Never was a factory option for manual gearbox in the STR.

Your car sounds rather like mine but I don't have the gremlins, lights etc trouble so I suggest you have a go at finding why yours does. Battery, damp, etc are the usual causes as you've probably read.

 

What annoys me about my S-type R:
I have phone icons for handsfree on the steering wheel and the radio but I do NOT have the factory handsfree phone or bluetooth connectivity. That annoys me about my S-type. Why have the buttons with icons for no reason, as well as have earlier model Jags have this capability, but not have it installed? Just put blanks!

Hope this statement helps clear up my previous statement which is what it's sole intention was before everyone decided to interject.

 

Phone discussion.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

There, that's a line drawn under the 'phone discussion, let's move along now .

 

I'm just going to use the forum for technical advice rather than for fun....

I hope to have another DIY thread with pictures and step-by-step guide and part numbers done for the phone install just like the other DIY's that I have done to help out members in the future.

 

Appreciate the DIY stuff eds123. Keep on sharing, we value your contributions to the forum.

 

I agree, hopefully you can manage a little fun sometimes too.

 

If I might suggest ... ?

Start a seperate thread for problem and solutions to an issue other wise this thread ends up as a catch all and then finding out about a specific problem is harder to do.

OK on to another annoyance

During the winter months when it's early I reach the entrance to where I live and the hill blocks the light enough that the auto-on headlamps come on instantly. OK so no biggie but as I put the turn signal on I usually end up blasting and leaving on the high-beams at on coming traffic.

Why?

Well as I've discovered, if you pull on that stalk briefly it flashes the high beams. OK I expect and want that. But the trouble is it's pretty damn sensitive with too weak a spring so it gets inadvertently activated quite easily.

If you hold it there for anything other than a moment (which typically happens when putting on the blinker) it leaves the high beams on instead of just flashing!

If you push the stalk forward in takes a new postion and leaves the hihg-beams on.

IMHO it's only the last option that should leave the hiogh-beams on and the spring on the stalk is too weak.

OK and one other annoyance as long as I'm in the neighborhood .... As I sit in the car and have the wheel adjusted I cannot see any of the markings on that stalk without turning the wheel quite a ways to the left. An ergonomic disaster.

Fortunately, the loud pedal on the floor overwhelms all of these issues.

Carry on.

 

I agree- the post is to discuss design quirks and not in-service faults.

 

Bob - On my car I've never had that happen (high beam) when switching on (or off) the turn signal (we say indicator). I wonder if the spring has weakened in yours.

 

I haven't noticed the high beam stalk being all that touchy on mine either. But I don't use the auto-headlight feature, in any car. Not sure why, I just don't! Ha.

On a similar note, an annoyance is that the wiper stalk is not lit up when the lights are on. I know most vehicles don't have this either, but it would be nice sometimes to actually see the freaking settings on the stalk at night without having to turn a light on. And I do have trouble seeing the stalk from where I sit as well.

 

Try pulling the stalk towards you and it should flash them.
Then try holding it a bit longer and see it they stay on.
Experiment on how long you have to hold it to stay on.

I don' think it has anything to do with auto on headlamps except that I don't believe it will leave them on if the headlamps are not already on.

I'm inadvertently flashing the high-beams when I use the turn signal. It pulls backwards very, very easily. It's not worn out it's just wrong.

It's staying on because you don't have to hold it all that long for it to decide you want the high beams on. A pointless feature.

BTW, I leave the lights in auto-on because I really cannot see the stalk at all unless I turn the wheel left quite a ways. Dangerous if you're driving! So turning on the headlamps would always be a guessing game because there are so many functions on that stalk. My Ford product, Sable wagon, is a much better design as it's intuitive.

Ditto on the wipers stalk though that one I can see just fine. I use the auto and it's really pretty good. I like it.

The accelerator pedal remains my favorite ....

 

Out of curiosity, I went and tried mine. The high beams do not stay on once I release the stalk, no matter how long I've held it back. The spring force required to hold it there or to push it forward is considerable and there's no way simply using the turn signals would cause the stalk to move forward/aft to activate the high beams.

Like others have said, yours is broken. Sounds like an in-service issue and not a design quirk.

 

The thread is called "What annoys you about your S-Type?" That could be anything from a design fault to a rattle, to a breakdown, or even because your looser teenage Son never washed it on the weekend like he was supposed to.

 

Bob, mine just isn't anything like so easy to activate the high beam. Couldn't do it by accident.

 

I'm not convinced by your argument. This isn't a loose flaky switch type situation. It's designed to stay on IMHO. I do agree that it could use more spring tension but when I hold it slightly longer than momentary it keeps the high-beams on but the stalk returns to center. That doesn't sound like a wear issue. The car has 23K miles on it too.

I'll repeat the test in the dark tonight when I go out later. Then I'll ask my Jag dealer what they think. MIne is a couple years newer than yours so maybe ... ?

Weird.

 

How 'bout the other guys with '05s- same thing?

 

Not to explain the spring, but the latching could just be that it's a different market. Mine sounds to be like Mikey's but we're both non-USA. It would be useful to know what any other USA S-Type of similar age does.

 

OK after re-test I can definitively say that if you hold the flash high-beams on for any length of time it leaves them on. I did this last night and they stayed on for a 5 mile bumpy trip. If you flash them again they go off. It really is as though it's sensing and reacting to the operators extended holding of the momentary switch position. If it's all accidental dues to an internal switch malfunction it's remarkably consistent.

I'll try some day time testing with the headlamps in manual mode. It should flash the high-beams but not leave them on in my opinion.

I'll call the dealer as well.

If it does end up being a malfunction I'll move any subsequent discussion out of this thread.

 

I did not try the flash to turn on high beams yet, but I will say that I HAVE flashed several people trying to indicate a left turn. lol I don't think it's broke either, very solid pushing forward to turn on, and if I use the flash it springs back with a force of intention. This stalk feels much more solid compared to several vehicles I’ve had, but this is the only vehicle I’ve ever bumped the flash when trying to use an indicator.

 

Exactly!

At my age flashing someone isn't good idea either ...