I thought I bought a good car!!!!
#1
01-14-2009, 08:21 AM
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I thought I bought a good car!!!!
When I bought my 2004 XJ8 with 4.2 engine, I thought I am buying a car with history, an "old" model with no problems. A didn't choose the XJR because of more possibility of failures of compressor, higher performance, etc. Just the big 4.2 V8 that can not have any problems....
I drive the car since September.... I've been to service each month!! The computer has already shown me all possible warning messages. Most of the visits to the service were small problems of oil leaking or parkbreak failure. All of them was solved in 1-2 hours...
But now I have the AIR SUSPENSION problem, that they can not solve. In cold weather the car lowers itself as much as possible and nobody knows why... OK! As I am waiting for the service to find out something when my car yesterday said: "RESTRICTED PERFORMANCE"
I cannot rev it over 3,000rpm...
Holy ****! I cannot leave the garage in cold weather because of the Air Suspension, and evenif I leave it I cannot rev it over 3,000!!!
I am thinking of moving back to my old Volkswagen Passat TDI!!!!
I drive the car since September.... I've been to service each month!! The computer has already shown me all possible warning messages. Most of the visits to the service were small problems of oil leaking or parkbreak failure. All of them was solved in 1-2 hours...
But now I have the AIR SUSPENSION problem, that they can not solve. In cold weather the car lowers itself as much as possible and nobody knows why... OK! As I am waiting for the service to find out something when my car yesterday said: "RESTRICTED PERFORMANCE"
I cannot rev it over 3,000rpm...
Holy ****! I cannot leave the garage in cold weather because of the Air Suspension, and evenif I leave it I cannot rev it over 3,000!!!
I am thinking of moving back to my old Volkswagen Passat TDI!!!!
#2
01-14-2009, 09:22 AM
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Powell, Ohio U.S.A. 43065
Posts: 2,521
Likes: 0
Received 70 Likes
on
56 Posts
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
Sorry to read your story, most of us have days when we feel your pain and can't feel too proud about it.
I'm guessing that there are not many technicians in Hungary who are experienced with diagnosing and repairing 2004 XJ8 cars, perhaps I am assuming too much. I am an independant technician in the U.S., somy experience with earliermodels won't be of help to you. Efficient diagnosis comes from familiarity and knowledge of failure tendencies of specific models...most X350 cars in my area are still dealer-serviced. Often times owners in the U.S wish they had moreoptions at their disposal too.
Surely your car can be properly repaired, you may have to search in your surrounding area to find atechnician more capable. I think that holds true for many owners,no mattertheir home country.
If you can find an honest repairerthat will work on your behalf, perhaps sharing his test results and findings on the forum will get you some more answers. There are other techs here who have likely solved your problems before for other owners, and specific information shared about your car might enable them to provide more specific suggestions.
Jaguars are many things rolled into one nice package..."user-friendly", when it comes to problems with sophisticated systems, is not included. Best wishes.
I'm guessing that there are not many technicians in Hungary who are experienced with diagnosing and repairing 2004 XJ8 cars, perhaps I am assuming too much. I am an independant technician in the U.S., somy experience with earliermodels won't be of help to you. Efficient diagnosis comes from familiarity and knowledge of failure tendencies of specific models...most X350 cars in my area are still dealer-serviced. Often times owners in the U.S wish they had moreoptions at their disposal too.
Surely your car can be properly repaired, you may have to search in your surrounding area to find atechnician more capable. I think that holds true for many owners,no mattertheir home country.
If you can find an honest repairerthat will work on your behalf, perhaps sharing his test results and findings on the forum will get you some more answers. There are other techs here who have likely solved your problems before for other owners, and specific information shared about your car might enable them to provide more specific suggestions.
Jaguars are many things rolled into one nice package..."user-friendly", when it comes to problems with sophisticated systems, is not included. Best wishes.
#3
01-14-2009, 03:18 PM
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
The system is complex and without a dealer with training, it may be hard to find the fault. Get a subsctription to Alldata.com for the car so you can read up on the procedures for analysis and repairand know what is going on. This information willassist you to hopefully orchestrate a repair and maybe get out of your funk. There is a technical service bulletin for the repair of the system for this fault. It is time consuming but thorough.
