Sorry again for asking something that might be answered above, but where exactly were you shooting the silicone lubricant?

Were you shooting it into the mechanism from the outside of the door, where the latch on the door engages with the piece in the door frame? You weren't shooting it into the keyhole, were you?

 

I open the door and spray the silicone lubricant into the door latch assembly using the small plug-in straw that comes with the spray can. I access the assembly through the various small crevices at the latch, and I make sure to vary the angle that I spray in an effort to give me a wider spray coverage area inside the door. I have done this at least three separate times since last August. I do NOT spray any silicone lubricant into the keyhole. I lubricated the keyhole in late September using my key covered with a small amount of powdered graphite. I have used powdered graphite to lubricate vehicle locks, ignition switches, and house locks for decades (always by covering the key with a small amount of powdered graphite and then inserting/removing the key multiple times)....

 

Update:

Looks like central North Carolina will get a stretch of decent weather next week so Wayne (cjd777) and I are planning to replace the microswitches in both door latch assemblies in my wife's 2006 XK8 next Tuesday morning, February 5th at Wayne's home shop. Anyone in the Spencer/Salisbury area is welcome to join us. We usually go grab a great lunch at one of the local BBQ joints after the work is done, so all the more reason to stop by if you are in the area....

Fingers crossed that the new microswitches will indeed fix the intermittent door latch issues that have been a minor nuisance since last July. Time will tell....

 

Update:

Wayne and I are definitely good to go for tomorrow morning at Wayne's home shop in Spencer. I plan to arrive around 8:00 am. If you are in the area, come join us for the job and then a great BBQ lunch afterwards....

 

Update:

Wayne (cjd777) and I finally got together and tackled the intermittent door handle / door lock issue on my wife's 2006 XK8 yesterday morning. I brought my two new Omron D2SW-3L3MS microswitches with me, along with a dozen or so various-sized but tiny machine screws to use to fasten the new microswitches into their associated brackets on the door latch assemblies (two screws per microswitch)....

The new drivers door latch microswitch was installed exactly as expected and functioned exactly as designed. However, the new passenger door latch microswitch fought us all afternoon long. While it passed all of the multimeter tests on the bench in all three door latch positions (door open, door ajar, and door closed), every time we installed the assembly in the car a problem would occur. First, it was the dashboard message "Passenger Door Open" with the associated red warning light. We would then remove the latch assembly, remove the new microswitch from its bracket on the assembly, bend the small metal arm in various directions and into slightly different shapes in an effort to obtain the perfect angle for the latch cam to be able to rotate it into the exact position required for proper switch activation, but after several tries we kept getting the "Passenger Door Open" dashboard message in place of the odometer reading. Finally, after a couple more removals and metal arm reshaping, the "Passenger Door Open" dashboard message disappeared and the odometer reading returned. We were quite relieved at this point and thought we had solved the issue. However, we discovered that now, when you pull the passenger door handle to open the door, the passenger window drops its customary half-inch but immediately raises to a fully-closed position again as soon as you release the passenger door handle. By this time we knew we would run out of daylight within the hour so we retreated to the comfort of Wayne's den, pulled up the forum on his laptop, and did some more reading from the many posts that pertain to this subject. "Gus" and "steveinfrance" both point out in posts from years ago that the microswitch's small metal arm shape and angle are so very critical to the proper and continued function of these door latch assemblies. That point should never be overlooked....

Wayne and I both agreed that it would probably be in our best interests for me to order another new microswitch before we proceed any further. Those small metal arms are so thin and fragile that in the six or so attempts we made to bend it into the necessary shape and position, we may have already overstressed its durability. So we packed up Wayne's tools and then headed over to one of the local BBQ joints for a well-deserved supper. I then drove the 120 miles back home with a much better understanding of just how difficult this job can be....

And before you ask, yes we reset / reprogrammed the window switches on both sides of the car after each of the six or so passenger door latch microswitch removals / reinstalls....

Maybe the second new microswitch will finally fix the issue now that we have so much experience doing this job. Or maybe I also have a door module issue as a couple of other owners reported several years ago. The looming question is: How do you figure it out? Any additional advice is much appreciated....

 

First off, we had a great time even though our best effort failed by a small margin.
After Jon and I read all the threads we could find, and I did test the old switches when we took them out. They worked fine, so my conclusion is the banging and clanging of the doors gets the switches out of adjustment over time because what I can see by the testing we did, it's just a small amount, 1/16 of a inch or less that gets it out of line with the latch cam.
So before you cut that switch out, clean a small amount of insulation off the wires and test for continuity, may just need bending, how much might be a 10 minute job or hours.
The passenger door doesn't have the pull down latch rod, so a little easier. Lubricate the push on spring plastic fitting. Major bitch.
We did find the passenger door latch comes out .of the top hole with the window all the way up real easy if you turn it around completely, not upside down, just around.
The drivers might also, but we had gone through that with little bad words.
Good luck and we will tell you if and when we find out what the heck you have to do.
Wayne

 

Update:

Wayne (cjd777) and I are planning to take another stab at fixing my wife's 2006 XK8's passenger door window issue this Thursday morning at Wayne's backyard shop in Spencer, NC. We will install another new door latch assembly microswitch and hope that effort will restore the proper drop-and-raise function on the passenger door window whenever that door is opened and then closed. If it does not, we will re-install the original factory microswitch (yes, I kept it) and see if that fixes the issue. If it still does not, we may be out of ideas at that point....

