Greetings all and Happy New Year!

My 99 XK8 convertible is haunting me.

The fob works fine, but when I try to lock the car with it, it only locks the drivers door...it attempts to lock the passenger door about 5 times or so...then the alarm goes off.

I removed the lock actuator on the passenger side and tested the micro switches as in Gus's guide (Thanks for that Gus!), and they all seem to test fine.

I'm thinking that I may have a bad solenoid on that side.

I had solenoid problems on an old XJS as well, so I know they tend to fatigue over time.

Used ones seem pretty high priced on Ebay, and I was wondering if you all think I may be on the right track, or am I overlooking something?

Also, does anyone know if it's possible to purchase the solenoid only instead of the entire assembly?

The solenoid is marked: VDO BFT-ZV

Thanks in advance!

 

I cracked opened the solenoid, and found a small square piece of plastic that had broken in two.

A little JB Weld and problem solved.

 

I have a similar problem with my 1999 XK8. When I lock the car with the fob or key, there is a clicking sound in the door and afrer about 4 of these the alarm sounds but goes off when I open with the key fob. the passanger door however remains locked. The battery reads 12.2V and so I have ruled out that as a problem. All the doors the boot and the bonnet apear to be properly shut. SO. What can I do to find out where the problem lies?

 

Sounds like the same problem I am having. I say "am having", as my JBWeld didn't stick to the nylon like I was hoping.

Here's the problem:



The rectangular 'box' on the far right of the door latch assembly is the door lock actuator.

Remove the assembly cover by one obvious brass screw and pry up on the plastic sheathing where you see a slight indentation (which is a 'slip-catch').

Then use something like a wood chisel along with small hammering to 'split' the actuator:




Chances are you'll find what is pictured here. If you look close, you'll see several broken pieces inside:



Pieces removed:




And here's the culprit:



I first tried super glue, but it didn't hold.

I then tried JBWeld, and it didn't hold either.

It's made out of nylon, but it also has to 'flex' to operate properly, and therein lies the problem.

I'm about to head to our local hardware store or hobby store to see if I can find some sort of a nylon 'block' that I can use to replicate this with a Dremel tool.

I couldn't find any good gluing process for nylon on the internet.

Used lock assemblies are pretty expensive on Ebay, and because they are used, who knows how long it will last?

Any other ideas out there?

 

Here's the one I just 'whittled' away with my Dremel tool...wish me luck!

 

Yeee Hawww!

Now working like new again.

I went to the local hobby store that deals in remote control cars and found a nylon suspension-bar for an r/c car that just happened to have exactly the right thickness and the right width, and that shaved some good time off of the project.

40 minutes later and a little fine-tuning with a fingernail emery board, and it's working perfectly again.

Amazing how such a small piece of plastic can have such a dramatic effect on a persons' quality of life.

I hope this helps others.

 

I'm gonna reopen this old thread here. But any idea on which part you used from the rc cars?

 

I'm not sure what this is actually called, but it's some sort of a suspension unit for a large remote controlled car, and the package came with these two parts (and there's a ruler to give you an idea of its size):



Here's another view:

Attachment 100181

Here's the area that I took out of it (see arrow) to make my own:

Attachment 100180

It made the job much easier using something so close to the width the piece needs to be, and this section ended up being the perfect width.

It took very little time with a grinding wheel on my Dremel tool, and it only took me one try to get it right.

I highly suggest doing the brunt of the sizing with the Dremel tool, and doing the finer details with an emery board.


Good luck!

 

Not sure why the other pictures didn't attach, so here's another attempt:

 

I too was suffering from the original fault mentioned above - only it was the driver's door not able to lock, then the alarm sounding. While it was in this state the window wouldn't wind down either.
To date I've had the door lock mechanism renewed which seemed to cure it for a while but occasionally the window refuses to unwind/wind. I do hear a slight click when trying). This means the window doesn't drop when opening the door. This will usually clear itself after 10 minutes of driving.
Basically, the original fault seems to have been fixed by a new mechanism but now I've got this window winding issue. Not sure if I'm looking at cause/effect here. Did the intermittent window problem cause the door locking or was this caused by disturbing something while fitting the new mechanism?
It looks like I'm going to have to take off the door panel and check out the above tips and looks for dodgy electrical connections too. Great, I love working on the car in winter.