#7
01-14-2009, 06:12 PM
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
ORIGINAL: JagtechOhio
I'm guessing that there are not many technicians in Hungary who are experienced with diagnosing and repairing 2004 XJ8 cars, perhaps I am assuming too much.
Surely your car can be properly repaired, you may have to search in your surrounding area to find atechnician more capable. I think that holds true for many owners,no mattertheir home country.
Jaguars are many things rolled into one nice package..."user-friendly", when it comes to problems with sophisticated systems, is not included. Best wishes.
I'm guessing that there are not many technicians in Hungary who are experienced with diagnosing and repairing 2004 XJ8 cars, perhaps I am assuming too much.
Surely your car can be properly repaired, you may have to search in your surrounding area to find atechnician more capable. I think that holds true for many owners,no mattertheir home country.
Jaguars are many things rolled into one nice package..."user-friendly", when it comes to problems with sophisticated systems, is not included. Best wishes.
I am going to visit an official dealer in Austria in the next two weeks-> Wien is about 220 km from here... It's not a big distance. But whenI have to stop every 10-15 km to give some time to the air suspension to lift the car... I just can't wait....
Trending Topics
#8
01-14-2009, 09:40 PM
Guest
Posts: n/a
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
Hi Atillas!
Greetings to Budapest from Prague :-)
I have had both problems as you with my 2004 XJR-X350.
1. Air suspension fault:
This is weakness of Jaguar. This only happens to me when the car is frozen between approx. <-5, +4> degrees of Celsius. The air compressor pump is frozen and does not produce enougr pressure to fill the reservoir. Either replace the air compressor or wrap it in warm plastic/leather or other cover from warm material. However I believe you do not get this message if the car is started in warm garage and you start moving the vehicle after approx 30 seconds. If you have this message in these circumstances as well (if the vehicle is warm), the problem must be elsewhere. I figured out this problem on my car as well and this was the solution.
2. RESTRICTED PERFORMANCE
Both orange and red LED is lit. Again - I would bet you get this message only if you start the car frozen. If you start the car in warm garage, you will not get this message. If you do, you have either weak battery (please replace with stronger, I use Varta) or you have low grade engine oil. The pistons are frozen in cylinders and if you have low quality/old engine oil and low battery charge, the restricted problem occurs (when the car is frozen). Again, I would bet that you do not get this message when the car is parked in warm garage.
However, if you get this message and cannot go to higher RPM (the car is in this mode limited to 80km/h speed), please drive a while until the car gets in operating temperature. If you switch off the engine and wait approx. 5 minutes and start it again, the RESTRICTED PERFORMANCE message dissapears and the car runs perfectly. If not, please drop me a line.
As a conclusion, replace battery and engine OIL. Use 0w-30 at these strong winters here, Jaguar recommends 5W-30. The dealer technicians have not good knowledge here and they will replace everything in your carbut they do not know the solution - this is try/error and try again - the way how dealer technicians solve the problems. And you pay and pay and pay and the problem is there still and still and still. I have no experience with technicians in Wien, but in Czech there are no technicians,I call them pyrotechnists[sm=smiley20.gif]I have done the steps as described above and do not have any of above problemsagain. I can even start frozen engine now. Here in Prague it gets to -20 deg. of Celsius now, I had the same problems as you have now. Starting frozen engine of such volume in these days requires good oil and full capacity battery.
Both problems you describe - this was my nightmare until I found out the solution. The Jag-dealers did not help me in this matter. Hope this helps you. Please let us know ;-)
Szia:-)
Pavel
Greetings to Budapest from Prague :-)
I have had both problems as you with my 2004 XJR-X350.
1. Air suspension fault:
This is weakness of Jaguar. This only happens to me when the car is frozen between approx. <-5, +4> degrees of Celsius. The air compressor pump is frozen and does not produce enougr pressure to fill the reservoir. Either replace the air compressor or wrap it in warm plastic/leather or other cover from warm material. However I believe you do not get this message if the car is started in warm garage and you start moving the vehicle after approx 30 seconds. If you have this message in these circumstances as well (if the vehicle is warm), the problem must be elsewhere. I figured out this problem on my car as well and this was the solution.
