On my quest for knowledge about this wonderful automobile we have now in our stable. I have read quite a few posts about "thingies". I am overwhelmed by the knowledge of you fine fellows about thingies. Let me tell you about my thingy. My thingy suffers from saggage AND shrinkage. I am not proud about this problem! It seems that our fellow brethren with the X's suffer from my problem as well. My question to you my fine people, does your hood/bonnet pad/liner insulator thingy suffer like mine?

 

Do you have a warranty? The dealer will replace your thingy for free. They replaced my thingy for the same shrinkage issue. It seems that the thingy shrinks with age. I hope my new thingy holds up better. If / When you replace the thingy you may run into a hood latch issue that is caused by a too firm thingy. If that happens it is an easy fix.
Hope you fix your thingy soon!

 

Yep, my drooping thingy is the only item on my factory warranty punch list. I'll insist on a new one when I take my car into the dealership for the remaining free 40,000-mile service just prior to our factory warranty expiring in mid-July.

The thingy issue wouldn't be a problem if the pad had been designed with metal grommets surrounding the screws holding the thingy onto the hood. In the long run, that would have saved Jaguar a bunch of money spent having to replace defective thingys for guys who take pride in their thingys staying where they're put....

 

No warranty (dummie me) for not purchasing extended protection (maybe, maybe not)! Looks like I'll have to shell out the $130.00 and change to resolve my thingies little setback. Thank goodness Joyce hasn't discovered my thingies issue.

 

Might as well replace that thingy while your under there working on the leaking dodad.

 

LOL......Contemplating that very thought. Alas our ladies drippy dodad thingie won't be dripping her lube juices much longer!!! Stay tuned for that 1.

Nice to see afew UN-stuffed shirts in the Jaguar owners club!

 

Only returning the favor after the "plug yer hole" post. Glad to make you laugh.

 

I wouldn't spend $130 to replace that drooping hood pad with a new one. I'd go to the hardware store and pick up enough spiked black steel or galvanized 1-inch-diameter washers for every screw holding up the hood pad. Not as good as built-in metal grommets, but I bet that approach would do the job nicely. Total cost would be $3 or $4 at the most....

 

Jon, I took that approach, auto & home stores looking for larger diameter washers and or larger pins. Due to the amount of shrinkage, most holes would require almost a 2" washer. Not thats some shrinkage eh?

 

Yep, that's some serious shrinkage alright. 1-inch washers would do just fine for our hood pad right now (only 24,200 miles). Looks like the sag/shrinkage factor gets gradually worse as the miles add up.

After I make Jaguar replace ours under warranty this summer, I think I'll get a batch of the 1-inch spiked washers and add them to the new pad's screws. Hopefully that will stop the problem from occuring again as the new pad ages....

 

Jon, Your thingy is not held in with screws. Those are plastic trim clips. Don't go screwing your thingy, man. Hate to see ya screw up an expensive aluminum hood over a little shrinkage!

 

Dont you watch info-mercials? There are lots of good products to fix a saggy, droopy thingy...and while alittle more money, you could always trade it in for a newer model that wont be saggy and droopy..

 

or drippy lube juice in my case too!

Glad to see some humor going on here!

 

Jeff,

Thanks for the tip. I never looked close enough and just assumed they were very short screws. So what do these trim clips grab hold of so they stay up underneath the hood? Are there little pylons or brackets molded into the aluminum hood that protrude down for the clips to insert into? Maybe a poorly-designed attachment system is part of the problem, and cheap plastic trim clips may not be the way to go. Perhaps it would be better to actually glue that pad to the underside of the hood using epoxy or a marine-based glue of some sort.

My wife is driving the S-Type today so I can't go take a close look until she comes home this evening....

 

Maybe some West Virginian chrome (aka duct tape). Actually Jon there are cross frames under the hood for support with holes drilled to acccept the insertation of said trim pins. I did try exterior carpet tape but to no avail. Did I actually admit to that........

 

So those small holes drilled into the crossframes underneath the hood would accept small, short screws instead of the cheap plastic pins, right? I assume those under-hood crossframes are made of metal. If they're plastic like the trim pins, then screws may not work as well given the constant heat of the engine.

I think that's the answer if the crossframes are indeed metal. Get rid of the plastic trim pins, replace them with some very short wide-headed screws, and combine that with the 1-inch spiked washers. If it won't stay in place under those circumstances, you may as well take your droopy mat and go home....

 

LOL.... point well taken.

 

Wow... So much time spent on a droopy saggy thingy! It becomes droopy and saggy from shrinkage. Then it tears........ OUCH! Then it sags. So, clips or screws, the same thing will happen, with "spiked washers" DOUBLE OUCH! it will just tear at a different point. Can't stop time or the dreaded shrinkage...

 

Brutal, I have become quite intimite with what my thingy is attached to. I have caressed,fingered and have had my tool(s) where most Jaguar owners and some mechcanics would never go, some would say thats taboo. I couldn't, wouldn't have the heart to trade up for a newer less saggy model. UNLESS I can't resolve the drippy lube juice dodad issue!

 

Jeff,

I hear what you're saying. But I still think that my approach is worth a try. If I make no modifications after getting my new hood pad installed by Jaguar, it is just going to happen all over again. But for no more than $5 in hardware and less than an hour's time removing the plastic pins and replacing them with metal screws and washers, I can screw down that hood pad and perhaps greatly extend the period of time required for it to shrink, tear, and sag.

If I take a shot at it, I'll let you guys know the results. Won't be until right before my factory warranty runs out in mid-July, though....