[lee789]

Hi. Checked my washer reservoir yesterday and it took several pints to fill it to the top of the bottle. Today I noticed two small puddles under the car - one directly under the number plate, the other underneath the off side headlamp washer. I refilled it and it took about four or five pints again. I checked, and the water started dripping out as soon as I had topped it up. I've only had the car a couple of months and never bothered checking the level as I know there is a message centre warning if it drops below a certain level. I know the dealer resprayed some front end stone chip damage before the car was delivered, so maybe they didn't refit the hoses properly afterwards, or perhaps one of the headlamp
washers is leaking. It's odd that it didn't display the low fluid warning long before now, unless it stops leaking when the fluid reaches a certain level. I assume this will be covered by the warranty, but I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who has had the same problem, or has heard of it happening before. Many thanks!

 

[lee789]

Now got the car booked in to repair the leak, and also check the condensation problem in the rear lights. I've got two Jaguar dealers fairly close by- one can't do the work until Tuesday 12th June, and the other Tuesday 19th June. Pretty poor service that, so either they are short staffed, or inundated with bookings. Either way, I don't think 2-3 weeks is acceptable, and thank goodness the car is still on the road. If I was having to wait that long and the car was off the road, I'd be more than a little peed off.

 

[bigmart57]

i dont think its so bad for a 'non-urgent' repair. seems in line with my experience when getting work done with ford, bmw, volvo.
tbh i would rather they gave priority to people who were 'off the road' with major issues - as one day it could be me!

obviously if i waited 3 weeks and they didnt fix it and i had to wait another 3 weeks then thats another thing.....

 

[lee789]

I would agree with you. However, they gave me the dates before I had even told them what the problems were. I spoke to a friend of mine who works at the dealership on the Ford side (it's a multi brand dealer), and he told me that XFs and XJs are constantly coming in with silly little faults like these, although most appear to be electrical issues. He said I'd be well advised to sell before the 3 year warranty expires, unless I have a second car to depend on!! I hope he's wrong.....

 

[bigmart57]

gulp...that doesnt sound so clever!
I hope your mate is a pessimist!

 

[lee789]

He drives around in a 15 year old Fiesta, so, hopefully just jealous. I'm going to go for the extended warranty at the end of the 3 years. At £1800 for 2 years it's a bargain if something does go wrong. I know the touch screen is over £3k to replace with labour (had mine replaced before car was delivered as it wasn't operating all the functions). I don't take a lot of notice about the XJ complaints you find on the internet. Most of them come from US buyers who moan about everything. If you break down the JD Power Survey results on the XJ (which doesn't do very well incidentally), most of the complaints are downright stupid - i.e the cupholders aren't big enough for supersize drinks, or the massaging seats don't work very well. I doubt they would with 50 stone sitting on them!!

 

[lee789]

Update. Perhaps I should have tried this earlier, but I have just refilled the reservoir (it took 7 pints this time), then operated the washers and headlamp washers several times. After doing this the leak seems to have stopped. I'm going to watch what happens over the next couple days, and I am keeping the appointment with my local service dept open for a while just in case. Perhaps the headlamp washer valve had jammed slightly open, and using them sorted the problem out. Will let you know in case it happens to someone else.

 

[Top Cat]

I also my a leak from my 2003 XJ a year or so ago, heres how I solved it. Follow the small hose down to the bottom of the reservoir bottle, and you will see that the hose is connected to a plastic L connector which in turn clicks into the reservoir bottle. Remove the plastic L connector and connected the hose directly to the bottle. Problem solved.