Door gutter lights

[RichardSEL]

Should the red plastics at the bottom of the door card corners light when door is opened?
Should this only occur when side lights are on?
None of mine do, whether sidelights on or not, whether IGN on or not, whether engine running or not

My map lights light when door's opened, and switch off when shut / locked

[RichardSEL]

See from a post whey back in 2007 that these red door panels are meant to illuminate when the door's opened. But none of mine do. It's been suggested that the micro switches go faulty.

Bit of a co-incidence then that all of my doors' micro switches are faulty? And the only way to fix is to remove the door card. That's door card x4 My driver's has to come off anyway coz the hold open bar ratchet isn't holding (or ratcheting)

As all four doors are not lighting when opened, is there a common feed that can be checked for supply first?

[J44EAG]

I`m not familiar with 308 electrical architecture, Richard but there are two things to check initially.

The first is obviously the fuse.

That done, I would be looking towards the control module and its plug and socket. After that comes checking for power +Ve and also that you have an operable -Ve.

I`d also suggest investment in a diagnostic tool such as the iCarsoft 930i which is Jaguar specific and very useful indeed. If you have an Android or iPhone you could always get the Torque app and Bluetooth via th OBD port using an ELM327 chip bought on ebay for about £7. That does a similar job to the i930 and helps you itemise fault codes and clear them as required. You can`t really do without having one of these tools if you run a Jag and wish to keep diagnostic costs to a low figure.

Mike

[RichardSEL]

I did have a scan done to clear a transient EML and olde low battery volts-induced "TRAC NOT AVAILABLE" message. Nothing was reported about all the doors' puddle lights not working. Nor the boot light not working either (will check switch underneath RHS hinge lever plastic cover).

I'm ignorant about this X308's electrical architecture too -- are bulb out errors reported on dash or only the statutory lights' bulb out errors? Or at all?

I think this chassis predated the CANbus ring system? Even though there's an OBD port, there doesn't appear to be a module coding function: switching on or off a control module's functions according to a decimal coding string that gets converted into binary. Mebe that's something only dealer tools (VAS in VAG workshops) can do?

Jury's still out on whether to keep this and sell the Passat (which I've had for nine years, all good) Or vice versa If keeping means a further investment of ~ £1,500 (shocks, timing chain tensioner/s, ATF & filter)

[ptjs1]

Richard,

A couple of thoughts:

I'm not sure if the puddle lights illuminate on all models of x308. They did on my Sovereign spec but I also know that Jaguar changed the X-type models at some time to delete the puddle lights. Rob Jenner will know if your spec car should have them or not. First step might be to just remove the red reflector and check for presence and integrity of bulbs. The bulb failure system and warning won't check for failure in minor lights such as these.

The x308 does have a canbus but it might well be that you need the proper Jaguar software to be able to fully interrogate all the components.

Good luck

Paul

[J44EAG]

Someone else will have to advise on this electrical issue, Richard. Mine is limited to S-type and X350. Paul knows these cars well and I now see his post offers good words of wisdom re electricals.

You have the classic dilemma of an elderly car with a limited value where the cost of spares and repairs plus labour possibly exceeds the value of the car. If the urge is to keep the car and spend money on repairs, you need to be absolutely sure that the remainder of the vehicle is not harbouring other dark secrets ie rampant corrosion, near worn out gearbox or some other issue that will bite you in the bum at a later date. Also consider how long you are likely to want to keep this particular car and if you would be better off cutting your losses and ploughing the saved cash into a rather better vehicle.

I am the first to admit that I took fright at the first signs of corrosive decay on my 02 S-type. Whilst the car appeared to possibly have another five or so years left on the road, what I didn`t want was to be left with a near perfect mechanical car but with its butt about to fall out on the floor. The decision was made to sell the car whilst it still had some value and was in otherwise reasonable condition. I don`t regret the decision at all because it allowed me to quickly move onto an aluminum X350R which is bigger, easier to drive, faster, quieter, more comfortable and economical, lighter, more corrosion resistant and a better all round proposition than my early S-type ever could have been. I would have been throwing good after bad into that car if I had kept it. That said though, i do have first refusal if and when Vince ever comes to sell that car. It is quite possible that I may well own that car again sometime!!

