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Hi, I have just taken the plunge and bought my first all Ford, managed Jaguar. I have had many Jags over the years, but this is the first 'all' Ford car,and my first Jaguar V8.
I have bought the car, knowing that it has some problems, and will be taking it to my local main dealer, tomorrow, to get her diagnosed. In short, the gearbox is in 'limp home mode', the abs and traction fail lights are on, the check engine light is on, but other than that, it is a lovely car!
I don't have the handbook, which is frustrating, as I am used to older, simpler examples of the marque, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
My first dilemna is how do I get the petrol door open and access to the filler???? The car has been reasonably well looked after, but the PO just lost interest towards the end, and sold it to me.
Anyway, it is Antigua blue/tan with a blue convertible roof, my wife has claimed it as her own, and is, for the first time in 30 years with me, and my mania for cars, actually showing excitement at the prospect of driving this car, so I must get it right for her!
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Phil

Hi, and Welcome Phil

You are a brave man, buying such a car with known issues... I hope they turn out to be easy fixes and not put you off the car early into ownership.

If you check this link, you will find the owners manuals, so you will figure out the logic of the petrol flap!

http://www.ownerinfo.jaguar.com/extfree ... /index.jsp

Its probably also worth getting a copy of JTIS (ebay?) so that you have a better steer should you want to do any maintenance yourself.....or of course...ask here!

David

Hello, Phil.

To save time -whilst waiting for the manuals - the filler flap is opened by pressing the button next to the boot/trunk opener by your right knee. (Assuming you are sitting in the car, have a right-hand drive and a right knee!).

Welcome to the marque.

Michael

You will probably also find that the petrol cap will only open with the drivers door already opened first.

The Traction Control/ Automatic Stability Control/ ABS warning is a VERY common feature on the XK8, and has most of us baffled, with many potential causes/solutions. Take a look at the Electrics section of the forum for a thread entitled "Persistent Error Messages"

Damian

Welcome to the Forum, Phil. As you sort your car's issues don't forget to update us all. We like happy endings! I'm sure you'll find the XK8 is a great car, especially when it's running as Jaguar intended. Good luck. Mike.

Hello Phil,
Welcome to Jaguar ownership. I have a 1998 LHD convertible and having been through some of the usual faults and thought it might be an idea to offer my experiences.
First off I agree with Mike, when it's all working properly (and it usually does) it is a hell of a car. Sun shining, roof down, favourite track on the CD life is very good.
I also agree with David that you seek out a JTIS disc, they are well worth having.

ABS faults and traction control faults come and go on a whim. My car is a toy and spends long periods going nowhere. I know that when I start it up after standing for a while that I may get these faults, but after the engine has warmed up and the battery has had a bit of a charge, the fault goes if the engine is turned off and restarted. When I use th car in the summer for european jaunts it works faultlessly.
The age of the battery has also been an influence in the past. I went through a phase of the abs faults co-inciding with slow starting. I changed the battery and hey presto, no abs faults.
I'd also suggest you have a look at the abs sensors. They're easy to get to and I recommend you lift them out and give them a cleam on the sensor face. I'd also break and remake the local connectors.
Also, if the gearbox selector switch is faulty, it can cause spurious false abs faults. It sound to me that you may have a faulty gearbox switch.

On the subject of the gearbox switch, I have had two fail, the second one three years after it was fitted by the dealer. I learnt from Dave Marks that they are unreliable and age is no indicator of likely condition. The swtches are criminally expensive from the dealer and on the last failure fitted a scrap one for a fraction of the cost.

Corrosion. Under the floor, roughly where your feet are, are a couple of re-inforcing plates on the underbody. I recommend you check these and rust proof if they're ok.

There are lots of other little things, but another time.
Doug Barrass,
Ashford, Kent.

Thanks to everybody for their good wishes. I am not new to Jaguar ownership, but I am new to V8 Jaguars, with loads of computer things to go wrong!

I was fortunate enough to be a bit of an internet 'junkie' and after spending last Friday at the dealership, when they told me that my bill was going to be upwards of $8300.00 I got straight onto the 'net, and sourced all the parts needed for a fraction of the Jaguar charges!

I am getting the dealership the do the work, so labour charges have been agreed, and the parts I have sourced and supplied myself, from specialist retailers.

One thing that has become patently apparent to me, the dealerships, expect the average Jaguar owner, to have pots of money and too busy to question the dealer charges!

I am neither rich nor too busy to save thousands of dollars/pounds, just by burning up the ether of the web!

One glaring example, is the ABS module.

The dealer says it must be replaced, and the new unit is charged at $2800.00 plus installation, plus taxes! The book calls for 2 hours labour, (@ $115/hr), to fit the module,and turn 4 screws. This little exercise, is not over, until the re-program the replacement unit, to your car, for an additional $350 programming fee!

A little bit of web surfing, brought me to a company in the States, that not only rebuilds your own unit, (thereby obviating the need to re-program the unit), but gives a lifetime guarantee against defects, all for the princely sum of $110.00 !!!!

I am learning a lot about the modern Jaguar dealers, and the fact that the techs are generally computer operators, and order makers. The computer tells the tech that the fault lies with any of say 6 different areas, that necessitate 6 different types of parts, and therefore is 6 times as costly!

A mechanic, however, takes the time to find the cause of the fault, narrow it down to the 1 or 2 areas that are problematic, and then will, try and fix it, or at last resort, tell the customer that the part/s need replacing/rebuilding.

It is a wonder to me, how Ford could not make a profit from Jaguar. I am optimistic about the new owners, Tata, as they seem to be more of the 'hands on' type of car makers, than Ford.

I will keep you in touch as far as the thing goes, like, why do Jaguar charge it's customers $110/litre for convertible top hydraulic fluid, when it is readily available for $22/litre, or what myth they sell to their customers about the ATF that they charge $75/litre when again, with a bit of research, I bought it for $4.99/litre!

I dare say the UK dealers are onto the same thing as over here, I am glad to be experiencing this first hand, as I have always defended the marque against the common opinion amongst some previous Jaguar owners, that they are a rip off, but now that I HAVE to take this car to the dealer to diagnose the faults, I am seeing just what a rip off modern Jaguar ownership can be for the uninitiated or gullible Jaguar owners. I have always had Jaguars, but this is the first all Ford designed car I have bought. I agree that the car is lovely to look at, and hope to experience the driving soon enough, but I would be very skeptical of buying another 'modern' after this.