First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jeff and I live in Lafayette, LA. I recently bought my first Jaguar which was delivered to me today. It is a 1995 xjs convertible. It was dark when delivered so I really haven't had much of a chance to look at it but from what I can see it is every bit as beautiful as I thought it would be.

Let me say off the bat that I did not do a pre purchase inspection and bought this vehicle sight unseen. However, it is not going to be my daily driver so I can deal with issues as they appear. Obviously, from my thread title, I have already discovered issues. I am pretty good mechanically and I've owned several vintage cars but never a Jaguar. So my knowledge specific to this car is minimal.

1. Driver's side Power seat controls, heat, memory, and lumbar do not work. Fuses are all good. Where do I look next?

2. Radio will not power on at all. Again, fuse is good

3. Power side mirrors will not function. Fuse good.

4. Interior lights will not turn off. I hear a clicking under the dash as if they are trying to turn off but the only way to shut them down is to pull the fuse. This didn't start until I went searching for the fuse box under the dash.

5. When I lock one door from the outside of the vehicle, is the other door supposed to lock as well?

Any help or pointers would be helpful. Are electrical bugs common on these vehicles? Thanks.

 

Hi Jeff and welcome to the forum.
Electrical problems on the XJS are not only common they are compulsory.
A hell of a lot of problems can be sorted by tracing wires and cleaning any and all connectors that you come across.
The fuses may appear ok but could still be shot. Also, pull the fuses and give the fuse holders a good clean (disconnect the battery before doing this), an electric toothbrush is a good way of getting in there and make sure that the spring clips are sufficiently tight to hold the fuses properly; that is a problem that I have on mine
Non-working seat is probably the harness connector under the seat.
The mirrors could be caused by furring up of the contacts in the left/right selector switch; I carefully stripped mine down and cleaned everything and they worked fine after.
Interior lights staying on could be a sticky switch in the door pillar.
Both doors and the boot (trunk) lock should work at the same time; I'm not sure if your car has a valet switch though.
Good luck!

 

Welcome !
just so you don't get confused, your '95 has the mirror control on the dash, and usual fix of cleaning the control will probably not help (tho' it can't hurt). Your seat, heater and mirror controls are all routed through a logic, which is under the removable panel in front of the seat. Check the connections at the seat logic. They have a habit of going bad, as they are prone to water ingress, if you have a leak somewhere. Mine had a swimming pool in the front footwells when it rained. In my case only my mirrors didn't work, and it took a new module (logic) to fix them. In your case, if nothing works, then try cleaning all of the connectors to the logic, and at the switchpack on the door. Also make sure the ground lead from the seat harness is attached.
Hope this helps

 

Thanks.

I hope that faulty connections or dirty terminals are my only issue here. I will clean everything up as soon as I can get at it.

magredvet - Just so I'm on the same page as you, when you say a "logic" is that the same thing as a module.

Steve M - Thanks. I will check the door light switches first.

Any idea what that clicking sound could be. It is definitely coming from under the dash on the driver's side. It sounds as if it is a automatic switch attempting to perform its function but not accomplishing it. It just clicks a few times, waits a few seconds, starts clicking again, and so on. Whatever it is, it doesn't give up on what it's trying to do and I'm worried the switch is going to burn up. If it's any help, the clicking stops when I remove the interior light fuse. But, if it's the interior light switch trying to work then why wont the lights go off?

Also with regards to the radio, I've read on here that there is an additional fuse located behind the radio head unit itself. Any thoughts on that?

 

[QUOTE=Docmace;617246]Thanks.


magredvet - Just so I'm on the same page as you, when you say a "logic" is that the same thing as a module.
Yes, it's called the memory seat module, and most ones I saw, were $250 +
A bit expensive, 'just to try'. I waited, and finally snared one on e-bay for $115. At least one other member one here (Scrible I think) is having issues with his mirrors, but yours is the first I have heard of where nothing works.
Hope it turns out to be just connection problems

 

You will want to start with buying the service information DVD for your car. Visit Jaguar Heritage and get that ordered right away. Then visit the "other" forum and join there there. Then you can download "The Book" by Kirby Palm. Full of great info not found in service manuals. After you have digested all this info then you are ready to start diving into your new project.

Congrats!

 

Thanks for the responses. My seat controls are fixed. I lucked out and it was a faulty connection at the module.

I still can't figure out the interior lights. They just won't turn off. I played with the push switch at both doors and everything looks ok.

Also, the radio is still dead.

Is the disc from Jag Heritage the same as what is sold on eBay?

The best news is I got to drive it for the first time. Wow. I have a 2009 Cadillac CTS and I swear the ride on this 17 year old Jag is better. I am very impressed.

 

Can anyone tell me where the "brain" that tells the interior lights to turn off is located? I disconnected both door switches and then put the fuse back in. Then I reconnected the door switches with both doors closed and the lights stay off. As soon as I open the door they come non like they should but they will not turn off. Happens with both doors. So, my thought is that it has to be controlled by the same faulty "brain". Am I correct?

What else besides the doors will trigger the interior lights. Trunk lid? Hood?

 

Possibly. There have been a couple of part number changes to the discs over the years. I have a couple different part numbers. From what I have seen is the scanning is better on the new ones and the software to load the files works much better.

Ebay ones might be pirated copies. Any of the Jaguar parts suppliers sell the discs too.