X150 XKR, water in footwell

X150 XKR, water in footwell

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Discussion

8bit

Original Poster:

5,219 posts

170 months

Tuesday 8th September 2020
quotequote all
So I was all smug thinking my 5.0 XKR would never suffer the well-known "duck-bill" issue (named after the A/C condensate drain pipe which used to be shaped like a duck's bill and water leaks back into the passenger footwell) since the issue was supposed to be fixed around the time the 5.0 cars were introduced. Not so, I've got that very problem. No access to get at it from the engine bay on the 5 litre cars as the pipe is obscured by some sound padding so looks like it's a dash-out job to fix.

Who's had this, where did you get it sorted and how much did you pay?

deadslow

8,549 posts

238 months

Wednesday 9th September 2020
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I had this in my 4.2 XKR. Dash had to come out. Part cost £5.38. Labour ran to 16 hours. Done at local (Glasgow) indie. Ouch! (though only problem in 4 years)

8bit

Original Poster:

5,219 posts

170 months

Wednesday 9th September 2020
quotequote all
Yikes, 16 hours... Who was the indie? I don't have one anywhere near me (Aberdeen) but Glasgow would be doable, if they've learned to do it any quicker...

deadslow

8,549 posts

238 months

Wednesday 9th September 2020
quotequote all
https://en-gb.facebook.com/prestigejaguar/ based in Paisley.

yeah, it was very disappointing, but the dash had to come out. They made a very clean job of it.

They are absolutely top guys and generally very fair on costs, so worth a call.

I am sure they will remember doing mine (Larry, black XKR).

eta: speak to Douglas

Edited by deadslow on Wednesday 9th September 14:49

hashluck

1,622 posts

290 months

Wednesday 9th September 2020
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Search or ask here, I think someone found an easier way of fixing now

https://www.jaguarforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=53


8bit

Original Poster:

5,219 posts

170 months

Monday 14th September 2020
quotequote all
Thanks both, much appreciated.

@hashluck, I'm an active member on there and I have a thread on this very subject, mainly as my car is new enough to already have the updated part from the factory. Unfortunately access using the method described in the few threads on there is not possible as the 5.0 cars have another part obscuring access to the A/C drain.

FezSpider

1,078 posts

247 months

Sunday 11th October 2020
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To give my self more room to get at the "duck bill". In a nut shell, i jacked the car up, placed a piece of wood across the sump with a jack under it. Un did the two engine mounts , jacked the engune up enough to remove mounts. Then lowered the engine down enough to get my hand into the space to remove the tube.
Glad I did it, I was sick of the wet floor rolleyes

SP1985

1 posts

36 months

Wednesday 13th July 2022
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Hi all,

I have just discovered this problem on my 07 4.2 XKR, lots of water coming into the passenger footwell.

The link to the east fix didn't seem to work as above. Could someone please repost it?

I have literally just had the valley pipes done so would be great if there was a fix for this that didn't cost a fortune!

Cheers.

8bit

Original Poster:

5,219 posts

170 months

Wednesday 13th July 2022
quotequote all
As you have a 4.2 you may be able to fix this by cutting the end of the duckbill pipe, or opening it with a finger. This thread should give you some pointers - https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk-xkr-x150-33/...

remedy

1,915 posts

206 months

Wednesday 13th July 2022
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I had it last weekend on a trip down south. The wife said her foot was getting dripped on.

What (thankfully) worked for me, and I see many others on the Jag forums:

Close all vents
Go to the climate screen and select face vents only
Aircon on
Turn knob for fans to full blast
Keep on for about 30 secs. Can try pulsing on and off if you like after that 30 secs.

The logic is the vent pipe gets pressurised and the air takes the easiest route out which is the duck bill and blows it open.
Apparently you see the contents of the blowers empty out under the car.

Let me know if it works. Good luck.

