places like Grub*****r (he dismantles quite a few XJSs, and I'm sure you will find one (and the key).

Happy days
Nick