My new (to me) '03 XKR has just developed a nasty behavior. Shortly after I turn it on the screen begins to flicker, somewhere around 200hZ. If I shut the car off it will sometimes come back on without the flicker but revert to its old self within a minute or two. Not sure I have any recourse with the dealer I bought the car from as they are 1700 miles away. I'm hoping there's a somewhat easy fix?????

 

I assume you mean 20 Hz.

Try taking the center wood trim off and remove and then reseat the two connectors. If that fixes it, spray them with some tuner cleaner from radio shack before putting it back together. No guarantees, but it might work.

Here is a video on removing the trim:

 

White,
Thanks for the possible solution, a project for my day off tomorrow! Also had the frequency wrong it's probably around 3 - 4 Hz, increases from the first sign of failure to a faster rate.

 

The facia panel removal vid helped allay my apprehension of messing up the dash, thanks. This morning is cool and I did not run the car, simply got the electronics going and tried to recreate the failure mode before I started, no luck, everything was nominal. But, proceeded to remove the nav unit anyway. Unplugged the 2 connectors, they don't look particularly shiney on the contact areas but I don't have any contact cleaner yet. So I put everything back together and will test again once the sun comes out and I can heat soak it a bit.

 

Went for a test ride late morning, same flicker after about 2 minutes, turned the unit off. Back on within a few seconds, solid for about 10 seconds then flicker. Went to lunch, tried again and now it seemes OK but I suspect it will return.

 

Well it could also be the connector on the nav unit in the trunk also, but at this point my guess is you have a bad solder joint or intermittent component in the display unit.

A couple of thing you might consider:
-You can find these displays used on ebay usually around $150-$200. Buy one that has a full return policy so if it turns out not to be the problem, you are just out the return postage.

-Ask a moderator to move this post to the XK8 section, and ask if anyone has a spare display to loan, for perhaps a deposit. I have quite a number of customers who have replaced thair nav. units with the 3-gauges using my harness. (The forum discourages reposting, that is why it is best to have the post moved).

 

Steve,
Good suggestions, will follow up on those. Have located a few on eBay but the loaner from another member sounds intriguing. Now that I have an "r" and replaced the 8 I am trying to decide if I should go back to the 3 gauge cluster, but a working, integrated nav has some appeal, even if it is a little long in the tooth...and not blue as well.