I just had my sparks plugs changed about 2 weeks ago and the car has been fine. The a/c started giving me problems months back but I haven't actually needed it until this week when we hit the 90's. Monday morning a/c worked fine. Took a couple of small trips here and there and it was fine. Finally 6pm came and on my drive home a/c doesn't work again, all it would do is blow hot air. Tuesday tried again and no a/c again. Keep in mind that the car is driving fine, nice and smooth. Yesterday afternoon I got the bright idea to look
Under the hood and make sure there was nothing disconnected or broken. I opened the hood and had a look around and spotted the fuse box
On the left side. I popped the baby open and pressed in all the fuses to make sure they weren't loose. I then examined all the wires that are visible but everything looked fine. Defeated I gave up my Girly mechanic skills and closed the hood and didn't move or start my car anymore. This morning I went out to start it and let it warm up and it is running horribly! The engine was actually shaking and would rock my car. I don't see anything flashing but the engine light is on. Upon takeoff and when trying to accelerate it seems sluggish. I took it to auto zone and had them check it and the guy told me its saying multiple misfire in all 8 banks??? I explained to him exactly what happened and he said it might be an electrical issue. She is parked right now and I don't know where to begin. Is it possible i may have blown a fuse and that's why the car is running like that? My regular mechanic was awesome at this and moved away and my husband doesn't know anything with these cars. Help!!

 

A weak battery is the likely culprit for all coils misfiring. Charge the battery and try again. Check the that the battery terminals are snug. Have the battery tested. How old is the battery? More than 5 years?

 

Actually my battery is only about 6 months old. I will definitely check the connections though. It would be great if it was something that easy but
Knowing this car and all the trials I've been through in the year I've owned it it will end up bring something major . Thanks for the advice though.

 

It is possible you dislodged something with your girly mechanical skills :-)

Have another look and a poke at the fuses again to make sure everything is secure

 

"Girls" mechanical skills" LOL. Sorry dudes.

 

Lol, so I really do know better but couldn't keep my hands to myself. I am certainly paying for it now. My poor car has very low
Idle to where it seems like its gonna die and barely any pickup on takeoff. Crazy rocking when you first start it and randomly when driving. Used to have a mustang gt and it feels very much like a coil pack out. Hopefully I can find someone to take a look at it for me this weekend. Very frustrating to be the the nicest looking car at a stoplight and be sputtering and rocking back and forth! Lol I'm sure it's quite the sight.
I took another peek under the hood but everything looks fine, don't want to do any further
Damage so I kept my hands in my pockets. Checked the battery connections also and all seemed nice and snug. Am at my wits end with this car but I don't know if I can really let
It go...

 

Get the codes read again and write them down. Go back to whomever changed your spark plugs and blame it all on them.

 

you shouldn't drive it like this as the unburnt fuel entering the exhaust will damage the cats

 

Check the connectors to all the fuel injectors. Make sure those electrical connections are tight. Check the connections to each coil as well.

If all is good - +2 on a weak or failing battery.

 

Just taking a different approach, if the parts store guy didn't tell you it was a misfire on all 8 cylinders (how does that happen?) what do you think would cause this shaking?
I would guess an air leak. Maybe something got bumped off while you were checking the engine.
Additionally, insufficient or intermittent fuel pressure might cause the shaking.
If the wrong spark plugs were installed, I would think the misfire would either occur immediately or plugs would fail one at a time over a few months. Not all simultaneously.
Lets assume that there really is a misfire for every plug. What one thing could make that happen? Hmm, how about the ground for the engine? The ground for the coils, or the ground for the ignitor (if one is used). Similarly, if there is a common 12VDC used to drive the coils, or the ignitor, maybe that fuse got dislodged when it was properly seated. Meaning dirty or corroded lugs or contacts.
The battery is the Achilles Heel of all Jaaags. Start there and see what else you can find wrong. Check the engine again and see if any hose or connector is loose or disconnected. Get codes read and let us know what they are.
Good Luck

 

Thanks for the responses guys. Well my baby was parked for a week and I finally got it to a shop for a full diagnostic. This shop comes very highly recommended so I was hoping to hear something fast. They ended up taking 3 days to "diagnose" my car but I'm kind of wary of what they had to say. They say there's a small leak in my radiator that is causing combustion issues in the coolant area or something along those lines. They also said that with this leak they're are thinking the car overheated at some point and they think it is a blown head gasket. This is where I am like WTF! He says the blown gasket is what is causing the engine to run so ugly. Does this sound right??? They also said they do not have the tools needed to be able to fix this so I would have to take it to a Jaguar specialist. This is definitely not something I expected to hear so I'm kind of freaking out. I bring my car home tomorrow and now have to figure out if I just give up and sell it, take it straight to Jag or try and find someone who knows what they are doing at a reasonable price. Grrrrrr :/.

