Early yesterday morning I left Las Vegas, at the end of a rainstorm, to pick up our new, at least to us, 02 XK8. Trip was uneventful, except for a snow storm while heading towards Baker and another rainstorm on the 210 freeway in California.


Picked up my mechanic in Fullerton and headed to Santa Ana to get the car. Paperwork was in order, seller had been paid and off we go to my mechanics shop. Upon arrival we noted steam coming from under the hood. $132.00 for a new reservoir and all looks good. I noted a number of problems at this point but nothing that I couldn't sort out with the help of the experts on this forum.


I had planned to leave my CLK320 for some much needed service while I drove the Jag back to Las Vegas. Said my farewells and off I go on the 57 Freeway. Now on to the 60 Freeway and the "Gearbox Fault" signal shows up. Call Reuben and he says to bring her back. Could be something as simple as a filter change or low fluid. Filter is dated 2001 so its never been changed. We change the fluid, which is black, put in a new filter and button it up. Long story short, the transmission is shot and needs to be replaced. The cheapest rebuild turned out to be $3,600.00 so we're going with a used tranny with a 6 month warranty.


Now we have to put the CLK back together so that I can get back to Vegas. Two hours later and I'm off and running. Uneventful trip other than a rainstorm once again on the 210 Freeway.


Now for just a few of the problems noted:


1. Air-Bag warning light stays on.
2. Filled up the windshield washer bottle. Warning message remains.
3. Nav system says that there was an error loading the program.
4. Radio does not tune any stations, either AM or FM. Didn't have a CD to see if that works.
5. The "S" button on the shift console remains lighted. Can not turn it off.
6. The gas gauge shows the correct quantity of fuel and will suddenly go to "Empty" and the warning light will light. A few minutes later it will go back to the proper level.


I'm certain that more items will pop up when I pick up the car this weekend. If anyone has insight on the above noted problems, your suggestions will be deeply appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum and Good Luck with your new Jag.
First off you'd mentioned you checked the oil and changed it, you mean transmission oil? Not sure how you checked it without removing drain plug since there is no dip stick. Or did you mean Engine oil / filter?

Transmission could be a number of things (without need of a new one) you must read the codes from the ODBII port and always post them with your problem here, those are what drives the folks here on solutions. There are a number of issues with the transmission that can be repaired.

Airbag- you probably moved the seat to your size, this is a common problem with a connection under the seat, check plugs to ensure seating and / or use contact cleaner as well.

Windshield washer, check connection, I've never seen it and didn't know it posted that message.

Nav, on these cars it's practically useless, DVD driven (clean dvd heads) and slow as molasses, and the latest map release was 2004 no newer ones avail. you'll eventually want to update to something better .

Did the antenna go up?

S button, these too are know to go bad, easy to change about $50 for a new switch

Can't comment on gas gauge, some others will probably chime in.

 

First things first: How old is the battery? Spend an hour reading the threads in this section and you'll quickly learn that failing batteries in these cars cause all sorts of spurious warnings and issues. These cars draw massive amounts of electricity and if your battery is even slightly compromised, many components (including the transmission) simply refuse to operate properly....