Hi all
im Neemo and new to the Forum

i purchased an 1996 XK8 yesterday, and the car has some minor faults.

firstly is the drivers window dropping in stages and not comming back up

due to this brilliant forum ive found out how to repair it

but my main problem is the remote fob/central locking.
the central locking is very intermittent
the unlock button works and so does the light and remote boot/trunk button
but the car wont lock on the lock button
it has worked maybe 2 out of 10 times

also the car will not lock with the key, if i try to lock it with the key the alarm sounds?

can anyone help please

 

I have little or no experience in this area but will give you my input. If it were just the remote cleaning it may help. You can go to my page and to the left you will see Jag xk8 remote click on it and you will see what I found and how to clean it. As for the key locking setting off the alarm I would check that all switches related to the security system were working properly. It seems to me if one were not open or closed to satisfy the security system it will do what it is doing to you.

 

door latch assembly replacement are common to these cars, perhaps related...

 

..what Gus said.
Cleaning the remote on the inside makes a big difference. You'll probably find a big blob of oily substance under the lock button. It did make a difference in mine anyway. Don't expect these remotes to have any range. They're like my '96 pickup, you've got to be almost on top of the vehicle for them to work. I suspect later years were much better.

 

cheers for the tips Gents
ill strip it down tomorrow
thanks.

 

For what it is worth and I have no idea why I get better range when I hold the remote vertically and pressing the button.

 

Curious, will your key in the door-lock-cylinder lower the windows and top if you hold it in the position to the right (clockwise)? You should be able to raise and lower the top with the key in the door. Clockwise lowers, counter clockwise raises the top. It takes a while to go through all the steps, be patient.

Also, when you step out of the car and the window has lost its memory..again, use the key to raise it by turning counter clockwise. There is a couple of seconds delay before it acts.

This all assumes it doesn't set of the alarm again.

Good luck. I've learned a good bit about my car in the two months I've had my '97.

Mike

 

@Gus:

Use capacitive coupling to increase the range of your remote keyfob. As documented by the New Scientist article, place your remote under your chin (or any other body part) and push the button to increase its range.

http://web.archive.org/web/200406031...e.jsp?id=lw962

 

How about your hand?

 

Not sure of the specifics, but after reading the article, I gather that the conductive material in your hand is minimal compared to your head/torso so the amplification of the RF signal would be minimal... try it under your chin.. it really works!

 

So what you are saying is that if I stick my remote up my A__ it will work better?????? Only kidding! Only Kidding!!

 

Let us know how it works Gus!!?? Not kidding!

 

Ouch!!

 

I posted a solution to the original problem of intermittent key fob in the XJR forum.

 

Cafepombo your a star
what i had to do was retrace the curcuit board
and its working a dream
cheers

 

May be an old post but its just saved my bacon & sorted my key fob out a treat, take it apart and give it a clean, dirty black gunk under the buttons!! Its never worked better....cheers guys!!

 

Yep, some alcohol and Q-tips can work magic with these grungy key fob innards. Had to change the battery in my S-Type key fob just an hour or so ago. While I had it apart for the battery change, I gave it a decent cleaning....

 

See if this link helps the next person

Link: JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource