Hi all,
I've clogged the forum up over the last months with requests for help regarding headlight problems.
It surprises me how such a seamingly straightforward item as head lights could cause so much grief.

The problems include the headlights stubbornly insisting on focusing a few meters in front of the car leaving an astronomical sized black hole beyond. Try as I might I cannot find where the servos get their signal from, certainly there is no knob in the consul nor can I find any self levelling device elsewhere on the car or it's suspension.
In desperation I disassembled both adjusting servos and manually set them in a mid position then using the manual focusing knob whilst leaving the servos disconnected.

RH headlight filling with moisture. I have just resealed it and am hoping for the best. I did not install the 'T' breather mod as the headlight shell does not have the pipe as described by TSB. I'll see how it goes.

LH high beam intermittent.
I have now tracked down the source of an intermittent LH high beam. It is marginal female terminal where the harness plugs into the back of the headlight.
It looks perfect yet one terminal is causing trouble. I don't know how to disassemble the plug ,I guess I will need an auto electrician to cut off and install a new 6pin connector (any suggestions?).

Ive installed the best non xenon globes I can buy and at last it puts out some serious kangaroo/wombat detecting light. Absolutely essential for night driving in this neck of the woods.

But this is the really frightening thing. A marginal connector on one globe of headlights is a nuisance and reasonably easy to track down. A similar problem with one of the hundreds of terminals involved with the ECU or other computers
may be near impossible to find and totally debilitate the car and the hip pocket paying experts to try to find it. The most illuminated globe on the car would be the 'reduced performance engine fault light'.
Still in shock from having an ECU failure sometime ago I now look at every terminal with distrust and trepidation.
At the risk of repeating myself, the terminal looked perfect, offending wire solidly attachrd into the terminal block, the only possible difference between it and the other female pins is that a probe gently inserted into the oriface does not seem to be gripped as tightly ie the minute clips need to be bent inwards though I can see no way to do that without disassembly


Regards al

 

If you have the HIDs, there is a ride height sensor attached to the control arms, front and rear. They send the signal to the body processor which then sends it to the relay and both fuses and then to the headlamp levelling control modules inside each headlamp which is integral to the ballast. Each headlamp has a fuse and there is a relay also. If the relays and fuses are okay, analysis of this system is probably best done by the dealer.

 

Relax. You were unfortunately the victiim of a statistically rare event. In general, modern connectors are highly engineered and very reliable usually with reduntant contact points. This is especially true of high pin count connectors used for the ECU.

There was probably a manufacturing flaw in the pin or the crimp. This is rare, but as with anything man-made, it can happen.

The only chronic connector issues on the XK8/R that I am aware of are the underrated ground pin on the early tailights and the tin plated throttle body pin that should have been gold plated (there was a TSB for this, as gold is necessary on very low curent connections). Both of these were design errors.

 

Alan,

Please add vehicle details to your signature.

The issue here is a classic example of the importance of this information to get relevant replies. Your 1997 headlamps are totally different from my 2005. About the only common factor is Jaguar still hadn't fixed the misting issue by the Final Series!

Graham

 

The 97 headlights housings are actually identical to the 05 units, just painted differently... That's the reason the misting issue persists. Add vent tubes, fixes most problems

 

The car is a 97 xk8 coupe, Australian delivery
Still trying to work out the exact workings of the self levelling unit. The fact that they bothinsisted on returning to the lowest focus must indicate that they are getting a signal from somewhere.
I've looked at the wiring diagram but it doesn't tell me where the sender is
Al
Ps
The jag is off on quite a big trip tomorrow, this is a chance for it to redeem itself

 

Is this the drawing you have been looking at.

Have a look at the levelling switch on the centre console. Measure the voltages at both lights and then check the grounds.

 

Thank you Jim for the link.
I have actually seen the diagram, my car doesn't have a control on the dash but the servos are definitely connected to something
Kind regards
Al

 

Hi Al,
If you don't have the knob on the dash then yours are automatic controlled by 2 ride height sensors, 1 front and 1 rear.

Have a look at this one.

 

Thank you Jim,
That's basically what I had figured.
I will have another look
If anyone has seen the actual sensor or has a photo etc, please let me know
Much thanks and appreciation to all who have responded on this thread
Al

 

Hi Al,
My manual says they are located on the front and rear suspension. Connectors are 6 way/black LF33 front and 6 way/black XL1 rear.

Sorry, no phots.

 

These posts read like my post #2 did not appear on the thread. I described the entire system and how the signal is routed. Unless there is harness or sensor damage, there is nothing you can do without the dealer computer to read and modify the modules.

 

this is a pic of the sensor UNSNAPPED from the ball just below it

 

To restate the above:HID Headlight leveling is automatically controlled by 2 ride height sensors attached to the control arms, 1 front and 1 rear. (Level Sensor - Jaguar # C2N1616)

They send the signal to the body processor, which then sends it to the relay and both fuses, and then to the headlamp levelling control modules inside each headlamp (which is integral to the ballast).

Each headlamp has a fuse and there is also a relay.


Level Sensor - Jaguar (C2N1616)

 

Your misting is probably caused by the water shoots that funnel the water over the headlights being missing ...??? Or the while plastic tops are not sealing . I have put a block of wood about 1 inch thick between them and the body to hold them down ..No more water

 

You're right in a way, except most never cause trouble (or the forum would be full of such posts). Also, most result in codes in one module or another.

I think you've been a bit unlucky but the cars are now getting old so sooner or later more such problems are likely, just as engines are going to fail and other cars are going to write cars off. (And so on.)

 

Literally a 10 year old thread, lol.