Freebird Paul

Morning Jim, I removed the wheel yesterday then started to remove the 6 wheel arch liner screws, 3 removed ok however 3 were so tight and unable to remove because a previous owner butchered the alan key entry point! So seems i will have to take it to my independant garage to be done. Thanks for all your help so far. Regards, Paul.

Morning Jim, The methylated spirit hack did'nt work, no surprises there! I am preparing to remove the washer bottle and filter so as to thoroughly clean both, however i have a question: Watching some online videos for an XF (none available for XK) it shows the bottle and filter tucked behind the O/S front wheel, do i need to remove the wheel for better access? Cheers Jim, Paul.

Hi Alan, I had another thought for your search for a decent bluetooth retro fit stereo as i recalled the reason why i chose Alpine for my Merc 500SL. The reason was the Alpine has a really good colour choice of illumination which you can select to match your cars interior lighting. From memory most XJs i have owned in the past have a green interior lighting so the Continental retro stereo would be no good with only orange illumination. Take a look at the Alpine range from the following link: https://www.alpine.co.uk/p/Products/SingleView/ute-200bt Regards, Paul.

Good morning Alan, I am also a member of the MB club and on theit forum this question comes up a lot, seems the most popular brand for retro fit of the 1990's stereo is Continental, here is a link to one of their many models so you can search for their full range. https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwi-kKapusiEAxW2nFAGHfOcCpIYABALGgJkZw&ase=2&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5-uuBhDzARIsAAa21T_JoCPbxHh5TxFTu9c87ofAR4b4VGHRQVPv6sy2p35jsvnRQJzAb50aAlZvEALw_wcB&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESVuD2KrLfeAr3DZjHOOYnNJivVEnql_Q3NOIVe52fwbrT8RpJdm7KUFtJJxZmr2UMWvxatmh8JBiPId5R2BMWso1hVfRa7wPMNmrS8kn59pLroHvEcH9i&sig=AOD64_3TBWFPtM7uyH9m-oKcWH4wgIF2lA&ctype=5&q=&nis=4&ved=2ahUKEwiskqGpusiEAxVHRkEAHbgXDxYQ9aACKAB6BAgIEBI&adurl= Regards, Paul.

Morning Jim, I took the car to my usual mechanic and had codes cleaned up, after that all that is left to fix are the washers. My mechanic suggested the same as you that there is a blocked filter at the bottom of the water bottle. He suggested to try adding methalated spirits to the water, leave it overnight to see if this brakes down the gunge and cleans out the filter. I added it last night so fingers crossed it works! If not which i suspect will be the case would it be a quick DIY fix to change the filter or do I need for my mechanic to do it? Thanks again Jim for all your help. Paul.

Morning Jim, Thanks for your further comment, i checked the washer system again yesterday and it turns out the pump does work with a noise when i press the button so i was pleased with that at least. Still no water coming out though and i was wondering should i be replacing the blades to see if it's the jets that are blocked?

Evening Jim, I hope all goes well with you, thanks for you suggestions and NO pump can be heard when i press the washer button! As your comment suggests I guess the pump could be the culprit. Just a thought Jim, i recently went to Spain for a month and returned last Friday. When i went to use the car the battery was completely dead, so i connected my trickle charger left it on for 24 hrs and returned with the status of a fully charged battery on storage mode. I then went for a short drive and some weird things happened 1) Red Dash light signal for check pedestrian sensors. (Happened twice and has not returned) 2) Drivers side window would not auto return up but auto down was fine. (Happened 5 times and has not returned) 3) Pressed the start button and car was dead with all usual dash lights on. (Happened 4 times then the car started and has not returned) 4) Windscreen washers not working. (Still not working) As of tonight car is now starting and running normally except for the washers is the remaining problem now.! Jim, do you think that i should take the car to a specialist to plug it in for error codes to be cleared and reset following the dead battery scenario? Regards, Paul.

Evening All, I have a 2006 XK 4.2 Convertible which i have owned for 2 + years without any trouble to date, it's been a truly great car. However just today i have no windscreen washers even though the resorvoir bottle is full and the wipers work just fine, Any ideas what could be the problem would be appreciated? Regards, Paul.

Morning Jon, Thanks for the comment, i too prefer the 2006 car as it has many of the same parts as my 2006 X150 which is my daily driver when here in the UK, Finding a 2006 XKR with Spanish plates will be more difficult but i am in no hurry and will keep looking. Thanks again, regards Paul.

Good Evening All, I am in the process of trying to find and buy a nice XK8/XKR (100) convertible for use in Spain where we spend around 6 months each year. Here in the UK i have a nice 2006 XK (150) 4.2 convertible which i have had for 2 yrs and have had no issues and is a great car. The reason i am looking for the Spanish car to be a X100 model is simply to have a change from what i drive here in the UK. However i know absolutely nothing about these cars and wondered if you could help me choose one from two cars i am looking at, Car 1) is a 2000 XKR with 97,000 mls Car 2) is a 2006 XK8 4.2S with 38,000 mls Both cars are left hand drive with Spanish registration and are selling for a very similar price. Your thoughts and choice would be appreciated. Happy New Year to one & all.

Morning All Question on spark plugs: I am being told by my local specialist that plugs only need to be changed every 100,000 miles! Mine have covered just 21,000 in 7 years, they were fitted by the previous owner. I have owned the car 2 years and have been delighted with it, It starts and runs great with no issues, current mileage is 62,000 and i just wondered should i change the plugs as 100,000 will take another 10yrs! Thanks in advance for any comment/advice.

Hi Peter, Did you find out how to do it from the remote? Please enlighten me if you did? Thanks Paul.

Hello Jim, Thanks for your comment, the error message comes on after selecting destination and then i cannot input any address or postcode. I guess i will replace the disc, can you recommend a trusted website to buy it from please? By the way, your current and past cars are very cool and must have given you many hours of pleasureable drives. Regards, Paul.

Morning All, I have an error message on my screen when attempting to use my sat nav, as shown in picture taken yesterday. My question, is it a simple case of just changing the disc for an updated version? Thanks in advance for comment.

Hello Jim, Are the sat nav discs the same in all XK models and model year? Could you please recommend the best site to try for a new disc for my 2006 4.2? Thanks Paul.

Hello Jim, Thanks for your reply and welcome, much appreciated! Regarding my sat nav problem, how do i check if it's the disc or the reader? Thanks, Paul.

Morning All, Sat nav in my 2006 XK 4.2 has it's original disc (i am the second owner since Nov 21) and it does not work! Any suggestions please where i should be buying a replacement disc? Thanks in advance, Paul.