Anyone in the area is welcome to stop by and join us on Thursday morning. As usual, a delicious lunch will follow at one of the local BBQ joints....

 

Update:

Another great day at Wayne's (cjd777) home shop in Spencer yesterday and we think we have finally resolved the microswitch issue in the passenger door latch assembly of my wife's 2006 XK8. We initially tried to better adjust the arm angle in the Omron microswitch I purchased to exactly mimic the angle and shape of the original factory microswitch, and Wayne got it right on the money as far as my eyes could tell. But the system still did not like that microswitch and after reinstallation we had the same problem of the passenger window lowering the proper half-inch but immediately raising again whenever the door was opened. So we opted to reinstall the original factory passenger-side microswitch to see if that would make any difference. Once we did so, the problem was solved and the car finally exhibited normal window operation in both doors again. I believe the Omron microswitch we installed in the passenger door latch assembly was faulty even though it passed our continuity tests. Keep in mind that the exact same model number Omron microswitch we installed in the drivers door latch assembly two months ago worked perfectly on the first install and continues to do so....

One important note to keep in mind when you are doing these repairs is that installing a faulty microswitch on one side of the car can affect the behavior of the other side of the car. With the readjusted passenger door Omron microswitch in place yesterday not only would the passenger window not operate properly, neither would the drivers window (and yes, this was after following the proper window reset procedures on both sides multiple times). Once we reinstalled the original factory microswitch on the passenger side and reset both windows again, all functions returned to normal....

To sum up, the car now has a replacement Omron microswitch in the drivers door latch assembly and its original factory microswitch in the passenger door latch assembly. As of right now, both door locks and both windows are behaving properly. I still have one more brand-new Omron microswitch if we need it. If any of the door latch issues that have plagued this car since last summer show up again, I will note them in this thread....

After we finished with the XK8, we changed the passenger bank of spark plugs on Wayne's 2003 F-150 pickup (he had changed the drivers bank spark plugs the previous afternoon). Getting to the two rear coils and plugs was a major challenge but with the appropriate wobble extension tools and Wayne's uncanny ability to get his hands into tight and unseen places, we finished the job and then headed out for a delicious lunch at one of the local BBQ joints....

Many thanks again to Wayne for his expertise in getting to the tight spaces in the XK8 doors that I have no chance of getting my gorilla-sized hands into. There is no way I could do this repair without his kind assistance....

 

How many times did you have to remove the door card in this saga?

tick, tick.... let’s see if the one new driver’s switch and the old passenger switch hold up. In the future you may be hearing from the missus when she calls you to say she’s stuck in the car

 

A couple of interesting notes on this job. The test can be performed without putting the door card back on, just hang the wires on the door handle cable.
The biggest pain is having to replace battery connection and getting in to turn the key to operate the window as it has to be in certain positions to install and remove different parts. The lock itself can be removed easy by turning it around inside the door with the interior lock cable pointed to the rear of the car. I used a small 6 inch hand clamp to put the lock shaft back on the ball, used my thumb last time and knew that hurt and wasn't going to happen again.
The window needs to be down a couple of inches to remove the window channel and the same to re install. We did disconnect the battery to do any work in the door.
Take note of the route of the cable, wrong side of the window channel and the bottom of the window will catch it. Also pull the door lock rod to the outside door skin before installing the lock back on the door, it gets trapped on the inside if not.
I was surprised on the workings of the switch, when it;s up, power flows and down no power. So the cam is not designed to move the switch down to work, but down to not work. Don't know why, I would have thought different. The locking micro switch is in a different place all together, so everything in the door is connected to the processor in the door, and looks like we got lucky and it was the lock switch creating all the problems.
Thanks Jon for a good day, Jaguar fixed, truck fixed and worked on a TR4A until 8 last night, getting ready for restart on that after head job.

 

It is an understatement to say that Wayne likes to stay busy on vehicle projects. Yesterday he worked on my wife's XK8, his F-150, and a good friend's Triumph TR4A. And he manages to fit in several rounds of golf every week of the year....

 

DavidYau,

We probably hold the world record for XK8 door card removal now. We can do it in our sleep in about three minutes....

And if my wife gets stuck in the car again, pressing the unlock button on the key fob has always immediately restored the door handle to its proper function. Sure hope that will continue to be the case. If not, I will get an earful from her....