S Type headlight compatbility.

[ChrisJaaaaag]

Hello all. First time poster, long time fan. 

I bought a W reg S type a few months ago. It's failed the MOT. One of the issues was the headlights, the manual adjusters have broken so it's not possible to set the headlight height. I've been warned off trying to open them up and use the adjuster repair kits as this could lead to moisture ingress. 

So it seems like my option is to get replacement headlights. As I found out when changing the air and cabin filters, it pays to check if something is compatible. As mine's an early model, is there any compatibility issues to watch out for? If the option is available, could I bolt in some of the modern HID/Xenon lights that the later models had? 

[Wrinkly]

42 minutes ago, ChrisJaaaaag said:

Hello all. First time poster, long time fan. 

I bought a W reg S type a few months ago. It's failed the MOT. One of the issues was the headlights, the manual adjusters have broken so it's not possible to set the headlight height. I've been warned off trying to open them up and use the adjuster repair kits as this could lead to moisture ingress. 

So it seems like my option is to get replacement headlights. As I found out when changing the air and cabin filters, it pays to check if something is compatible. As mine's an early model, is there any compatibility issues to watch out for? If the option is available, could I bolt in some of the modern HID/Xenon lights that the later models had? 

Be aware of legislation concerning fitting of non original headlight bulbs. I submitted an article on this subject which is a "sticky"  LEGALITY OF UPGRADING FROM HALOGEN TO HID or LED HEADLIGHTS. MOT TEST. ??????  which is in Chit Chat Non Jaguar.

Best Wishes and Regards, John

[ChrisJaaaaag]

13 minutes ago, Wrinkly said:

Be aware of legislation concerning fitting of non original headlight bulbs. I submitted an article on this subject which is a "sticky"  LEGALITY OF UPGRADING FROM HALOGEN TO HID or LED HEADLIGHTS. MOT TEST. ??????  which is in Chit Chat Non Jaguar.

Best Wishes and Regards, John

Didn't know about that. Found a refurbed drivers side light for £126, plastic looks in good quality and the description says 1999-2007. Now I just need to find a passenger side one. 

[LairdScooby]

On 11/28/2022 at 9:33 AM, ChrisJaaaaag said:

Hello all. First time poster, long time fan. 

I bought a W reg S type a few months ago. It's failed the MOT. One of the issues was the headlights, the manual adjusters have broken so it's not possible to set the headlight height. I've been warned off trying to open them up and use the adjuster repair kits as this could lead to moisture ingress. 

So it seems like my option is to get replacement headlights. As I found out when changing the air and cabin filters, it pays to check if something is compatible. As mine's an early model, is there any compatibility issues to watch out for? If the option is available, could I bolt in some of the modern HID/Xenon lights that the later models had? 

I would remove your existing headlights, buy the adjuster kit on eBay (make sure you get the one that contains 4 gear wheels per side, you'll need them!) and use a hairdryer to play on the edge of the plastic lens all round the light unit to soften the sealant, gently prying the lens away from the housing.

Once you can remove the lens, do so and then you can strip the old adjusters (or the remains of)  out and fitr the new ones. To fit the adjuster drive gears, i used a 10mm socket to support the new gear and a deep 5.5mm 1/4" drive socket to push on the threaded part with a little silicone grease on the end of the threaded shaft to ease it into the new gear.

Once done, refit the reflector on the new adjusters, wipe any pawprints off the reflector with a microfibre cloth and put the lens in position ready to refit. Again heat up the sealant and work your way round heating, squeezing etc until the lens is completely refitted. After that i did a few "circuits" of the lamp unit with the hairdryer to make sure the sealant was even pressure on the lens and helped to spread it out/reseal.

Unless you do this outside in the pouring rain or inside a sauna, there's very little chance of introducing moisture and is ~£500 cheaper than new lights. Don't forget the adjusters are a common problem on these so even if you buy some secondhand ones with apparently good adjusters, chances are they will go again. Much better to revive your existing lights with the adjuster kit which is made from glass-flled nylon or similar (don't remember the exact plastic but it's one of the engineering plastics) so will likely outlast the car!

A timely squirt of silicone lube spray will help prevent the adjuster threads corroding and ease any adjustment necessary at MoT time.

PS - while my lenses were off, i gave them several good rubs with T-Cut to remove the small amount of oxidisation on them then a few coats of Turtle Wax polish to help potect them. Next year i will revisit this task and once happy they are completely clear, will use this instead of clear-coat lacquer/varnish to protect the lenses from going opaque agin :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151172691767

If it does go opaque (doubtful as it rejects 99% of UV) the film can simply be peeled off, the lenses rebuffed with T-Cut or similar and a new piece of film fitted.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

HI

there real easy to open and replace the adjusters

especially if you have the HID lights, on a R model as there really expensive

did mine and there great, better option than buying used, as they might already be broken

cheers

Joe

[ChrisJaaaaag]

Thanks. I'll bear it in mind for next time, as chances are the plastic rods will be brittle so some tough new reinforced nylon sounds worth the struggle with heating up rubber adhesive. 

[ChrisJaaaaag]

Hello all. 

I thought I should let you know my car's passed the MOT. I suspect the last MOT was dodgy and I had to put right a few things. 

New shocks, new rear brake lines, new headlights. Advisories on the steering linkages (it's a bit juddery) and front brake line. 

