Recently, both the drivers-side and passenger-side
windshield (windscreen) demister grills in my �01 XK8 (65K
miles) developed very annoying buzzy rattles. I could reach
up and stop a rattle, but it would soon return when driving
over rough patches in the road. I was fairly certain that
the rattles resulted from the demister grills vibrating
against the windshield. Sanford Lindstrom solved a similar
problem by inserting a rubber gasket between the windshield
and grills.
In short, the glue that holds the metals tabs securing the
front edge of the grills had failed. With a simple
application of epoxy, I was able to return the metal tabs to
their proper position, which brought the grills back down
against the dash and away from the windshield. The result:
no rattles and no evidence of a repair. Cost: ~$0.25 of
epoxy and a couple of hours of my time.–
Dan Jensen 84 XJS 95 XJ6 01 XK8
La Jolla, California, United States
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Great write up and nice photos showing all the steps. The vents in my car
have not started to rattle, but it is good to know the fix. Thanks.
Mike Meyer
2001 XK8 Coupe
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In reply to a message from Mike Meyer sent Thu 31 Jan 2008:
Hi Dan,
Great! My 97XK8 has these things bowing on the edges and driving me
nuts as they scrape on the windshield.
Once the metal supports are in the proper position, was it harder
to get the plastic demister vents back on? I’ll have to try this
in a very patient frame of mind. I was getting tempted to try
the rubber idea but this looks like something to try first.
I recall somebody on the forum stating a dealer had changed them
and they failed a little bit later. I wonder if the dealer had re-
glued in metal holders or simply stuck in new vents? The dealer
probably should have sent it to a body shop.
Thanks for the great write up and pictures.
You are the man!
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In reply to a message from Luxury sent Sat 2 Feb 2008:
David:
The amount of effort was pretty much the same before and
after the repair. The key is to be patient, use a tool that
will not scratch the windshield if it slips off the plastic
tabs, and wear a pair of leather gloves to protect your
knuckles.
Note that I received feedback directly from a Jag-lover who
had performed the same type of repair and found that it
lasted only ~6 months. My sense when performing the repair
was that it was important to ensure that the two surfaces
were in very close contact after the epoxy was applied.
which led me to using the rags stuffed very tightly against
the windshield and support structure. I suspect that summer
temperatures will be the true test of whether the epoxy
holds or not. If not, I will probably go with a combination
epoxy and tie-wrap route. I will keep the forum posted if
the repair starts to go south at some point.–
The original message included these comments:
Great! My 97XK8 has these things bowing on the edges and driving me
nuts as they scrape on the windshield.
Once the metal supports are in the proper position, was it harder
to get the plastic demister vents back on? I’ll have to try this
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In reply to a message from Dan Jensen sent Tue 5 Feb 2008:
Hi Dan,
Great! Thanks for the info. and keeping us updated.
I’ll slowly start poking around on these vents.
Sincerely,
David–
Luxury1997XK8
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In reply to a message from Dan Jensen sent Thu 31 Jan 2008:
Dan -
Thank you for posting this fix-it for the vent rattles in the XK8
dash. I tried it and the process works. It does take some
patience, but I have no rattles anymore. Success!
For future reference, I found the following helps the process:
spray silicone spray onto the plastic scraper and edges of the
plastic vent and wipe off the excess (this makes the parts move
more easily), 2) use masking tape on the the top of the vents to
indicate where the metal tabs should be going into the vent (this
helps because it is somewhat difficult to see how to position the
vent back into place), and 3) lastly, use the most powerful epoxy
available (because otherwise the glued areas can come apart).
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I used rubber door stop wedges pressing down from windshield unto the surface that was glued creating excellent “sandwich” type pressure. Also I used “Krytox” gel lubricant on the metal and plastic clips. It is Jaguar approved and creates a lasting anti-squeak bond to those surfaces. Thank you D for your excellent photos.