Good evening everyone

I was wondering if you could possibly help me?

my NSR lens has a crack in it and water has leaked into it over a short time and totally shot the brake lights. Indicators fog reverse all work though dull.

can anyone point me in the right direction to....
1. purchasing a new rear cluster?
2. How to remove and fit said item?

thank you all for your help. So very much appreciated in advance

 

Welcome to the forums Graham,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to X351 forum for advice from members with the same model.

(I've just checked the list price and it's 570 UKP including VAT. There's 3 listed on ebay UK at a slightly less frightening cost.)

Graham

 

Graham, as for finding a new taillight, I would start with some of the auto recyclers in your area and see if any of them have a good tail light. Having a tail light fail is a rarity, so, there should be plenty of them out there other than cars that have been rear ended. Now, you are still going to pay a pretty penny as they are not going to let them go for cheap either. The other place I would look is a place like E-bay. Here is one that I found on E-bay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-2011-2...MAAOSwHXRfrue4. There was probably about 20 listings for various tail lights when I did a generic search for "2012 Jaguar xj tail light".

As for replacing, it is pretty straight forward. You are going to open the trunk/boot and peel back the carpeting on the side in question. This is going to expose three 10mm nuts that are holding the tail light in place. Undo the electrical plug and then as I recall, you are going to push the bottom out first and then roll the tail light up a little bit. Then it will come right out. There may be 3 nuts down low and then one on the underside in the top (holding the long "arm" of the tail light in place). Any way about it, a few fasteners and an electrical plug. Then it will pop out. Putting the new one in is the reverse. No glues required.

 

I actually have a bit of condensation inside mine that is only present when the car has been been running with lights on for a bit otherwise it dissipates. Is there a vent that is supposed to allow it to expel condensation, I don’t see any cracks aside from the plastic line between clear and red.

 

The condensation is a common complaint with these LED tail lights. There is no vent that I remember seeing, but they are not 100% sealed. I took my lights off and put them in a dehumidifying cabinet overnight to reduce them to 3% humidity. The morning after reinstalling them they both had condensation visible in the upper reverse 'bulge' again.

Graham, removing the lights is pretty easy. You can do it without removing the rear carpets entirely but it does bend them and they never go back quite the same so I recommend not skipping any steps:

- Before you start, note how the side carpet sites within the rubber seal
- Remove the two Torx screws holding the trunk base carpet tie downs, and then remove the base carpet.
- Shove an old towel down around the spare wheel so when you drop something it won't go under and require you to remove everything to retrieve it.
- Remove the three Torx screws holding the rigid plastic trunk trim with the silver Jaguar text on it that runs along the top of the bumper cover. The screws are in the vertical face.
- Yank that plastic trim straight up and the four plastic clips will release. If it is illuminated, unplug the little connector at the back.
- Remove the two 30mm black plastic fir tree clips holding the side carpet on the side you want to access. One is on the rear of the car right next to where that plastic trim was, and the other is on the roof of the trunk right at the front near to the lid struts.
- Remove the carpet.
- You will see three 8mm nuts on long studs. One on the top, and two on the rear. The studs have hex ends. Remove the nuts and the light cluster will lift straight off.
- Drop one of the nuts and swear at yourself for not bothering to shove that towel around the spare wheel.

Installing the new rear light will be a reversal of that process, but it will almost certainly need adjusting to sit correctly. The gap around it should be even and it should be flush along the top edge with the trunk lid when shut. You adjust by moving those three studs in and out with a hex socket over the end. If you have measuring calipers it is best to adjust them to be the same as the old ones before starting but it will still take a bit of trial and error to get the gaps perfect.