2. RESTRICTED PERFORMANCE
Both orange and red LED is lit. Again - I would bet you get this message only if you start the car frozen. If you start the car in warm garage, you will not get this message. If you do, you have either weak battery (please replace with stronger, I use Varta) or you have low grade engine oil. The pistons are frozen in cylinders and if you have low quality/old engine oil and low battery charge, the restricted problem occurs (when the car is frozen). Again, I would bet that you do not get this message when the car is parked in warm garage.
However, if you get this message and cannot go to higher RPM (the car is in this mode limited to 80km/h speed), please drive a while until the car gets in operating temperature. If you switch off the engine and wait approx. 5 minutes and start it again, the RESTRICTED PERFORMANCE message dissapears and the car runs perfectly. If not, please drop me a line.
As a conclusion, replace battery and engine OIL. Use 0w-30 at these strong winters here, Jaguar recommends 5W-30. The dealer technicians have not good knowledge here and they will replace everything in your carbut they do not know the solution - this is try/error and try again - the way how dealer technicians solve the problems. And you pay and pay and pay and the problem is there still and still and still. I have no experience with technicians in Wien, but in Czech there are no technicians,I call them pyrotechnists[sm=smiley20.gif]I have done the steps as described above and do not have any of above problemsagain. I can even start frozen engine now. Here in Prague it gets to -20 deg. of Celsius now, I had the same problems as you have now. Starting frozen engine of such volume in these days requires good oil and full capacity battery.
Both problems you describe - this was my nightmare until I found out the solution. The Jag-dealers did not help me in this matter. Hope this helps you. Please let us know ;-)
Szia:-)
Pavel
#10
01-14-2009, 10:00 PM
Guest
Posts: n/a
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
ORIGINAL: JagtechOhio
Great job Pavel!!!
And I laughed out loud at the pyrotechnists. I guess that's a more polite way of saying "flaming idiot".
Szia from the U.S.
(I don't know what that means, I hope it's good)
Andrew
Great job Pavel!!!
And I laughed out loud at the pyrotechnists. I guess that's a more polite way of saying "flaming idiot".
Szia from the U.S.
(I don't know what that means, I hope it's good)
Andrew
Thank you.
Yes, theyare not technicians but pyrotechnicians :-)) I laughed out loud as well:-) "flaming idiot" is weak word for those "technicians" who repair Jaguars here holding screw-driver in one hand and user manual in second...
"Szia" should be hungarian "Hi" but I am not sure about it. Maybe Atillas will tell us :-) Their language is too hard for me to study.
Pavel
#11
01-15-2009, 01:10 AM
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
Sziasztok!
Szia means Hi in hungarian, "sziasztok" means "hi everybody"!
PAVEL seem that you are the one I was looking for!!! I'll do these steps as by the end of this week, because seems like we have the same problems...
Yes for me it is the same. I have these problems in cold weather, now we have under 0 Celsius during night and day for at least two weeks. My car is parked in a garage, and not problem with the lifting at all. But when driving in the cold and when parked in the freezing cold for a few hours, the car becomes a nightmare!!!
I'll come back to you by the end of this week! In case this works, you aremy guest in Budapest for anything: Dinner, lunch,palinka,ladies....
)))
Have a great day and thank you!!!
Szia means Hi in hungarian, "sziasztok" means "hi everybody"!
PAVEL seem that you are the one I was looking for!!! I'll do these steps as by the end of this week, because seems like we have the same problems...
Yes for me it is the same. I have these problems in cold weather, now we have under 0 Celsius during night and day for at least two weeks. My car is parked in a garage, and not problem with the lifting at all. But when driving in the cold and when parked in the freezing cold for a few hours, the car becomes a nightmare!!!
I'll come back to you by the end of this week! In case this works, you aremy guest in Budapest for anything: Dinner, lunch,palinka,ladies....
)))Have a great day and thank you!!!
