This is probably well known in this forum, but it was news to me. I recently acquired a 2008 XK with pretty low miles (53k). It's a lovely car, and seems to have been meticulously maintained. I was checking out the front and rear fog lights, and found that only the left one in the rear worked. Without further investigation (a mistake) I removed the rear hatch trim and took the offending lamp out. It's an assembly with LED's inside, no bulbs you can replace. OEM replacement runs anywhere from $180 to almost $300. I decided to check the service manual, and low and behold, discovered that on LHD vehicles, the rear fog lamp is only on the left (driver's) side, the one that looks the same on the right (passenger's) side is actually the backup lamp. On RHD vehicles, the lamp functions are reversed.

Turned out it was easier to reassemble than disassemble, so I learned how to do that. Also correctly installed the emergency hatch release, so it won't be hanging by the cable like it was. So all in all, not a bad experience.

I hope this helps some other newbie avoid my mistake.

 

Yeah, everyone in here knows this already. It comes up every so often by usually new owners who haven't experienced the discovery yet.

 

Yep... get use to everyone telling you one of your backup lights are not working.

 

"If you must have 2 backup lights, go to ebay.co.uk and search for a used inner right rear tail light for a 4.2L XK/XKR and then replace your existing OEM inner right tail light with the European one. You'll have to run a jumper wire from the OEM left side backup light to power the new one on the right side and get it to work because the existing wiring harness does not include wiring for a backup light."

Source: My Post #6 in this 2016 thread: 4.2L X150 replace fog light with backup light

Stuart

 

Stuart,
Thanks for the tip... I actually like the idea of the red fog lamp... Because both sides look alike, I just erroneously assumed that both would come on with the rear fog lamp turned on. I was taking pictures of the car with the lights on, and when I saw the right one was not lit, I just automatically thought it was burned out. Dumb on my part. After I got it put back together (before I reinstalled the panel cover) I tested the backup light, and it worked perfectly. Wasted some time and effort, but did get the emergency hatch release properly installed, so that was a bonus. It had been pulled through the opening in the panel cover, and was just hanging down loose before I disassembled everything.

 

Or, like me before I knew about the single lights, tell the selling dealer that it’s one of the things you want fixed before you’ll buy the car, and the dealer agrees! (Wasn’t a Jag dealer, and I didn’t buy that car.)

 

You mention the emergency hatch release, so i wondered, have I got one of them to release the trunk on my convertible? if so, where please?

 

You have one. It should be a yellow handle that's attached to the lid. Open the trunk (rear compartment) and look inside the lid.

 

Here's mine.


It fits snugly into the lid and doesn't fall out when you slam it closed. It glows in the dark and is required by Federal law in the USA to protect children from being trapped in the trunk. https://one.nhtsa.gov/Driving+Safety...nk+Entrapment/

If yours is missing or damaged, the OEM Jaguar part number is C2P3676, and it's still available from your Jaguar dealer for a King's ransom. I accidentally broke mine and bought a used, like-new handle on Ebay for $15 delivered. It's actually a Ford part from a 2012 Ford Focus, but the identical handle was used on many other Ford vehicles.

Installation is easy. Use small locking pliers to pull the wire cable out as far as possible - maybe 2 inches - to remove the old handle. Using a paper clip, push out the round pin in the bottom left corner of this photo and remove the wire.



Note how the cable comes out because you'll put the new handle on the same way.

Here are more pictures so you'll be able to know exactly what to look for on Ebay, since Ford made several slightly different designs.

 

Just leave it off. When you put somebody in the trunk, you expect them to stay there!

 

 

Thanks for the note I'm a newbe and I suspected this but did not know for sure

 

Thanks for this. Now I know what it is for I don't need one. None of my children is anywhere near small enough to fit into the boot (trunk) of my convertible! I thought it was an emergency release to open the boot from outside if the battery had gone flat. Now, that would have been useful probably, one day.

 

If you're unable to open the boot using the switch on the dashboard or wirelessly using the Smartkey fob, don't worry. The boot opens from the outside with the Emergency Key that is in the Smartkey fob. That key also unlocks and locks the doors.

European license plates are wider and cover the boot lock. Simply remove the license plate to access the lock.

 

That's most helpful, thanks.

 

Hi Dave: I empathize! I just got a "new" 2007 XK 4.2 and discovered the same thing. I have been a Saab owner for 3 decades -- depending on whether it is a US or an EU car a bulb is installed in one side but not the other. I like the symmetry so installed both -- BUT -- you cannot do that in the Jag.
The Saab back-up lights leave a lot to be desired so I installed an LED strip on the back bumper -- I plan to do the same to the XK.

I like the idea of buying another EU light -- in my case I would make it a fog light and simply install an LED strip floodlight under the back bumper for a backup.

 

​​​​That's what the button on the bottom right corner is for.

 

Adding lights that change the resistance in a circuit can trigger a "bulb out" warning on your dashboard.

 

Well… that’s not entirely true. You can install the LED tail lights from a 5.0 car into the 4.2, and then have both two backup lights and two rear fogs. Not a cheap solution, but it is clean and it works. There’s a PDF file by George Kale, posted in a thread here somewhere, that has a step-by-step procedure to install them (along with relays and resistors, plus you also need the harness for the trunk lid lights).

 

KJ0XK -- I will look into that -- I really like having both lights. THANKS

Andy E51AND/AB7FS