I just recently bought a 1998 XJ8 Vanden Plas for my wife and there are some issues I need to resolve, hopefully I can get the help I need here.

The driver door cable is broken and I am having trouble finding just the cable. Is there a place that sells just the cable?

The driver door check is ripped out of the metal. I remeber seeing a fix someone posted in here using washers but can't seem to find it again. Can someone post the link for me if you have it saved?

The previous owner pressed the "Valet" button and I cannot open the trunk. I do not currently have a key fob for it and the key itself does not open it either. Any suggestions that do not involve drilling a hole behind the plate to get in? If I spend the $ what are the chances the fob will work?

Both the driver and passanger seats electric controls work except the bottom cusion is tilted way back. When I press the lever to go down I hear the motor but nothing happens. Can this be fixed or do I need a hole new track?

The sun roof does not open when the switch is pressed. When I look at the motor I noticed on the control box that there are 2 areas to plug a connector into but only one is used. I searched for a missing connection but only found the wire that I believe are for the mirror. Should I be looking for another connection or is that supposed to blank?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Well, on the trunk / valet question, do you have a black (master) key or a green valet key ? If it is a black-headed key, it should open the trunk unless there is a physical problem with the lock. Valet key will not open the trunk. On the fob question, yes it is worth it to get a new one or a used one. They are not hard to program, and you can find good deals on eBay - just be sure you have the USA model (mhz) and the correct year.

 

On the door cable:

I just bought a cable on Ebay. It was $37.- (converted to USD, coming from England).

If you need the track with all working motors/switches, drop me a PM. I have extra seat frames in my barn.

 

www.welshent.com sells a replacement door cable that is easy to install. About $50.
You can find welsh on Ebay too. Common problem

Your Key Fob should be LJA2610AA 315 MHZ. Ebay $10 to $50 used. Replace the battery before programming it. Dead batteries don't work well.

Lube the trunk lock. The key should turn it. If the key turns and it still does not open.
the plastic clip on the control arm may be broken. You do NOT need to drill anything.
If you remove the license plate you can use one of the mounting holes on the right to get to the lock and open it. Lots of miss information on this. DO NOT cut or drill anything. Don't remove the back seat to get to the trunk.

 

Thank you all for the help.

I ordered a fob off of ebay and it will be here by the end of the week. Fingers crossed that will work as I have tried my black key and it doesn't work.

Lear45 , thank you for letting me know about the mounting hole. I tried but I must not have tried hard enough. I will have to get a small enough flash light to stick inside to see the latch.

I also got a door cable from Motorcars LTD that should be here at the end of the week as well. Not bad 57.00 delivered. Beats the handle and cable at the dealership for 225.00.

 

Here is the door post- https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...w-36075/page2/

 

A flashlight like this helps.
LED Flashlight, Greenlee FL2AAF Flexible LED Flashlight | Meritline.com

You will have to program the key fob when you get it. Not too hard.

 

Got my new fob today but can't seem to find proper programming format. One set of directions says I need the trunk(boot) open as well as the driver door. Is this the correct procedure? If not does someone have the correct one they can share please? Thanks again for all the help.

 

Update......

I was able to open the trunk using the license plate hole as suggested. Once open I was able to program the fob. The unlock, light, and trunk work but the lock button does not. Could I have programmed the fob wrong?

 

Maybe the wire to the button is broken.

 

Unless the fobs changed radically between 1998 & 1999, there are no "wires" involved with the buttons.

The buttons are simply a rubber membrane with a carbon-impregnated mesh on the underside. These touch the PCB of the remote, which has two leads beneath the button that look for all the world like a mini stove burner. When the conductive carbon touches both leads it completes the circuit and the remote does its thing.

It is not unusual, at all, for the carbon "nub" to eventually wear off such that it doesn't consistently do its job. This is particularly the case on the buttons you use most frequently. I had the lock and unlock buttons eventually fail, but never the trunk/boot and headlights/panic buttons.

There are carbon "patch" kits you can buy, but I've found them utterly unnecessary. If you have a paper punch and aluminum foil you can make a perfectly serviceable replacement conductor that you can tape (double faced) or glue on to the bottom of the rubber membrane. I always recommend that people go the tape route first, even if you use a tiny tape doughnut, just to perform the test to see if this remedies your situation.

My fob has been employing aluminum "conduction patches" under the lock and unlock buttons for several years now.

 

brian that was some good info re the fob..... i recently had fob failure ...;particularly on the red lock button......having to hit it sometimes a dozen times before it would work.....used an electrical contact spray (just a few drops)....and cleaned the inside with cue tip.....did the job.i can now open o rclose with one or two clicks

 

Unfortunately for me, several different cleaning techniques didn't help me with my fob.

It's easy enough to clean the PCB with a soft pencil eraser. It's not uncommon for the rubber/carbon combo so slowly wear off and create a black glob surrounding the PCB contacts. Worst case it causes a "perpetual" or semi-perpetual "on" condition until you clean it off.

I never tried contact cleaner on the membrane side since there's nothing metallic involved on that side. Since the primary mechanism of action of contact cleaners is deoxidation of metal (usually brass) contacts plus residual lubrication of same it didn't make sense. It certainly could on the PCB side, though, but I still prefer the good old-fashioned (and fresh and soft) Pink Pearl pencil eraser.

 

I wish people would just USE THE MASTER KEY ONCE A MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to open the boot lid.

But I guess we wouldn't get to read all the crying about how the key won't turn in the lock.

'use it or lose it'

bob gauff

 

Bob, I'd suggest extending your wise advice to using anything that moves at least once a month. I'm endlessly amazed how many people gnash their teeth and wail because the windows that they haven't operated in years won't go down or the sunroof they never open and close, nor pop, has sealed itself in place.

Any mechanical device, whether automotive or not, will suffer more from long term lack of use than from constant use.

Open those windows and sunroofs, use the key in your trunk/boot and driver's door, turn on your radio [if you don't regularly do so] to activate the antenna mast, use your windshield washer, etc., at least occasionally and you'll have far fewer problems!

 

I cleaned the inside of the fob and the lock button works great now.

Thank you all for the help again.

 

Does the trunk make a noise when the trunk button is pushed? If it does, then the plastic clip on the actuator arm is broken. If there is no noise then the solenoid is likely not getting power due to a broken wire. You will need a set of plastic trim removal tools to take off the deck lid carpet without damage. $7 or less . 5 Piece Auto Trim and Molding Tool Set
Once you have access, it is pretty straight forward to see all the mechanical stuff.
The wiring going along the right side hinge gets flexed and wires break.

 

You can say that again!! I was shocked at just how thin the wire is that Jag used. This stuff is certain to break from flexing and should have been heavier.

I documented by broken wires, and the butt splices I found at Radio Shack and used to repair them, in a thread entitled "Dead" Boot Button/Lights/License Plate Lights on the JCNA forums.