hi guys, am new here and i wish i find the nswer for this nonsense proplem.
i have 2000 jaguar xkr and my headlihts are flickering and also the dashboard lights arre flickering, when i step on the gs it seems to go away but does not get rocck steady. i dunno what to to!! i wentt to a shop. he said that my alternator produces 12 volts as it should produce 14. the battery seems to be perfect.. can anyone hep?

 

It could be as simple as loose harness connections to the Instrument Pack:



The veneer panel has to be removed to access the two connectors (black on the left and yellow on the right) either side at the base of the Instrument Pack. The harness connectors push in and should then be securely locked with integral plastic clips that fold back over the top of them.

Graham

 

If the alternator is only producing 12 volts and your lights are flickering I'd suspect failing diodes in the alternator rectifier.

 

i think this is the problem. but when i asked a mechanic he said that i have to replace the alternator as the diodes can noot be repaced. is that true? or he is just trying to sell the alternator as it costs alot

 

The alternator can be rebuilt but most shops do not do that. They replace with new, rebuilt or used but replaced it must be.

 

thank you so much

 

I had the exact same problem, and so did another member. We both fixed it the same way. There's a cable that goes from the positive terminal on the battery to a terminal block located just in front of the spare tire. The cable is only about 2 feet long and it's very easy to remove, although to have to take out the spare tire. Apparently the crimp connection on one end or the other isn't making good contact. Put the two crimped ends in a vice and smash the living f*** out of them. If that fixes it then you've saved yourself hundred of dollars. If it doesn't then you cost yourself about 10 minutes of your time. I think it's worth trying.

On my car the problem got steadily worse and I couldn't figure out why. Although it was also very intermittent. I could go weeks without it happening, then out of the blue the lights would start flickering. Then one day when I flicked on the high beams, everything went black. A split second later the lights came back on, but there was a loud thunk and the display was showing "gearbox fault". I pulled over at the next exit, restarted the car, and everything was fine. No more flickering. No more gearbox fault. The car was fine for a month or three, then it happened again. Then I started having trouble starting the car. When I would put the key in the ignition the dash lights would come on and the steering wheel would move, but as soon as I turned the key everything went dead. If I let it sit for 15 minutes everything would work fine. Then one day I decided to try to jump start it when it was dead. As soon as I moved that battery cable I described above I hear a loud "snap" sound come from INSIDE the cable. I just thought it was weird. But when it happened the trunk lights instantly came on. The car started fine at that point. I didn't need to jump start it. The next time the car wouldn't start, I when back there and jiggled the cable. Once again there was a loud "snap" from inside the cable and the trunk lights came on. When I got home I removed the cable, smashed the crimped ends in a vice, and the problem has never recurred. That was probably almost a year ago.

Anyway... If you read all that, I'm just saying it's worth a try. If it fixes it then you'll be glad you didn't spring for a new alternator. If not, then you can replace the alternator knowing that you already tried the easy/cheap fix.

 

Sam, i willtry this tonight as the car stopped running all of the sudden and displayed a message "engine halted" or engine something. ii turned the key ut started after few seconds but it was hesitating. lights were so weak i turned AC off and all light off. locked the car for 15 mins. started again just fine but flickering was still there!!, i will replace the positive terminal cable and will let you know if it fixs the problem. this car is sucking my salary. but i just adore this cat

 

Same issue--only the driver's side headlight flickers sometimes, and goes off and on sometimes. I'll check the battery and the connectors at the steering wheel stalk as others suggest--will let you know.

 

i got the positive terminal crackedd but sstillthee same problem, i will try to change the alternative and will get back heree with the results. hope this problem gets fixed as am taking this cat for a 3000 KM driving from Kuwait to Egypt

 

Thank you for your post. I did as was posted. Removed the + cable from the battery to the post near the spare tire and beat the daylights out of it.......it worked!! My driver side headlight has been flcikering for a while and that made it stop. But keeping with British humor when it comes to anything electrical in a car, my passenger side headlight flickers now. Go figure. Maybe I have to beat the daylights out of both sides of the cable

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Marcel
San Diego

PS: Always appreciative of all the great posts in this forum. Makes Jaguar ownership a lot less expensive.

 

Update--on this 2005 XKR the driver side low beam will just turn off. Hitting the switch brings it right back on. Today I learned that after the lights are on 10 minutes, they stay on. Today, I swapped the bulbs (driver/passenger side)...we shall see.

 

After swapping HID bulbs across the front, the flickering moved to the passenger side! So I decided it was the bulb, bought a new one off the Internet, and it was fixed.........for about a week. Then suddenly, the passenger side, which was the "good" side quit. I assumed the bulb was junk, but tested it on driver's side and it works, so the passenger side that had no issue now does not work at all?. I wonder did I loosen something? Just starting to troubleshoot--fuses are both good--2diffrent bulbs work on driver's side....did the new bulb kill the ballast? All ideas are welcome and appreciated.

 

Wanted to add my latest fix to this thread since it may save someone a few hundred bucks. I bought my 2005 XKR used and had not checked out the fuses on the car since I was not having any electrical issues. Using the 2002 fuse box guide from this forum, it turned out the 10 amp fuses for the headlights had been 'upgraded' by the previous rocket scientist to 20 amp fuses. After checking all my fuse boxes, I found about 8 fuses that were the incorrect amps and all of them were higher than what they were supposed to be. Once I replaced the fuses with the specified amps from the 2002 fuse chart my flickering lights disappeared!

Hopefully this will help someone else as a possible fix.

 

I have that annoying flickering too. Comes and goes. These cars have the dumbest issues. I would hate for anyone to think I am flashing at them. Folks are crazy these days.

 

Same problem on mine, Low beam light flicker, will try some of the solutions you guys suggested today... fingers Crossed!

 

I'd start investigating the ballasts that are mounted underneath the headlamps themselves. That's IF you have HIDs (samantha, you do) the 96 didn't have HIDs...only halogens.

Samantha, if yours is flickering on just one side, you can swap the bulb from the left to the right by taking out the little access panel inside your front wheelwells. Turn the wheel to the right to get the driver side panel out, left to get the passenger side (access is relative if you try this with them straight ahead). Anyway, with that out, you can take off the back cover of the headlight and lift this little metal bar that holds it in place, and pull out the bulb (careful with it) remove the connector, and swap sides.

If the flickering follows the bulb to the other side, its the bulb, and you can get replacements in pairs on ebay for just over $100. If it doesn't move with the bulb, you'll need a new ballast, and the headlight must come out of the car to get to it. Its either a Valeo LAD5G or LAD5GL, the prior is a 12-pin unit (older xks have them, and xjs too) and the latter is a 4-pin unit being installed in later years. Price difference is either $120 or $220 on Amazon or Ebay. The VIN split will be determined by the dealer, or taking one out and physically checking it out. My VIN split was supposed to get me the newer, cheaper unit, but i had the older units installed, instead. So, be careful. Buy new in this case, they are, after all, only electrical items only meant to last 2000 hours. (thats not long in the automotive world)