Good morning everyone, I've recently bought a 2001 3.0 litre V6 S type and the engine management light come on. I scanned it and got the codes P1383 and P1388.
i don't really know too much about the car, but it's been standing for about a year. From the last Mot to this Mot, it had not even done 50 miles. Looking up the codes, it seems that the vvt has an issue.
I was thinking, if I was to flush out the engine, then new oil and filter, do you reckon that would work? If not, it's looking like I'll have to either clean the vvt or replace them. Can anyone help me and tell me where the vvt valves are located?

 

Worth searching those codes and see what others did & said.

 

First thing, Don't Panic! Those two codes are fairly common the early V6 engines. I've had them several times on my '02 V6 (approx 325k miles).

Are you in a time crunch, and have to get them cleared right away to register the vehicle? That could be a bit of a problem, as it often takes a little time to clear the condition. The fault is almost never the actuators themselves, so don't be in an hurry to replace them.

Two theories, both related to oil viscosity and how it affects VVT operation. Some have reported good results switching to a thinner viscosity. With higher mileage, thicker viscosity seems to work better. This thread should explain what you need to know:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...bad-vvt-68687/


FWIW, I run fairly thick 10W-40 in my car. When I put off an oil change for too long (guilty as charged), the viscosity tends to break down and the first sign is one of these codes. A fresh oil change has always taken care of it for me.

If unsure whether you should try thinner or thicker oil, don't worry too much. It's not a permanent decision. Try one or the other and see what happens. But if dealing with a high mileage engine, thicker seems to work better.

As far as "flushing" the engine, I'd be VERY careful. I've heard so many horror stories of what happens when trying to clean out a tired engine. Had a good friend trash his engine with one of those engine flush products. A slow cleaning, however, such as the ATF trick, seems to work just fine. Just stay away from any of the heavy duty engine flush products. Quickly loosening up all that normal crud is a bad deal.

You may also find this thread of interest. It has a link to a service bulletin that may help. No idea if my car has this reflash, but I'd try the fresh oil first and see what happens:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...-p1388-194292/

 

Another alternative is to sub 1 quart of oil for ATF when changing oil. The cleansing properties of ATF clear the thin narrow oil passages of the VVT units.

Takes anywhere from 200 - 500 miles of normal driving.

Also, use thinner oil for the change.

 

I bought some STP oil flushing stuff, followed the instructions, run it for about 15 mins, engine nice and hot, turned it off, drained the oil, burnt my hand and swore, spent ages finding my oil filter remover tool, changed the oil filter, replaced the drain plug, filled it up with lovely new synthetic oil, started it up, topped up the oil, cleared the code, and "Hey Presto", she is running like a dream.... hopefully, no more problems... for a while. Oh yeah, she has done just over 95,000 miles, so hopefully, she will last for many thousands of miles in the future