Hi folks,

The power tilt and telescopic switch for my '99 XK8 seems to be failing.

Anyone know of a way to test the switch.

I have not tried to remove it from the steering column. Is it complicated??

I see a few on Ebay, used. I am thinking they too would be problematic.

Any advise. Thank you, Rich

 

Check this thread which leads you to some sub threads, perhaps it'll help, many people have issues with the tilt functions, poor design or implementation... Steering wheel adjustment broken?

 

try getting it to move in and out first if you get that working then try adjusting it up and down if it hasn't been used in awhile it starts to stick..... after playing with mine for about an hour it finally started working properly .

 

Hi Wolf, thank you for the advise. While driving home from work, I continued to pay with the adjustment switch and the wheel finally started to work.
Too afraid in the past to fool around with the switch in fear of not being able to get out of my XK8 when I arrived home. Rich

 

I programmed the 1/2 memory positions all the way up/in and all the way down/out and then exercised them to the point that they got tired of protesting and started working again.

Lots of problems with this design including a short piece of cable that can fail and nylon gears that strip.

Jaguar's solution is to replace the steering column including the two movement motors.

 

Good advise. I'd really like to push the steering wheel into the dash a bit. 6'3" and all legs. Any fraction of an inch I can get I will use... Rich

 

Reb, I went through the process of testing the switch. Each position (up, down, in, out) runs the 12 volts through a different resistor, then sends the voltage output to the Body Processor Module (BPM). The BPM reads the voltage to determine your command (in/out/up/down). I recall listing the ohm values for each resistor in another post (try a search on my name and "tilt" if you want those values or just ask). Testing the switch was just a mater of measuring the resistance across each switch position and of course, continuity circuit input to circuit output.

I was disappointed to find find that the switch in my car works as designed (would have been an easy fix if broken).

I had already programmed all the way up and in to memory 1 and all the way down/out into memory 2. These worked without problem. The switch was swinging in that it worked sometimes, not others. This leads me to conclude that the motor movements for memory are on a different path than the movements from the switch.

Lately I have been having problems with In/Out movements. Rarely it works perfectly, even from the switch. I sat down and played around with it for 1/2 hour last night. Here's what I found: It looks like the in/out movement is subordinate to the up/down position sensor/protection circuit. If up/down isn't positioned where it is supposed to be - In/Out is not/can not be activated. Let me explain:

Many of us have posted that the stuttering up / down movement is a result of a protection circuit element kicking in. The potentiomenter (pot) signalling that too much effort is needed to move = stop before damage is done. (various posts speculate in reasons for this - temp/ old grease / wearing parts). I scratched my head wondering why my in/out worked only sometimes. What changes that could impact this?

It occurred to me that maybe in/out motor activity is subordinate to up/down, in other words - the up down position must be "on the mark" or at a reference point for in/out to work. "On the mark" should be the exact position that was the reference when either the memory was set or the position when the car was last turned off for auto. The car's attempts to move the up down to the reference position might get there sometimes, not others each time the key is inserted. This could explain why it worked sometimes not others.

Using this logic, I prodded the key flap to get the up down motion (auto positioning) past all the stuttering inch by inch stops. Sure enough it kept moving down stutter by stutter. Then when it got low enough it continued on its own - and stopped exactly where it was supposed to be (this is the reference). Once it got to that position - IN/OUT WORKS PERFECTLY - both for the switch, the memory, and automatic movements (key in/out)!

Hopefully this is one more step towards a final solution for this good old tilt steering issue(s). I figure we will nail this one sooner or later if we all share this kind of findings.

I invite you to test my hypothesis (in/out is subordinate to up down being in the proper position) and see if you find the same thing. Good Luck. Oh and Reb, I think it is highly unlikely that your switch is the culprit, but test it and see.

 

so then could a sticky key flap also be a part of the problem? .. could the flap be saying its either open or closed or not registering either?... anyhow I have lubed my flap and it eliminated a few problems but for me the cure was getting it to start moving and just keep playing with the adjustments till it worked out the kinks... I read this on a post about a year ago but don't remember the name so can't give the proper person credit for it .

 

Reb, It can only stick open, closed would mean you can't insert the key. If the flap was sticking there would be no movement of the column for auto positioning.

What I was saying that I did was: key in (just enough to move flap) movement to "last position" starts, take key out when the movement stops, quickly put the key in and movement continues for key in cycle (towards the postion when the car was last turned off). These breaks between key out and key in are so fast that the steering had no chance to retreat before the key in cycle starts again.

Note to Self - this also proves that a new "last known position" does not get stored until the steering wheel moves down and out to whatever is stored as Last Known Position.

Repeat several times until the down motor finds the stored memory last position. Now the in / out switch/motor is freed to work.

I am about to receive 2 replacement motors for my car. I can't wait to open them up and scrutinize the built in failsafes that keep over reacting causing the stuttering movement.

Hope this helps get to the bottom of this. Will keep you all posted.