Over Christmas I went to spend time with my dad who lives in Shaftesbury, which was good for me as over boxing day Mark from JagRar saw me in Taunton at his garage. I gave him the two original MOT failure headlights, and an additional nearside headlight taken from a breakers yard I got for £40 which was also an MOT failure. The brackets all rattled. 

He gave me a new (old) nearside light and it passed the MOT. I also got to chat to him, apparently the v8 engine gets better fuel mileage than the v6? I found that counter intuitive as with two extra cylinders you have extra friction. He said despite this, the different fuel mappings means that the v8 works out as more efficient. 

Got talking about the forum today as I was searching on youtube for where the screen wash pump is. Couldn't find any pertinent videos, it's not in the owners manual (at least I couldn't see?) and there's no haynes owners manual for the S Type. I'll make a new topic about it if I can't find one with the forum search. 

[LairdScooby]

Congrats on the pass Chris! Always a good feeling!

With yours car being a 2000 model, this should be the right screenwash pump :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252268529673

From the Jag WSM ^^^^^ installation you "Haynes it" - reversal of the removal procedure. Hope that's useful! 😉 😄

[ChrisJaaaaag]

Thanks for sharing that. That's not something I could do! I don't have ramps or a hoist. Fortunately it was an easy fix, and it allowed me to get familiar with the passenger compartment fuse box. I see all that's left is a 5A fuse. 

Very nice feature on the blown fuse, a small light glowed red. Which was fuse 2. This is why I got talking with my dad and he reminded me that I should ask on the forum about the washer pump. He said that illuminated fuses is a feature on naval warships, it allows the engineer to see at a glance what electrical system has tripped. Whilst there was no emergency it was a nice feature, one I doubt will be present on the cheapy generic fuses I bought. now I know about them I want to buy some more. 

I really should read the owners manual some more. I learned that it has a safety warning feature on the screenwash so when the reserve is low it'll shut off the wipers to prevent scratches. Not an issue as the windscreen already had those when I bought it. 

I read over the entire list of what fuses and relays control and the rear fusebox has a relay/fuse (can't remember) for a subwoofer. Had it on classic FM and a friend did ask if I had a subwoofer, I said I didn't know but pointed to the "premium sound" imprinted on the tape deck. It does sound quite good, especially with stereo music. 

[LairdScooby]

1 hour ago, ChrisJaaaaag said:

Very nice feature on the blown fuse, a small light glowed red.

Only ones i can find at the moment are standard blade fuses, not the mini-blades as seem to be fitted to my S Type but gives you an idea what to look for in other suppliers :

https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk/c-52-fuse-boxes-fuses/c-121-fuses-and-circuit-breakers/p-672-glow-fuse

Very useful bits of kit, another alternative would be a resettabe breaker type fuse which gives an indication if tripped as the button pops out. Again on standard blade fuses though and they're not cheap.

https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk/c-52-fuse-boxes-fuses/c-121-fuses-and-circuit-breakers/p-1247-blade-circuit-breaker

[ChrisJaaaaag]

I will get some "they glow as they blow" type fuses in the future, they are very useful. 

however I got 10 x 10A mini blade fuses for £1.99 on eBay, 20p a fuse is very reasonable. If they blow, it'll be very easy to fault find in the future. Cold day, no squirt, no warning message on dash? Blown fuse, screenwash is frozen. 

Very nice feature. When I got the screen wash squirter working again I went on a little cruise in the countryside, blasting the wash every mile or so until it gave a little dribble, the wipers stopped and a message popped up on the dash warning me about the low screenwash level. I've never seen that in a car before, it's a useful bit of information. 

[LairdScooby]

1 hour ago, ChrisJaaaaag said:

Cold day, no squirt, no warning message on dash? Blown fuse, screenwash is frozen. 

Succinctly sums up the situation i was in! Because the wipers still wiped and i'm used to the wiper and washers sharing a fuse, i assumed (wrongly now i've discovered it) the fuse was ok.

Borrowed a 10A mini-blade fuse from a friend with a non-roadworthy Rover 75 and hey presto, washers washed again! 😛

As i've not needed mini-blades until now, i invested in a 120 piece set on eBay :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232818816362

A set of 10 different values, 12 fuses in each value for a mind-blowing £4.65 delivered! Assume P&P is £3.35 considering the size/weight and that leaves £1.30 for the 120 fuses or a smidge over a penny a piece! 😮

1 hour ago, ChrisJaaaaag said:

a message popped up on the dash warning me about the low screenwash level. I've never seen that in a car before, it's a useful bit of information. 

I haven't discovered the low screenwash message in the S-Type yet, fairly sure the XJ40 i had ~23 years ago had similar, i know my Volvo 760 has a warning lamp for low screenwash (needed on that, the way it uses screenwash!), the first 827 Sterling i had (a Mk1c 1988/F reg) had a warning lamp on the "Vehicle Computer" but the Mk2a doesn't and a few other cars i've known/owned over the years have had it.

As you might guess, no handbook came with my S-Type, that said it did have a large history file with loads of receipts, it was an estate sale to the dealer i got it from and one previous owner + demo, low mileage, FSH etc.

Still getting to grips with how things work, what doesn't work and shouldn't but i expect it to, what works when i don't expect it to and so on.

[Geoff P]

Unless I am mistaken HDI and LED headlight have to be self levelling and must have headlight washers as well.

Geoff.

[LairdScooby]

You certainly were correct Geoff and you may well still be but over the past 2-3 years, they've changed the laws so many times it's impossible to keep up! 😮