A 2006 S Type 4.2 with about 11,000 miles. Who could resist. Not me for sure. Jaguar won me back.

Then the trip to Florida and the check engine light.

Two parts places checked the code free. Both confirmed it was for a failed Oil Temp Sensor (as cheap as $22 for the part). I took it in to a local independent I have used for years to service my imports and told him what I knew based on the two free readings and provided lots of Internet findings related to same.

He confirmed the readings and raised them with an added 25 more unspecified codes. Next he tells me he does not have the capability to work on the newer Jaguar electronics and handed me a bill for $50.

I called an old English Car Club member who owns a shop that services imports and related the problem. He asked me to bring it in. It took me most of a day shoveling my two lots deep driveway to do it, but I got out and down to his place research in hand.

He kept the car and drove me home in another. When he called it was to tell me he had replaced the part and that the code was still popping up and that I should take it to the dealer. I was handed my (good) old sensor and a bill for $250 when I went to pick it up.

The dealer being so darn accommodating and polite on the phone had me expecting an extra zero on the bill by the time they were done. The tension built given the techs were snowed out causing the work to be delayed over night but when they called it was with good news.

The new sensor was just as good as the old sensor. The problem was a rodent that likes chewing wires. Four wires repaired (two within two inches of the sensor I just needlessly had installed) and no codes. Oh, and another bill. This time something under $275. Not the car's fault.

I have only had it a few months but I admit to missing it these few days without it. After years of Volvo ownership, I am back home and made to feel welcome if I take it the right place and now feel I have.

 

And the point of this thread is?

 

To keep cats?

 

Beware those extremely low-mileage rides!


Jags are very pleasant to drive; so if its not racking up miles, it could well be that it usually won't go.....and when it sits, rarely does anything good happen.

 

Hi MiamiTVR,

Welcome back to Jaguar ownership!

I would say the moral of your story has at least two important points: 1) to work on modern Jaguars you must use a modern diagnostic system that can read all of the proprietary Jaguar diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs), such as the Jaguar dealer-level JLR SDD system that can be acquired for as little as $50 if you have an old laptop that can run it, and 2) when you have a code that indicates a problem in a sensor circuit, everything in the circuit is suspect, not just the sensor itself.

Cheers,

Don

 

A reminder to all that not every mechanic understands the fundamentals of how modern cars work and how to interpret codes that may accumulate ot waht to do with them.

A given code means that there is a fault somewhere on the particular electrical circuit, not necessarily the component itslef at the far end of the wires.

 

That maybe that the best fix is often the most cost effective in the long run, at least in Knoxville, TN.

My distasteful experiences with the local Volvo dealership had me avoiding the Jaguar dealer just because he was a dealer, something I should not have done. It cost me more to learn the lesson in wasted money with respected independents than it did fixing the problem with the dealer who also serves some of the best coffee in town I discovered.

And that I really like my new car.

 

I suspected it was a rodent when I learned there were 25 codes on a low mileage car that performed near flawlessly. My wagon and truck had also incurred some gnawed wires in the past.

Perth, Canada??? I worked on a consulting project in that small town one January years ago. It gets cold up there.

 

Yes, yes it certainly does! Although we have wonderfully warm/hot and long summers, the local weather guesser confirmed last night that this month will go down in the history books as the coldest February on record.

 

Er.... about how cold is that?

 

Fingers....too....stiff.....to.....type.......

Cold enough to freeze Niagara Falls.

It was colder than -15*C for 26 days out of 28 in the month.

It was the coldest capital on earth on Feb.23 with -23*C.

Ottawa the coldest capital on earth | CTV Ottawa News


BTW- cars start and run just fine in this weather, given a battery in decent shape. Most don't need a block heater or any other special precautions.

 

Horrors. Bad enough here at times!

 

I admire your courage to live in such a cold place as that! Perhaps it may be time to consider a move to warmer areas?

 

Like most Canadians, we believe that we are entitled as a birthright to at least 2-3 weeks down south each winter. The Florida and Arizona economies depend on it.

As we age, the 2-3 weeks increases to 2-3 months.

The remaining 9 months here are just too wonderful to miss out on. The money we spend in the US during the winter comes back to us in the summer with all our US visitors.

Our favourite sports (after hockey) are complaining about the winter from Jan to March and complaining about the d*mn tourists from April to December.

 

Quite like here in some ways, then

 

...and all of Quebec down in Wildwood, NJ in the summer!

 

Really? I always thought it didn't get lower than 0*C, and commonly 1.5-3*C during winter...

 

Yup. The famous government mandated 'construction holiday' where everything grinds to a halt for the last two weeks of July.