She may have said an "electronic module" in the trunk that got wet. The connection wasn't the best when I was talking to her on the phone, but that was the basic premise of what she was saying.

 

Could they be referring to this?

 

Maybe but that has nothing to do with the engine!

 

Do XJ's have Alternator tension roller? If so, my mom's Peugot had a slow start as if the battery was flat, and the dealer repaired the tension roller. Now the car is fine.

My Jag also does the same, and perhaps yours and mine suffer from similar issues.

 

Hi Seth - thanks for your input.
I don't know if I'd call it a slow start. It just has a very hard time starting after its been sitting overnight. Whether it's cold, rainy, or sunny, it just cranks endlessly, until it magically "catches" and starts. It then is good for the rest of the day.....although I usually start it at lunch time just so it doesn't sit the whole day without a start and possibly strand me at work :shudder

Actually I haven't tried anything as it's been in the shop for almost two full weeks. Customer service has been terrible so far. Absolutely no communication unless I call and hound them for information. VERY disappointed with my experience at Patrick Jaguar of Naperville up to this point.

 

Got a little bit more info today. Apparently it's this part:

JAGUAR OEM C2C37200 Body Control Module/Body Control Computer

From what I understood, this unit controls the fuel pump, and when the car won't start, they are seeing only 9 volts going from the unit to the pump, but when it starts, it goes to the normal 12 volts. They did see some water spots, and a bit of corrosion on the board, but they're not sure if that is the main culprit or not. OEM is listed at $900.00 or so, but they are willing to put in a used part if they, or I, can find one cheaper. Anyone have a lead on this part at a better price? I'm still kind of perplexed as to why the person that contacted me Monday seems to think that this is an 8 hour job, as was the tech guy I talked to today, but he is checking on that for me as well.

 

If that's an 8 hour job i'm in the wrong line of work. I would start contacting junk yards. Also before they start pulling it apart someone should check the wire harness for breaks & the ground. It's possible it went bad. These things happen from time to time. If it became lose from it's mounting position it could vibrate apart.

 

Let's all keep our fingers crossed! The REM came in today and they are installing it now. The test will come tomorrow morning when they try to start it after it's been sitting all night. I WANT MY CAR BACK!

p.s. the original tech was incorrect. It's about a 2 hour job, not 8 hours.

 

interesting about the 9V at the pump; my '86 had a bad pump, and when the pump was being called for the voltage reading at the terminals with the pump connected was 8.8 V. the pump had an internal short and was reducing the voltage this much. Disconnect the wire from the pump and it was 12 V.
Maybe your pump is going bad and is intermittent.

 

I wanted to give a quick update here. For two weeks after I got the car back once the REM was replaced, I was a happy camper. She started up on the first crank every time.
A couple things I noticed however:

I went to fill up the tank the next day and noticed that even though I know I filled it up, the gauge was only showing just over the 1/4 full mark. After several trips that same day/night, the gauge rose to the full level. The next time I filled it up, the same thing happened. Not showing full at first - several hours later the gauge rises to show full. Could they have messed something up while they were testing around the fuel pump? It was not doing this prior to them working on the car.

Every now and then, even though it started on the first crank, it would take a bit longer than what I consider to be "normal". It sounded like it was not going to start, then started. However, two weeks after I got the car back, on Mother's Day to be exact (as I got in the car with my son to go up to see my mom) it would not fire up. Crank and crank and crank, no start.......just like before. So much for Mother's Day

This was at 10:30 a.m. I let it sit all day, then went out at 6:30 p.m. to try it and it started on the first crank. I took it for a short drive to warm up the engine, brought it home, and parked it for the night. I had work the next morning, and held my breath as I attempted to start it, and while it again took a little longer (15-20 seconds maybe), it did start and I made it to work. I called up the dealer and they came out and delivered a loaner and took my car back with them. As of Thursday afternoon, they cannot get it to duplicate the issue with starting (in other words, it's fired up for them every time they've tried) so they can't come up with a diagnosis. The only thing keeping me from completely losing my mind with this situation is that they gave me a new 2013 black XF to use while they try to figure out WTH is going on with my car.

If anyone has any other ideas I'd love to hear them.

 

My computer module went bad when the Jag dealerrship opened the radiator cap
and got antifreeze all over the coils and computer.
It would not staart so I let t dry out and drove it home and dengine management light came on and car ran bad.
I went to a good mechanic and he said the computer was fried and a used one about 3 grand.
I searcheed the internet found a place in Texas rebuild my module 495 dollars with a 2 day turn around.
Thei site is
ECM Depot | ECM Depot, Right Place Right Now

 

Picked up on this thread due to 'just an early hint' of similar behaviour on the used XJ8-L I've had for less than two weeks. So far, the turn-key and pause for pump to catch-up has done the trick every time.

But vapour-lock should have been a less-likely April-in-Illinois issue than July in Virginia, moisture and corrosion a higher one.

In your CURRENT situation - what with the fuel-level mis-read history after fill-up, AND having had one (any) module show corrosion, I suspect you have (at least) two unresolved Gremlins - one fluidic - (tank, pump, seals, sensors, lines, filters, check-valve...)

... and one electrical.

Eg; - some OTHER module, harness, or ground-point(s) of corrosion or intermittent behaviour not yet detected and fixed.

What about fuel odours? Any detectable at - or just after - startup?

 

After a couple months I wanted to update this post with what's been going on:
Having issues with duplicating the intermittent crank-no start problem, and in seeing the issues with the gas gauge, the dealer decided that the rear module they had just put in was defective. They replaced it with another, and as of right now, both problems have disappeared. My only concern is that the cranking problem was occurring during the late winter/early spring months, as opposed to the warmer summer months that we're in now, and I'm worried that I may see this problem again when the temperature begins to dip in the near future. I guess I'm still a bit skeptical about the "fix", and only time will tell whether or not it was the correct diagnosis.

Thermite - to answer your question, I did not notice any fuel odors, but to tell you the truth, I wasn't really looking too hard. If it occurs again, I will take more notice.

 

The ones I noticed were apparently coming from unburned fuel vapours exiting the tailpipe, happily not from the inside or underhood.

Pleased to report that my initial slow-starting issue has gone on hols as well, and with common-sense steps, not baying at the moon whilst changing trains at Leicester Square, to wit:

- Buying fuel at Shell, not Costco, and keeping level closer to full to reduce overnight moisture accumulation

- pausing key-turn just before tripping the starter to allow the pump a head-start (this the habit of many years, all vehicles anyway..)

- not closing driver's door until I have started the engine so that the legion of 'memory' positioning motors are running off alternator, not battery

- setting memory #3 to a near-duplicate of the overall position as ensues when removing the key at shutdown. Hitting #3 first makes the 'retraction' movements run ~ 90% off alternator, not battery as well.

All this for my usual many-short-trip style, weekdays. Less fussy about it on longer trips, though, of course it is basically 'habit' now.

So far, it has kept the battery at a better charge level, and I have not only enjoyed quicker starting, but no more ABS/DSC warnings.

I have a 'float' charger that will be added before cold weather.