2001 S-type 4.0 V8 No Odometer Visible
 

So, I'm looking at this very nice 2001 Jaguar S-Type 4.0 V8 but I don't know what the exact mileage is as the Odometer is not visable. All other dash lights come on as they should but I still can't see the digits for the odometer. Is there a possible fuse that is blown or does this require me to tear apart the dash? Also, might not be related but the wipers don't function either. The price is right for this car but I need to know how hard it is to fix these two issues. The owner says it's around 100K but I really need to see it for myself. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I plan on purchasing this car in the next few days.

The odometer problem might be a cracked circuit board for the display but that's a rough guess.

I think you should walk away and get a 2003 or newer S Type. They are just better cars!
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It's a 13 year old car.

100,000/13=?

That's really low. If I can't see the odometer, I would presume higher than average mileage and that the wire has been deliberately clipped because of it.

Well, I've been without a car for awhile and I've been borrowing my neighbors car to get back and forth to work. My budget was $2000 and that's what I paid for the Jaguar despite not knowing what the odometer reads. The Jag runs excellent, new tires, cold AC, paint in excellent condition as is the interior. I think I made a good buy but ........ I don't know the miles.

Now that I own the car I need to figure out how to fix the message center. I wasn't clear enough with my first post in that the whole message center does not light up. SInce I need to register the car this week in order to drive back and forth to work I need to figure out how to illuminate the message center.

WHere is the first place that I should start looking? I'm afraid that I"m going to have to pull the dash apart. I think I might take it up to the auto store and plug in the OBD reader to see if that might point me in the right direction.

I also need to change the oil and the filter. Should I go with synthetic? Or stick with conventional?

THanks for your input.

greygoose

Get JTIS free from the site and get reading! Especially the electrical guide.

The message center is probably not part of a safety inspection.

And a working odometer may not be a requirement for registration.

Hello Plums,

You are correct here in Va we don't need that message center to function in order to register it at DMV. However, I don't want to register the Jag without knowing the miles if I can fix it. Putting TMU on the title will make it all that much harder to sell it when that time comes. I'm assuming that since the whole message center is not illuminated, perhaps it's fixable. I don't have the time to dig through and troubleshoot this problem so I'm going to call my local import garage and see if they can fix it.

On a side note I replaced the fuse for the wiper motor and the wipers came on fine but it then blew that fuse so somewhere I have a short. I will dig through the forum to see if this has happened to someone else.

I'm at work and I need to run but I'm hoping that the message center turns out to be an inexpensive fix.

Thanks again for your contributions.

greygoose

Maybe this thread has helpful information.

Thank you TOT! I was looking for that one as this is a very rare problem that you don't hear much about because it's so uncommon.
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Hello TOT,

Thanks for posting your link. I will attempt to pull the instrument cluster out this week. I'm not that good at soldering so I'm going to see if I drop it off at my import garage whether or not they can do it for me. In your opinion should I take it elsewhere? It seems like one would need to have a good understanding of how the circuit board operates as well as how to recognize where the problem(s) is.

Thanks,

greygoose

Probably an electronics repair shop would be better, you could print off the info from the other thread to help them.

I've got a question with regards to my instrument cluster. If once I remove it and we still can't seem to get the message center to illuminate is it possible to go down to my local Pick N Pull and pull the instrument cluster from another 01 jag? Same year etc, but will it no be recognized by the computer? I certainly don't want to create more troubles than I already have.

thanks,

greygoose