8bit

Original Poster:

5,219 posts

170 months

Wednesday 13th July 2022
quotequote all
The problem is caused by the pipe losing the ability to flow condensate water out, either at all or at least fast enough to prevent it backing up and running down into the footwell. This is either due to some blockage in it (unlikely) or because the rubber pipe hardening as it ages. When the latter begins to happen and you first start to notice water in the footwell then blasting it open by that method may clear the backlog but it will start to build up again with the A/C on in normal use. I would consider that only a very temporary fix at best.

Later cars got a redesigned condensate drain pipe which is far less prone to becoming stuck.

GeniusOfLove

3,554 posts

27 months

Friday 27th June
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8bit said:
The problem is caused by the pipe losing the ability to flow condensate water out, either at all or at least fast enough to prevent it backing up and running down into the footwell. This is either due to some blockage in it (unlikely) or because the rubber pipe hardening as it ages. When the latter begins to happen and you first start to notice water in the footwell then blasting it open by that method may clear the backlog but it will start to build up again with the A/C on in normal use. I would consider that only a very temporary fix at best.

Later cars got a redesigned condensate drain pipe which is far less prone to becoming stuck.
TIME WARP!

My 2010 XKR, which has the newer style duckbill, just dumped a load of water on my passengers feet.

How did you fix this in the end? It appears that with some craftyness you can get a bent bit of metal with a blade on it into the hole and give it a wiggle about, or in the case of the new part maybe just getting a finger on it and giving it a poke might get it working?

8bit

Original Poster:

5,219 posts

170 months

Friday 27th June
quotequote all
GeniusOfLove said:
TIME WARP!

My 2010 XKR, which has the newer style duckbill, just dumped a load of water on my passengers feet.

How did you fix this in the end? It appears that with some craftyness you can get a bent bit of metal with a blade on it into the hole and give it a wiggle about, or in the case of the new part maybe just getting a finger on it and giving it a poke might get it working?
So it is a common misconception that all cars after a certain VIN have the newer/"fixed" duckbill, my car shouldn't have been affected by the issue but it was. I suspect Jaguar just used up stocks of the old part after the new one was introduced. I ended up taking mine to a specialist who did it the "proper" way and removed the dash. I tried to get into it with scalpels but to no avail, on the 5.0 cars there's another layer of fire retardant matting which makes access even more difficult than on the 4.2s.

awooga

429 posts

149 months

Saturday
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My 2009 did the same thing last year and I'd been equally smug about checking this several times before I bought the car.

There's a local Jag specialist near me that I use - he said that you cannot access the duckbill properly on a 5 litre without taking the dash out. So £1100 bill for a £10 part.

The good news is that the dashboard had started to creak a bit and the steering column adjust didn't work properly before the work and now it does, so silver linings and all that!

8bit

Original Poster:

5,219 posts

170 months

Saturday
quotequote all
awooga said:
So £1100 bill for a £10 part.
That was pretty much exactly what my bill was as well. I used Prestige Jaguar in Glasgow, my "local" Jag specialist, albeit still almost 3 hours' drive away smile

GeniusOfLove

3,554 posts

27 months

Saturday
quotequote all
Great news then. I'll have a feel to see if I can make get through the extra material over the drain hole before I give up and do it properly.

The "vent trick" appears to have cleared it for now but I suspect this will need fixing properly.

8bit

Original Poster:

5,219 posts

170 months

Saturday
quotequote all
GeniusOfLove said:
Great news then. I'll have a feel to see if I can make get through the extra material over the drain hole before I give up and do it properly.

The "vent trick" appears to have cleared it for now but I suspect this will need fixing properly.
Yeah, sorry I couldn't give you any more hope than that smile I tried the vent trick but it didn't make any odds in my case. If I'd been able to get both doors open wide with the car in my garage I'd have had a crack at taking the dash out myself but it's not wide enough for that. I consoled myself with the fact that it was pretty much the only thing I'd had to get a garage to do other than servicing as I'd done everything else myself.

I'm in a sort of similar position with my C63 right now, there's a creaking that comes from the nearside rear area of the pano roof whilst driving, some research suggests it's the bolts which hold the pano roof assembly into the car which are prone to backing out a little bit. Gaining access to these is not exactly the work of a moment...