So I decided to check the status of my air filters for the front cooled seats as I didn't see them being replaced in the service history.

In case anyone is wondering where they are, they are under the seats and can be accessed from the front. Just twist (counterclockwise I think) to remove. You may need to raise the seat position a bit to get better access.



I took a picture of my two filters below. My drivers side filter looked pretty nasty, whereas the passenger side appeared almost new. As almost no one drives with me, requesting cooled seats, I just swapped them. Thought I'd share.





All the best.

 

Just a bit more info?
These are identical to the Ford ones if you want to replace them.

The odd thing on the Ford side they went to just a screened opening and no filter material around the 2016 and up models.
Never saw any explanation why.
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This is good to know, thanks for posting this.

Did you notice any change in flow or performance after you changed them?

Also good callout clubairth, i assume the Ford ones are moderately cheaper?

 

Does the XJ have separate motors and filters in the backrest, like the XF?

 

The performance seems a little faster and quieter, but not a lot. Mine in stop-and-go traffic took 5 minutes today to cool the seat (I pressed max cool one minute after starting the car). Before the filter swap it took 8-10 mins. How long does yours take.

I suppose you you can take the filter off and see what that does for one day. If it makes a difference then the filter is to blame.

I don’t know if there is a separate filter for the backrest like the XF. I see one for each front seat and also for the rear seats in the parts diagram. How do you access the backrest filter in the XF?

Update: Thanks MarkSF, yes it must have two fans. I took off the filter for the seat cushion and touched the fan while in operation. It is only on when the seat cushion zone is selected. When just backrest is selected, the fan is off.

Also, the filter change must be helping as my seat cushion now gets cold much faster than my backrest. So I really need to do the backrest filter once I find it. Thanks again.

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...cement-151676/

 

Thanks MarkSF. Sounds like I need to buy some more beer first. LOL.

 

So this is the new style Ford filter?


What can it filter with giant holes in it? Twigs? Given the dirt found in my filters, I would think the normal filters (ie FS-100) are worth it. What do you guys think?

 

I see the X351 uses the same filter as the XK (C2C36093). My XK is going in for service next week and seat filters are on the schedule. As I never feel the need to use the cooling function in England they should still be like new. I'll ask them to keep the old filters for me for me to inspect.

Graham

 

I would think a filter is needed but like I posted for some reason Ford took the filters out and just use a screened opening.
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So I just changed the backrest filter on the drivers side and checked the status of my hvac tubing. The job is slightly more complicated in the XJ because we have the tray table, footwell lighting and some other seat modules (at least mine did). But otherwise it was very similar to the XF thread posted above. I’m on kid duty at the moment, so Ill report some of the differences in future posts.

Wanted to note that my backrest filter generally looked cleaner than the seat filter and that my HVAC tubing is in perfect condition. So it is in no way a universal problem to have cracked HVAC tubing, especially since I have one of earliest XJs ever made (one of the first 300).

I’ll give some more details in the next day or so.

All the best.


Used backrest filter above. New Ford filter (Motorcraft FS-100) below.


Cooling module showing “like-new” condition of HVAC tubing.


Replacement filter used. Bought on Amazon.

 

Seat cooling performance on the backrest also seems slightly better now with the filter change. So perhaps there is airflow restriction even without the filters being completely brown.

 

Awesome, thanks for posting this. The cushion and backrest filters are the same part number correct?

 

Yes they are the same part.

Thus far the backrest is a little bit improved but the seat cushion one is now almost too good. Very cold. I’m surprised it made such a difference.

 

Okay as promised here are some of the differences between removal of the cooling module encountered on my XJ compared with the instruction linked above on the XF forum.

First I must say that the XF instructions were terrific. Definitely read them first as you can do the job using them alone and a little intuition. However I did get stuck for a few minutes, so these were my added thoughts.

0) start by following the XF instructions until you have the bottom part of the seat backing pulled away from the seat.

1) You will need to remove the tray table. To do this you must remove the tray table latch first using a 3mm hex wrench. The screw is hidden by the release button, but you can see it when you press it in. Now the tray table won’t be held up, but it won’t stay on for long.

2) Remove the rest of the backing from the seat. I found my backing to be held on only by clips. There was no sliding it up or down to disengage plastic hooks. So just pull gently at all the sticking points and it should pop off.

3) Then you remove the rest of the tray table using torx wrench to remove 4 screws (size 20, I think).

4) Remove power plug from foot lamp. Just squeeze the release pins on either side of the connector while pulling.

5) There were a few more seat modules in my XJ than in the XF (pictures coming soon). These create a little bit of an obstacle, but look worse than they really are.

6) The filter/ fan was covered by a white cloth that can be removed by lifting the black u-shaped hooks at the top of the cloth up over the retaining bracket. There are also a few straps that are anchored/ pressed into the cloth. These are just held in by friction pegs that pull out with a little wiggling.

7) Unscrew the 3 torx screws that hold the filter/fan in place (size 25, I think).

8) Unplug the power cable as described in XF post (note it is the bottom of the plug that needs to be pulled out not the top). It was hard to get the plug apart, so I placed a flathead in the seam between the plug and as I pushed hard on the release button with my finger I twisted the screwdriver to pry the plug apart.

9) Undo clips at the top of the HVAC tubing. There is one on each side. This is in the XF instructions too, but somehow I almost missed this step and it caused me a few minutes of confusion.

10) Pull entire cooling assembly out by pulling it up while rotating it out to avoid obstacles caused by other modules and tubing. This is made more difficult because the screw holes on the filter assembly stick out beyond the filter and catch on the seat bracket/ bracing. While making sure not to snag any of the nearby tubing I pushed the seat back in firmly with my hand to give the filter more clearance to pass the seat bracing. This was the most uncertain part of the job. But looking at the module once removed it is clear it is the screw holes that catch on everything and make removal more difficult.

11) Change filters by unscrewing counter clockwise. Reinstall in reverse order. Done.

 

Thanks for the info! Good stuff. I notice my cushion seems to get as cool as I like, but the seat back seems like it doesn't get as cool as it used to (2014 XJL Portfolio - 31475 miles). Thoughts? Can't really speak to the passenger side (I'm usually a solo rider).

 

I have a similar situation to you, colder seats than backrest. My seat cushion cooling got significantly better with the filter change. The backrest, not so much. I hear the fan going and my plastic tubing remains intact on the backrest cooler, so it is working. However the backrest also covers a larger area, so cooling power is probably diminished relative to the seat cushion despite them using exactly the same size fans.

As the filter for the backrest cooler appears to stay cleaner than the seat cushion filter (near your feet), there is probably not a lot to be gained by changing it with a new filter. This filter is already completely covered by the seat back, so how dirty can it get. However my airflow DID improve a little with the filter change, suggesting the filter can obstruct airflow.

I would venture a guess that the filterless style filter (FS-106) is better suited for the backrest cooler whereas the filtered kind (FS-100) is better for the seat cushion. You don’t really need a filter for the backrest, you just need to protect the fan blades while letting maximum air through. The seat cushion, however, takes in air near your feet, and therefore should probably have filter material.

So my new plan is to use the filterless filter for the backrest and the filtered kind for seat cushion.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks much!!