You might indeed look at the 350 as a replacement vehicle. You will be surprised what is out there and for relatively small money. ie a solid and almost unmarked 4.2 N/A SE, 04 plate, 130k miles, dealer history and short warranty for just under £3. Trovit on the internet is the place which harvests advertisements from many sources and pings your search criteria and suitable cars to your email several times a day. Spend a couple of weeks getting the feel of the market and prices and you could end up with a seriously nice car for relatively small beer. Suffice to say that both Paul and I both run a 350 and regard them in very high esteem as they make for such a great everyday car and repairs are often quite straight forward and parts prices are surprisingly low.

Mike

[ptjs1]

Richard,

I know that you're interested here in the light problem but your comment about whether to keep the car is an important consideration. Further to Mike's comments, I would suggest that unless you're prepared to take the risk of the car becoming relatively worthless if the engine or 'box go bang, then you have to accept that you've got to sink the money into having the tensioners, gearbox and waterpump sorted. You just can't run an x308 without that immediate preventative maintenance unless you can mentally write off the car if one of them goes wrong (and they will). It does feel that you should make those decisions before you start sinking time and money elsewhere into the car.

A good x308 is a lovely car but you do have to work the sums out carefully. If it's just a big Jaguar saloon you want then an x350 can be a much better purchase.

Apols for taking you slightly off-topic from your original question!

Good luck

Paul

[RichardSEL]

Saved another Mk IX from the knackers (Daimler Sov 4.2L engine, fully recon gearbox, back to metal respray, chassis cleaned & oyled, all re-chrome, all fresh walnut, new soft furnishings still to decide) but had to change out paintshop (bad story) so that won't be back for fitting until February.

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Couldn't face daily chores in a Citroen DS23 (have you actually tried using that BVH gearbox on a regular basis ) And the Passat is a bore after nine years -- four of which commuting when I was still working. So had to get something! Since these X308 chassis are cheeep and you get a lot of car for very little went for one that just glistens -- was garaged for most of its life. But you're right, that doesn't help resale value. The water pump and flush thru and all fresh coolant's done

Have now seen an XJR available for <£2k with only 78k miles up and four owners! If alright would rather spend (may not have to for those few miles) what I would've done on this XJ8 on that. Viewing's next week.
Then there's a '00MY FSH by Cramers XJR (new box '14) that's still available but 110k miles at £4k



In these last few years before the Sunshine Home want to experience some of the best cars around that I haven't driven -- Bentley Mulsanne, Citroen C6, Alfa 146 t-Spark, Opel Manta, Maz Quatraporte, Austin Princess Vanden Plas 2200HLS (stop laughing )... such a list. And yes, an X350 something-or-other

[ptjs1]

Richard,

I love the look of your Mk IX and would really like to own one of those! Also like the idea of some of your bucket list cars. Having owned a few Leyland "Wedges", to be REALLY pedantic, the wedge was never called an "Austin Princess" (unless you were in New Zealand!). So you could buy an Austin 2200HL, then a Leyland Princess 2200HLS, then an Austin Ambassador 2000 Vanden Plas. All of them are very characterful! Unless you're lucky, I think that really cheap x308s have to have more spent on them in the first 6 months than they now cost to buy.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Paul

[RichardSEL]

Thanks for the encouragement I've got another Mk IX in the shop. But won't be ready until March next year. Am thinking of same colour scheme as my previous pictured. Different paint shop though...

Went so see another X308 yesterday. This was a '01MY LWB 4L Sovereign. The puddle lights did light up on door opening irrespective of key.

Couldn't switch all windows to shut though, although it would switch all windows to open
Unlike my '01MY XJ8 3.2L that will do all windows open or shut with key -- sometimes