Jaguar XK 2006 User Manual

© D. Jensen

2006

Distribution: www.jag-lovers.com

The Fine Print: The following is a summary of my experience replacing the rear quarter window
regulator on my California-based ’01 XK8, VIN NA11439, with 54,750 miles. Some of the steps
described may not be applicable to your car due to its year of manufacture or other details. I have
worked on cars for many years so I have a reasonable understanding of their operation a nd
safety issues that must be addressed. I accept no responsibility or liability for potential
misstatements in this write-up or the manner in which the write-up is used. Please follow all
normal safety precautions when performing this work.

While raising the top on my ’01 XK8 convertible recently, I heard a loud “pop” from the
right-rear seat area and saw that the rear quarter window was no longer operating. I
could hear the drive motor cycle down and stop, and then cycle up and stop as I toggled
the “Roof” switch. I also heard the sound of a cable flopping around.

I reviewed the XK8/XKR Jag-lovers archives, but found no discussion of this type of
repair. I then reviewed the removal procedure described on the Jaguar JTIS CD. Under
“Rear Quarter Window Regulator Motor Vehicles with Convertible Top (86.25.11), the
second step is “Remove convertible top. Refer to 76.86.15.” YIKES! This seemed to
confirm my initial concerns that replacement would be hard, time consuming and
probably expensive. As it turned out, it is not necessary to remove the top, thus saving
many hours of labor. As I went about the replacement, I took photos and made notes, as
presented below, that supplemented the JTIS descriptions. These may be helpful to
anyone who has to perform this repair, or wants to realign their rear quarter windows,
since there are several steps called for in the instructions that are not necessary or are
not fully described. While this is probably not a common failure, the San Diego Jag
dealer had the regulator on the shelf so it must have happened a few times before to
XK8s in the area.

Special Tools
None, as long as you consider star (Torx) bit drivers normal tools. Every tool I needed

was in my DIY tool inventory.
Parts
While I probably could have repaired the regulator given enough time and a good

machine shop, I wanted to get the car back on the road as soon as possible. I also didn’t
want to repeat this repair if my fix failed at a later date. Thus I opted to buy the
replacement regulator for $294 (before tax) (see Fig. 1). This unit did not include new
glass or seals, which I didn’t need. Jaguar apparently no longer sells just the regulator
alone so the cost of a replacement unit with glass and seals can be expected to be
significantly more.

REAR WINDOW REGULATOR

REPLACEMENT OF

XK8 CONVERTIBLE

V. 1.0

September

2006

D. Jensen 1 9/06

Fig. 1 New window regulator
Disassembly
Since the Jag manual was a bit confusing in spots, I adopted my own sequence of steps

from the steps described in various sections. I have included references to the
applicable sections of the JTIS CD below. Note that even with the instructions below, it is
important to have the JTIS (or ALLDATA

®

) writeups before starting this work since they

provide details that I don’t repeat herein.

1. Lower the top and remove the rear quarter capping (see Fig. 2) (Sec. 76.40.33,

Steps 1 - 4). The capping on my car is different than that found on earlier XK8s that
do not have the integral passenger position sensor. First lift the seat-belt capping up
and off the “B” post seat-belt bracket and unbolt the bracket with a T-50 star driver
(see Fig. 3). Since the seat-belt bracket is held in place on the bolt by a rubber
o-ring, the bracket will remain on the loosened bolt. There is, however, a wave
washer that is not retained and will need to be set aside until reassembly. It is not
necessary to loosen the lower end of the seat belt because the rear quarter trim
panel does not need to be removed from the car.

D. Jensen 2 9/06

Seat belt

capping

Rear quarter

capping

Passenger

position sensor

Hold-down screws

and tonneau stub

Fig. 2 Rear quarter capping

T-50 bolt

Fig. 3 Seat belt bracket

2. Remove (a) the screw covered by the seat belt bracket, (b) the screw on the rear of

capping, and (c) the 9-mm tonneau-cover fastener. Lift the capping off and
disconnect the lead to the airbag passenger sensor, if your car has one. Note that
there was a tang on my capping that keeps its front edge in place (see Fig. 4). I
didn’t realize this when I removed the capping, but fortunately I didn’t break it off
during removal. It was a bit tricky to reinstall the capping later due to the need to
ensure the tang was positioned in its hole in the B post. Earlier XK8s have a screw
where the passenger position sensor is located and thus may not have the tang.

D. Jensen 3 9/06

Tang

Fig. 4 Underside of rear quarter capping showing tang

3. Remove the rear seat cushion (Sec. 76.70.37) and squab (seat back) (76.70.38).

These steps are straight forward, as described in the manual. The seat is held in
place by two 10-mm nuts with integral washers covered by plastic caps. The squab
is held in place by two screws (see Fig. 5).

Squab

screws

Seat cushion

hold-down

brackets

Fig. 5 Squab following removal of cushion

4. Remove the seat belt guide at the top of the squab (Fig. 6) and lift the squab up
and out (Fig. 7).

D. Jensen 4 9/06