 

are you loosing any coolant at all ? do you keep topping it up ?

i would take it to another shop, the fact they said they do not have the tools to do it would ring alarm bells with me, (as far as i know no specialist tools are needed, apart from a torque wrench, which every shop has, and most home mechanics) more like they don't know how to do it, and therefore can not be trusted to diagnose correctly.

 

Sounds like a bunch of horse-stuff to me.

Pull the oil dipstick and look for a tan to light-brown mayonnaise type substance on the dipstick. Remove the oil filler cap and look for the same on the back side of the cap and inside where you removed the cap from.
A blown head-gasket will typically leave this tell-tale sign.
The mayonnaise type substance is an emulsification of oil and antifreeze, which happens when a head gasket blows. The two liquids now have the possibility of mixing.
Another check is either a compression test or leak-down test.
Since you have a V8, the possibility of blowing a head gasket on both banks simultaneously is very slim.

Have you gotten a code reader yet? Please get the codes read off of your car, this is a crucial step to help solve your problem.

Please remember that your engine ran fine. Then you checked electrical connections because of the air conditioner. Then the car ran horrible. Wouldn't it be reasonable to believe that your car is experiencing an electrical problem? Or something that got bumped off while you were checking the electrical connections? Please re-read my previous post.

And a leak in a radiator will not put coolant into a combustion chamber, nor will it cause combustion in the cooling system.

 

It's quick and fast to check the coolant for combustion gases. If your shop did not do that test it raises a red flag.

Before going any further call around until you find someone who can do this test. Jaguars are not known for head gasket problems and they are usually a result of severe overheating that warps the Aluminum heads.

If you have a bad head gasket I would think pretty hard about getting rid of the car.

I bet you have no head gasket problems but you most likely might have a pin hole leak in the cooling system. Much more common and a whole bunch cheaper to fix!!
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Ok....so I picked up my car from the shop today. They gave me a paper that said: SCAN ENGINE COMPUTER, 13 CODES STORED, TEST COMPONANTS, RADIATOR LEAKING & COMBUSTION IN COOLING SYSTEM-PROBABLE BLOWN HEAD GASKETS. RECOMMEND TAKKNG TO JAGUAR SPECIALIST." And then pretty much shooed my husband out the door. The really weird thing is now my car is running like a champ! I drove it home and just to be sure, drove it around the neighborhood and its running smoothly, no shaking, no missing, NOTHING! I just went out and checked for the mayonnaise stuff and no sign of it. I did leave my car parked and am planning on taking it back to the auto parts store tomorrow. This time I will get a print out if the codes and post them up tomorrow. I also ordered a new radiator today and should be getting it within the week. Just thought I'd update y'all. I'm thinking something electrical is the culprit. Maybe they wriggled something in right while they were doing the check? Just my thoughts....

 

why are you replacing the radiator, are you loosing coolant ?

 

Actually I am. I didn't realize it was actually the radiator until this shop pointed it out. The cars coolant cap doesn't seem to screw on just right and I figured it was that. It started losing water very very slowly. I never let it run low though and would check it weekly just to be sure. I am 100% positive it never even got close to overheating. After having a mustang overheat on me I will never let that happen again. Lol

 

Do you actually see the leak coming from the radiator? I know these radiators, when they do leak - the source is usually the side tank that connects to the main part of the radiator.

Also, be sure and check the expansion tank for hairline cracks that would expand while hot and cause coolant loss - especially around where the hoses connect to the tank.

Good Luck

 

Glad your car is running better now.
Regarding replacing the radiator, if it is leaking at the cap, wouldn't replacing the cap be a cheap gamble to determine if the radiator is actually at fault?

 

It is actually the radiator leaking. It's on the left side of the coolant reservoir right at the top but if you look down in there you can see a hairline leak where the water is going down. I didn't have a chance to take it out, still a little wary because I was told that it may actually be a blown gasket. According to a friend, if you let your car sit it gives the engine time to dry out and it will run fine until water seeps back into the spark plugs and I could really kill the engine if I run it. Opinions anyone?