I had to have the whole vent assembly replaced on mine for the same reason. The dealer ordered the assembly in advance and I had the car back the same day I dropped it off.


There have been no creaks, squeaks or other problem.

 

Snap, my bloody vent is now stuck open too, I'd SORN the car for 4 months over the Winter, the battery was OK but I did have a couple of low status warnings when I ran it up in the garage for 1/2 HOUR. I've since re taxed the car and taken it out for a few drives, battery is now OK it seems but the vent is still stuck up. There is a clicking sound when it's wanting to lower like something has come adrift, you can push it back down manually and it does reopen smoothly upon startup again. I read it somewhere that the weather can make it stay down at times but it should retract all the time when the engine is turned off. The whole system is very confusing.
I just don't understand what the Default position is supposed to do, also the clear all ??? No mention in any of the Jaguar literature I have. Can anyone shed any light on the best settings, maybe leave it in Auto, high sensitivity, centre vent in Auto too. I'm hoping it'll start working as it should but I'm taking it to the dealer on Tuesday to get it looked at. Quite annoyed as it looks like it'll cost me a few hundred quid to sort.

 

I leave my centre vent set to auto, and I know when winter is approaching because it stops raising on start-up. You can set it to always raise, but as I understand it, the center vent only vents cold air, so no need for it when you want to warm the cabin (warm air rises so it would only heat the roof!). It does sound like you have an issue if it doesn't close when you switch off, though. It's a cool feature (literally, too!) but does add a level of possibly unnecessary complexity. Should be covered by warranty, if you have one.

BTW, if you store the car away for several months it's highly recommended to put it on a battery conditioner (CTEK, etc.) to maintain the battery - it will run down over 4 months and these cars demand a full battery to avoid any niggly electrical gremlins.

 

+1 to just leaving on Auto. Never needed to adjust anything other than temp. I turn the temp up just a bit in the winter when I drive with the windows down (most of the time).

 

Thanks for the Gen mate. I centre vent does blow warm air though. Anyway, does the vents work via a relay or mechanical device, I've seen a part on line that looks like a mechanism to raise and lower it but wonder if there's dome sort of relay to make it raise and lower, as I pointed out it raises normally but will not go down, there's some sort of clicking noise when it should be lowering and wondered if this was a relay behind the upper dash.
I was going to buy o e of those battery conditioners but unfortunately I did not get round to it. Maybe mine will start working again as normal when I've driven the car a bit.



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Hi there, I´ve got the same problem on my 03/17 convertible. The outside-tempereture was about 10° and I was driving with open roof. For the first 10 km it won´t open completely.
After an hour everything was working again.

I´ve got the service in one month and ask the dealer about it.

In the german jaguar-forum is a solution for this. You have to loose a couple of screws, took the whole thing out and dip some oil onto the plastic shafts.
But not my problem, car is under warranty.

 

If it's under warranty they'll probably replace the whole unit. Much easier and cheaper than a couple of drops of oil.

 

Depends on costs, my extended warrantee ran out last June and the dealer wants £168 just to look at it, the Warrantee renewal is about £980 🙁.
If there's a link on how to loosen and get to these screws and oil the bits I'd be interested as it would save me somme ching ???? It may look nice but in practice the raising vent is ***** if it packs up all the time.

 

Have you considered trying a decent independent, they certainly won't charge £168 to look at it. If you give us an idea of your location, maybe someone can suggest a trusted local one. Once out of warranty I wouldn't let a dealer near my car!

 

In South West Birmingham England. I do know a place I've used before so I'll ring them up. Cheers 👍

 

Hi guys. Here is the link form the german forum with a youtube-video on its end.
Hope, it will help.

DIY Airvents

 

Thanks for all your help guys, unfortunately the vent was up the shoot and has had to be replaced. The cost has been £307 all in and with a 2 year part warranty, not to bad tbh. Just keep an eye on this as it is obviously a weak component.