I tried to do it last weekend. The first step is to take off the radiator splash shield, which means removing 21 torx bolts and 2 screws. I got that part done, but the splash shield didn't want to come off. It was getting late, so I just screwed the 23 bolts and screws back into place. I'm going to start earlier tomorrow morning.

Is there a secret to taking off the splash shield? Anything else I should know about taking off the front bumper cover?

The manual makes it look simple. Maybe I'm just getting old.

 

GOOD LUCK with that....

 

If you’re talking about the bottom undercover, and if the 5.0 is like the 4.2, then you need to slide it back abit to disengage from the splitter, then it drops down.

 

Yeah... I tried that. It didn't exactly want to slide back. I kind of bent it in on each side, and tried sliding it back, but it was pretty much stuck in place. I even counted all of the screws to make sure I hadn't missed one. I'll try again tomorrow.


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Did you remove the screws inside the wheel wells? The 2 forward screws at the bottom of the wheel well liner are attached to the bottom panel as well (at least on my 4.2 XK).
That would keep it from sliding back.
Remove them and you can drop the rear of the panel down and then slide it back.
There are also two small screws that connect the main bottom panel to the cover below the oil filter on a 4.2 (centered, just ahead of the transmission), but maybe that doesn’t exist on a 5.0, since you access it from the top of the engine. But I need to remove them as well to remove the bottom panel.

 

https://jec.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5815


Hi Sam- good to see you back. Sorry about your initial troubles. Your videos helped me a ton on my 2 XK's.

I read through this link. Not sure how helpful it will be but one key seems to be getting the headlights out of the way to access most fasteners. Gently pulling and jiggling is required and if its stuck, its probably a fastener...but I suspect that's not news to you. Regarding the pan I just had mine off yesterday (the hose that broke on your car under the intake manifold just broke on mine- fortunately in the driveway as my son was returning the car. I also found a piece missing from the water inlet (Tstat housing). I did the work myself...what a ball : ) but I am back on the road).

I removed the hood and ended up doing all kinds of other work I had been wanting to get to but had no trouble getting the front pan out other than I did have to flex it a bit by the two "corners" (where it meets the front side of the wheel wells) . Check KJ's note about the wheel well screws too. Othwerwise there was nothing tricky on my 07 XK with it. The tray feels like polyethylene or polypropylene which both flex a lot. I think you would almost have to try to break it if you are bending it at "big" angles (not little pieces) so I wouldn't have too much concern working from a detached edge and testing pretty strongly if its free to the next screw-hole and so on.

 

A couple 2x6's and an old comforter or other heavy blanket to slide it off onto. Pull both front inner fenders so it's easier to maneuver and deal with the wiring. Pull the lamps and be careful you don't spin the nuts loose in the front top crossmember. I was able to hold one through the tube but cut another bolt head off.

 

Zoom pics on this thread to discover the location of bolts and fasteners....This is how I did it! https://www.ebay.com/itm/JAGUAR-XK-X...p2047675.l2557

 

Thanks for everyone's help! I got it off, fixed the broken wires, replaced the horn, and reinstalled it. It took a few hours, but an hour of that was driving to the auto parts store and back home. I had to get a new horn.

The wire harness that runs along the bumper and under the right headlight was smashed to hell and the ground wire for the TPMS sensors was broken. The twisted pair that goes to the right front TPMS antenna was smashed and there was bare copper showing. The two wires were touching, so I'm sure that shorted out the antenna signal. Splicing the wires fixed my TPMS error, at least for now.

Unfortunately, the parking aid problem was not resolved. I thought for sure that was going to fix it. In hindsight, I wonder if one of the splices I made slipped apart. I used fake, knock-oof Sta Kon butt splice connectors. As I was making up the 10 joints I had the wire slip out of the connector two different times. I thought I wasn't crimping hard enough.

Next weekend I'm going to take the bumper off again and check the joint. AND... I'm going to ohm out the wires in wire harness to make sure I have continuity all the way through. I should have done that today, but I got in a hurry.

So...

TPMS: Fixed.
Horn: Fixed
Parking aid: Not fixed.

 

What do you think caused all that damage?

 

A soldering iron and good heat shrink is your friend.

Reef, the harness drops between the cover and the bumper. Poor manufacturing.

 

I rerouted mine years ago before it had a chance to become a problem.