I have clocked nearly 2000 miles in a couple of weeks on this new to me XJ and have a couple of little problems to cure.


The washers stopped working.
There is no noise from the washer bottle motor so I suspect the motor needs replacing.
I had a quick look and now need to find the motor!!!
I need to connect direct power to the pump and take the job from there so I am praying its a simple motor replacement and NOT a fault else where.


I can't see a way in easily from the engine bay and am now wondering if removing the drivers R/H plastic inner wing cover will let me get to it or is this a front bumper off job to get to?
Knowing my luck no doubt front bumper. I only have washers on this car, no headlight washers.
Can I also add to this post, I have not got HID lights and can soon convert but I noticed some models have an HID module and HID bulbs.
Does anyone know if I can simply fit the HID module to the car and replace the bulbs to HID or is the HID ballast units wired in way differently to my model of only halogen bulbs?
I can fit HID kits in no time as I did to all my motorbikes over the years and you soon get used to it but if I could simply plug-in the jaguar HID module this would look better as then I would not have separate HID ballasts to add to the car.
Fitting my own HID system is ten times cheaper than Jaguars but I would be happy with S/H Jaguar module.

 

Last bit first ... you must have ballast units, HID lamps won't work without them. Fitting HIDs to the existing units, in place of filament bulbs is a bad idea. The units, which are for the dipped beam, aren't designed for HIDs and you'll get a lot of stray light going where you don't want it and dazzling oncoming drivers (HIDs are the dip beams remember) and you risk an MOT failure. The main beams are filament bulbs on all the 350s and 358s.

Next to last, as I understand it you must have headlamp washers if you have HID lamps, and you'd fail the MOT if you didn't have them (and you did have HIDs).

First part, sorry no idea, I've never had (yet) to go digging in those parts.

 

You are correct that the washer motor is part of the washer tank. You should find it behind the off-side inner wheel arch liner. The tank has two pumps on it, one for the windscreen, and one for the headlamp washers if fitted

 

I have had the pump stop working and it was blocked with crud.

I cleaned it out and the pump worked.

NB The pump is at the bottom of the tank and you can just pull it

out of it's rubber bush but you will then drain the tank.

 

Perfect, thank-you. So glad it's not a bumper removal like some vehicles.

 

I would be pleased if only crap and crud had stopped the motor from working.
I have no idea for how long as this is one thing I never seemed to have checked when I got the car.
So it is between last MOT and now from when it could have stopped.

 

Thanks Patrick the Cat.
I will clear up some wrong points you have picked up about the UK MOT and laws relating to it for everyone's benefit.


VOSA vehicle Testing law UK - Extract
HLW's - If fitted must be working. (If vehicle has not been fitted previously, then not compulsory or part of UK MOT).

self-Levelling - Not tested if not fitted in the UK so not part of an MOT. (So irrelevant)


This means by UK law I do not have to fit washers or self-levellers to the lamps of my car to pass an MOT if I fit HID's.
As long as the beams do not blind or point upwards, remember HID bulbs are made for reflector lamps as well as projector lamps.
The headlamps only have to pass the beam tester in an MOT station, no law states what make or kind of bulb has to be fitted as long as they do not fail the beam test. Bulb wattage is part of the law but not a point in question on what I am stating here.


I have never had a single reflector headlamp I converted over the years fail a single MOT as I have used the correct bulb types for the correct type of lamps. I also have adjusted the lamps drastically for the new type of beams and if people don't know how to do this then leave well alone.
If you have no shield over the actual tip of the HID in reflector lamps then you have to fit one, this is where people mess up and this causes the beam to hit the oncoming driver. This is how simple it is to avoid blinding others and yet the internet does not seem to know this?
Projector lamps are better for HID's and if you can, source these for cars or bikes.
I have 4 MOT'ed vehicles here, 3 motorcycles and one commercial vehicle, all converted to HID's by myself over the years before and after my accident and passed every MOT yearly since fitted, and MOT stations know they are HID's fitted by myself because I like to tell them and see if they try to say anything.
The jaguar XJ as I have since discovered has HID's already fitted to some models so I will try to find a set of HID projector lamps for my car, but if not then I will use the original lamps and fit the HID kits which are legal in the UK for reflector lamps. I can then spend months in summer looking for projector lamps for the XJ X350


Dealers will try to tell you they will fail you if you fit HID's to non HID intended lamps but seriously tell them to get stuffed as they are wrong and trying to play god over you.


If you know of someone who you think has been refused an MOT on these two points then simply phone VOSA and tell them an MOT station is reading the law WRONG.
This is not the first time in a forum I have heard this about HIDs and washers. The internet can be a great source of disinformation that spreads rapidly.


I remember something when Ireland started this debate just before my motorcycle accident in 2012 when there DVA misinterpreted the written VOSA law and refused to change it or acknowledge they got it wrong.


Extract from VOSA over the mistake.


the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to garages in England, Scotland and Wales. VOSA states: “A car with HID lights MAY also have headlight washers and self levelling which must be checked and in working order if fitted.” The Northern Ireland’s Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) states: “A car with HID lights MUST have headlight washers and self levelling...”


Unless the law has been changed in the last couple of years yet again, I will follow what VOSA states and not someone at an MOT station who thinks they know the wording and law better than the actual makers.


I have NEVER been flashed, simply because I know how to set-up headlight beams, yet, as is evident on the internet, very few people are capable or even know how to do this simple thing so they go straight out on the road and blind people.


this post was not a question on anything to do with MOT's and HID's but I have stated proven and factual statements so this is all I will say on this matter and will not be dragged into a pointless debate over UK law.


The Jaguar car is new to me, not the law or ins and outs of what people think or assume.

 

Thanks for your most detailed reply.

Shame you couldn't get my name right.

 

Sorry Partick, just noticed this after you pointed it out.
See how easy it is to get something wrong.