Hi,

I just bought a 2004 XKR convertible. I had it checked out by a mechanic and it got a pretty clean bill of health, though it has a few issues.

The most pressing is the intermittent fault "Check Rear Lights" and "Cruise not Available." from reading here I see that it's most likely the brake pedal switch, which was also what the mechanic thought.

Recall # J026 was not performed, so I will take care of that too. Passenger headrest motor turns but doesn't move the rest. Thanks to JaguarForums, I've seen the TSB about that (though I don't know if I will bother that soon).

Here is a list of the OBDII codes generated:

intermittent P1571
intermittent P1582 (throttle monitor. Any ideas about this?)
intermittent B1571
intermittent B1582
Pending P1000

This car came from Carmax and has a 30 day warranty. In addition, we bought a 4 year extended warranty ("named exclusion" type). I usually don't believe in those, but I thought given the complexity of the car it might be worthwhile.

My wife and I spent the weekend driving all over with the top down. I haven't owned a convertible since I was a kid (52 now). It felt great!

I'm ging to check out the regional section and see what's going on there. I used to do a little time-trialling and vintage racing. I doubt I'll race this, but a track day would be fun!

Any comments or advice welcome. Thanks again for all the posts I read before purchase, it really gave me a good understanding of these cars.

 

Welcome!

P1571 should be resolved with the new brake switch.
P1582 is actually 'flight rcorder data stored' which could have been caused by an engine stall sometime in the car's history. Just clear it and see if it comes back.

Those B codes are not valid, but since they are the same numbers as the P codes, I assume they are probably the same information.

P1000 is normal, but does indicate that the fault codes were reset fairly recently. After a few hundred miles, all self tests will run and the code should change to P1111. P1000 and P1111 are not faults.

There is also a Youtube video and several good threads regarding the headreast repair should decide to undertake it at some point.

 

A transmission software update was suggested too. What's involved with that, how much should I expect to pay and what would it do for me?

 

The transmission update will be performed if there's some 'lurch' in the transmission, or you have any other strange shifting symptoms. If there's nothing wrong, don't worry about the update. No reason to do if you don't have a problem.

Time to do it will be about an hour, maybe 1.5...the update takes forever to load. At $125 an hour tech time, you can do the math.

 

Carmax replaced the brake pedal switch and the left rear taillight board for free. Car is driving clear of codes and feels great!

Thanks again for the advice.

 

IMHO, the motorized headrests are a waste. When I bought my '03 XK8 convert, both seat headrests were inop (motors ran but no movement). I used The Rev's video to access the drive cables, manually ran the headrests all the way down and left them disconnected; also disconnected the power to the motors. No more complications and no grinding noise when you tip the seats.

 

I used the Rev's video to shorten the passenger-side headrest cable sheath in her XK8 about a week after we purchased the car in February 2012. I then powered the headrest to full-down position and it has not been moved since. We plan to keep it that way - I just want the powered headrests to operate for eventual resale, though that may be a decade away as much as she loves her car....