#13
01-15-2009, 08:50 AM
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
If you have no leaks and the compressor is good, you might look at the valve block and pressure tank under the spare tire. Check the connections to the module in the spare tire area. It is possible that ice forming in the valveblock in very low temps is blocking the solenoid valves open and lowering the car. Apply heat with a hair dryer or similar to the valve block when this happens and see if the level is restored. Keep in mind that the compressorcan introduce water vapor into the system during operation and ice may form in sensitive areas.
#14
01-17-2009, 02:49 PM
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
Sziasztok!!!
I've uploaded some pictures of my Jaguar to a forums, so I can share it easier with you.
http://myxj8.blogspot.com/
I've just changed breaks (feels and sounds much better now)
I've covered the compressor with warm "covers" and gone to a 200km trip. It did not loose pressure. Hope it works, but I'll have to try it in freezing cold to be sure, as it was 0 Celsius during the trip.
I've replaced the batteryas well, but seems like it stored the "RESTRICTED PERFORMANCE" sign, because when I start the engine it start with restricted performance, but when I start it disappears and does not come back till the next start. I'll visit the deaker to be sure about what the problem was...
So I started loving my Jaguar again. Hope these problems will not appear again and I do not have to be angry of my car again...
Thanks for the ideas and tips to all of you!
Pavel do not forget to call me when coming to Budapest!!!
I've uploaded some pictures of my Jaguar to a forums, so I can share it easier with you.
http://myxj8.blogspot.com/
I've just changed breaks (feels and sounds much better now)
I've covered the compressor with warm "covers" and gone to a 200km trip. It did not loose pressure. Hope it works, but I'll have to try it in freezing cold to be sure, as it was 0 Celsius during the trip.
I've replaced the batteryas well, but seems like it stored the "RESTRICTED PERFORMANCE" sign, because when I start the engine it start with restricted performance, but when I start it disappears and does not come back till the next start. I'll visit the deaker to be sure about what the problem was...
So I started loving my Jaguar again. Hope these problems will not appear again and I do not have to be angry of my car again...
Thanks for the ideas and tips to all of you!
Pavel do not forget to call me when coming to Budapest!!!
#15
01-17-2009, 03:05 PM
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Powell, Ohio U.S.A. 43065
Posts: 2,521
Likes: 0
Received 70 Likes
on
56 Posts
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
Great news about the suspension...maybe an electric heating pad for those of us in cold weather is the best way to keep the compressor happy overnight.
A question for anyone reading this who is familiar with the system...is there any sort ofmoisture trap installed? Even my shop air compressor will freeze an air hose shut in this weaather, and that hose I.D. is alot larger (I assume). If not, maybe the addition ofa trap to collect the waterwould help prevent the problem.
What say you, Motts or Pavel?
A question for anyone reading this who is familiar with the system...is there any sort ofmoisture trap installed? Even my shop air compressor will freeze an air hose shut in this weaather, and that hose I.D. is alot larger (I assume). If not, maybe the addition ofa trap to collect the waterwould help prevent the problem.
What say you, Motts or Pavel?
#16
01-17-2009, 05:04 PM
#17
01-21-2009, 06:29 PM
Guest
Posts: n/a
RE: I thought I bought a good car!!!!
Hard to say JagTech. Both of you have good ideas. Anyway, here are pictures of my car: http://www.jaguar-club.net/car_detail.php?id=91
#18
01-04-2013, 10:57 AM
hey I have the same problem on my 04 xjr, the car is not garaged and every morning the frond end is low and I start it and the front end stays low and a message, VEHICLE TOO LOW, and AIR SUSPENSION FAULT, I drive the car to work about 2 miles and park it with front end still low not to mentione the rough ride, then start the car couple hours later and as it warms up 4 or 5 minutes, the front rises and the messages disappear. NOW HERE IS THE BIG QUESTION. this started as it got colder about a month ago, I live in Ohio, now I drive the car to work then 2 hours later drive back home and the vehicle front end is low all that time with rough ride and messages. ANY IDEAS IN ADDITION TO WRAPPING THE VALVE BLOCK WITH LEATHER.
#19
01-04-2013, 12:28 PM
Veteran Member
#20
01-04-2013, 02:16 PM
Veteran member
tanios, take a read on this, if you haven't already seen it.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...degrees-87077/
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...degrees-87077/