Hi all,

In the past, I've had an O2 sensor go out and set the Check Engine light on. It was handy to have an OBD II reader in my garage to read the code, reset it to see if it really meant business, and then be informed when I took it to the dealer for repair when the code persisted. It's also handy that Jaguar still replaces O2 sensors free, even though I'm out of warranty.

I have recently taken a handful of road trips of about 500 miles each. Given my O2 sensor experience, I should have known better and packed my OBD II reader. About halfway through my last trip, my Check Engine light came on (26,500 miles, btw). I didn't really feel like ignoring the light and just trusting that the ghosts of Lucas would be kind to me for the 200 miles home, so I popped into the nearest Walmart and picked up another cheap reader. It was a P0173 (Fuel Trim too lean or too rich), actually 3 instances. I chalked it up to bad gas / dirty injector / etc. and knew it wasn't fatal, so I cleared the codes and continued home with no further incident / code. I also got a bottle of BG 44K injector cleaner as soon as I got home.

My newest reader will now remain in the car for any future code reading needs on the road. I was lucky to be in a city when it happened so I could buy one on the spot. If you don't already carry one, I'd recommend doing so.

Also, DON'T FORGET TO RESET YOUR BATTERY after reading your codes! I had previously installed one of those simple "round green knob" battery disconnects for that purpose and I'm glad I did.

 

Good advice. Note that Autozone (and probably others) will read the codes for free.

 

Did you actually check that the device didn't shut the session down correctly and that the reset was really necessary?

 

No. How do you do that?

 

I use this one and keep it in the car. I like the fact it powers down automatically too. I was leaving it in all the time but after reading problems here on the F-Type forum I no longer do that.
Now it is more expensive at $140 but it's the best one I have found and I have at least 10-12 different ones I have picked up over the years.
OBDLink MX+



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The giveaway is if the light on the hazard (4-way) button stays on after 15 minutes or so, the car isn’t going to sleep, and you should do the battery disconnect.

 

I can vouch for the OBDLink MX device, I have one on my other JLR car (DS) and it proved to be a great tool over the years. I actually leave it connected at all times there, no issues with the battery at all. But that´s a 2017 model, maybe they had some improvements over my 2015 F-type.
I didn´t have a reason to use it here, yet, and I hope it stays that way :-)

 

Oh, right. No, I was on the road trying to make time. Since I already had the battery cut-off installed, I just reset the battery and got going again. As matter of fact, it's quicker by far to do that (including resetting the date/time) than to wait 15 minutes.