Touchscreen failing?

[john853]

I bought a 2008 XK Convertible in February. I think it is an excellent car, and ideal for me just at the moment. I only had time for two good long runs out, from Poole to Wrexham and back 3 days later, and was very impressed with the comfort, economy and performance. All the electronics are almost the same as I had in my last LR Discovery, so no steep learning curve there either. It is all in beautiful visual condition, appears to have been very well looked after, and is relatively low mileage. I bought it from Paul Whiting at Chiltern Jaguars in Stokenchurch, whom I visited and I was impressed by their facilities. So far so good.

Once I bought the car, I immediately joined the JEC of course.

Then along came lockdown. Which worries me because I don't feel I shall be able to test it out as thoroughly as I would like in the warranty period. I am now using it for short, infrequent runs to Tesco and the Pharmacy and that's it.

However, I am now worried even more because the touchscreen has started to play up. The first time I had the problem was towards the end of a very hot day when the car had been baking in the sun, not directly on the touchscreen, all day. All was fine when I started it up but after about 10 minutes driving, the screen display started to break up into downward rolling, zig-zag lines of something, vaguely identifiable as the satnav display, on a white screen. The hard switches did not do much, but the first press of the on/off switch changed the something to bits of screen saver, and the second press turned it off. The third press 5 secs later took us back to the wonky, rolling satnav. The Home button produced a vague, rolling attempt at the home screen, but the touch controls were not identifiable and/or didn't work. The satnav was still working away, talking to me and giving output to the Message display on the instrument panel.

After 30-40 minutes rest in Tesco car park, it all started up and worked as normal for about 10 minutes, then went zig-zag again. And that is what it has done ever since.

When I was a teenager my parents bought a b & w, 405 line TV which was all there was in those days. I remember that when its aerial signal was too weak, it used to show this kind of rolling, incomplete display of the programme it was trying to decode. So I think the touchscreen may not be at fault, but it may be the signal feed to the screen that is breaking down.

Obviously, I hope that Chiltern Jaguars will step up and sort this problem for me under warranty, but they are not working at the moment.

In the mean time I have been looking for touchscreens on eBay, and wondering about replacing the whole thing myself if I have to. I cant do without it because so many aspects are only available via the touchscreen. Units seem to be available for £3-400, some claiming to be new. Any comments on these would be welcomed.

And I would greatly value comments and advice from more knowledgeable members than I on the nature and cause of the problem, how it may be cured, and how I should go about curing it if we are locked up until the warranty period has expired.

Thank you in anticipation.

[Ivan90]

Hi John
I have sent you a PM

[john853]

Just to complete the story, Chiltern Jaguars stepped up to the line and performed brilliantly. By prior arrangement when I was passing by, they fitted a replacement touchscreen for me and also a Pedestrian Sensor, thereby solving all the problems.

They did what they said they would, at the time they said, and it took under 2 hours, as they said it would. They have an impressive workshop.

I would recommend them to anyone; Chiltern Jaguars in High Wycombe.