2000 xj8 I have an air bag light coming on after a couple of miles which stays on .have checked the wiring under seat all looks good all connections no frayed wires .I have switched the seat from my other xj8 no light with that seat. tried swapping it back to original light comes back on at a loss at what to do next. do air bags go bad ??? thanks jrb53

 

The seat backrest can be easily disassembled, and the air bag replaced, even when the seat still bolted into the car. Once you remove the back side panel (screws down at the bottom) you can then loosen and remove the front side upholstery and padding, which then reveals the air bag there on the outboard side of the backrest frame. Get another air bag from a user here who is parting out a car with bad seats and you should be good. The only thing I can't recall for sure is whether the air bag was riveted or bolted to the seat frame. If riveted, it can be removed and the new one bolted back in ..


I only know this all because I replaced the entire driver seat backrest upholstery on my 99 VDP (bolster was worn down to the metal when I got the car) and I was amazed how easy it was.

I hope that helps

Andrew
Jaguar Specialties

 

Another unlikely possibility would be that the seat module itself has some issue. You could try swapping the modules between your non-working seat and the known good seat, and see if it fixes the light. Don't even need to bolt it back in, just plug it in and power the car on. I'd expect it to be the airbag itself though..

Andrew, any tips for R/I upholstery? Special tools? I need to replace my back heater, or at least pull it out to test it. Should I get a hog ring kit with pliers, or anything else?

 

When the air bag light comes on it should flash for a few seconds before setting the light permanently. It is important to observe the flashes. They indicate a code number and you can narrow down the cause of your problem.
The light should flash a number of times, stop for 3 seconds and flash again a number of times. It takes a few tries to catch the flashes.
Try to see if you van observe the flashing.
Also, the air bag system using a sensor in the seat to show that the seat is occupied. Additionally, there is a sensor in the overhead console that senses seat occupied. There is also an input in the seat belt mechanism.
Try first capturing the code numbers from the flashing and let us know. I have a chart somewhere for air bag flash codes.

 

Honestly, I actually re-used the original couple of hog rings (there were maybe 4)vthat held the front side of the backrest to the frame. Tools needed were a phillips screwdriver and needle nose pliers- that was it. The whole process was maybe 20 min. Amazing....

One other note- on the XJ8 seats, the backrests are the same left/right, so the upholstery and foam interchanges left/right) And since only the driver side outer bolster gets that terrible wear from going in and out of the car, you can replace the driver side with a passenger side (and all you need is the upholstery and padding, not the frame itself). And the big bonus is the passenger seat probably has firmer foam inside from less use, so it feels better as well ......

Andrew
Jaguar Specialties