Hello all,

First time posting, although not the first time here. My mom owned this car since new and I bought it from her a few years ago for my wife. Always garage kept and maintained so I know the history well.
My mom wanted out of the car as it was showing its age and needing front wheel bearings, brakes and a few other things. Cosmetically it was a 10 so my wife wanted it. I replaced the bearings and brakes and went through the car looking for all the other possible issues I've read about in here and couldn't find much. The car ran perfect until my wife decided she wanted an 05 she saw nearby and I decided I'd drive the 03. The 03 then sat in the garage for 8 months and along came the gremlins. I had driven it a couple times to keep the fluids moving and then got busy traveling for work. When I returned it needed a battery of course....and a fuel pump. I replaced the battery and fuel pump(a chore I'd rather not remember) and all was well. My wife and I switched cars for the heck of it so I could make sure her 05 wasn't rattling or anything weird she wasn't alerting me of. She's been driving it for the 03 now for a couple weeks with no issues whatsoever until yesterday. Ah, now that I think of it, there was one hiccup. Since the car sat so long I decided to detail it and pressure washed lightly under the hood. Unfortunately I had forgotten to let the engine cool completely, got a knock sensor wet, and got the "restricted performance" light with a knock sensor code. I let it sit overnight to dry and it was fine with no issues in the morning.

It ran fine for a couple weeks after until yesterday. My wife had been driving it all day with a few stops running errands. She had been driving about 20 minutes and it started running rough and the restricted performance light had come on, but not the CEL yet. She called to tell me this and she was turning around to head home. She called again about 15 minutes later to say it had died, the CEL was on and it cranks but doesn't fire.

I happen to be nearby so I grabbed my reader and headed over. Sure enough it wasn't firing and had thrown 14 codes! Heres a downer...I haven't used this reader much and accidentally erased the codes while reading through them before I wrote them down. I do remember most of them though more by description than number. A coil malfunction code for every cylinder, ignition amplifier codes, vvt code for bank 1, and some misfires. I didn't have a fuel pressure tester with me, but I did put a rag over the Schrader valve and hit it with a screwdriver to see it was getting pressure. It had rained yesterday morning so I asked if she hit any puddles and she said no. After my knock sensor cleaning I wondered if this was somehow related, maybe not. I pulled the ecu and opened it up. No signs of anything burnt, but I'm not sure there's something on those boards that would actually get hot. Since it is sitting again I figured I would pull the valve covers today and check to see what version of tensioner are in there...grasping at straws now.

So, that's where I am in this long-windedness. It was running fine for 20 minutes and then catastrophe. I have read about the many issues these cars can have mechanically and electrically and can dive in whatever direction needed if anyone here has a list of things to check/test.....I'm all ears and hope I've given enough info. I've tried to pull codes since, but nothing there. I'm guessing because it hasn't actually been able to run? I'm lost.

 

Oh man, that hurts to read! I feel your pain, hard to read codes without being able to run the engine. My lame advice would be to first check for the obvious- a split or loose vacuum line or intake hose that could impact many things. When you checked the tensioners, did you also check the alignment of the flat spots on the camshafts? One of the cams could have slipped a tooth. Good luck, I'm sure someone on here has worked through this before.

 

I haven't checked any vacuum lines or hoses yet on this car so I'll probably do that today when I check the tensioners. Thanks for the reminder and the luck!

 

I believe the 03 has tbe updated tensioners but that does not mean that they still cannot fail. My understanding is if it jumps one tooth it will run rough. If it jumps two teeth the pistons will hit the valves and then you'll loose the motor. Remove cam covers and see if cam flats align as mentioned by Pasquo. If fhey don't line up you found your problem. Take pics of what you find.

 

Thanks Bob, will definitely post what I find. I suppose a compression test first would be in order too. Can these cars jump teeth on the chains even with decent tensioners?

 

If somehow this engine did jump teeth, could that lead to throwing codes on all 8 coils and ignition amplifiers codes?

 

I have not dealt with an 03, but even an updated tensioner cam fail. The odds of it happening are a lot less with the updated tensioners. If you have a compression tester do that first. Write down results of each cylinder. I usally write it down with a silver sharpie on the cam cover inside the coil cover so I have it for later reference. You can always remove it with brake cleaner if needed.

 

Hi Fabworkz,

Welcome to the Jaguar Forums. It's great to have you with us, though I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.

If your wife didn't hear any unusual mechanical noises from the engine as it died, I wouldn't jump to the worst conclusions regarding timing chains and such.

I would start with checking more common suspects. You mentioned that you didn't have your fuel pressure gauge with you. Have you since checked the fuel pressure at the fuel rail? If the pressure is low, suspect the fuel pump relay, fuel pump electrical circuit or fuel pump itself (I know you replaced it but you wouldn't be the first to have a new fuel pump fail prematurely or have the outlet hose blow off of the pump).

Another suspect is the crankshaft position sensor (CKPS). Watch the tachometer while cranking the engine. If the tach reads 0 rpm the CKPS has failed or there's a problem with its electrical circuit. The tach should read around 200 rpm.

The Mass Air Flow Sensor is critical to engine management - you could try starting the engine with the MAFS disconnected to see if the engine wills start.

Since your wife had been driving about 20 minutes when the problem occurred, I don't think bore wash is the reason the engine won't restart, but it would be worth ruling that out. Here's a good method from avern1:

Hopefully others will have additional ideas. Please keep us informed.

Cheers,

Don

 

Had to run out, but checked a few easy things before I left.

Batt: 12.5v
Fuel: 35psi not cranking
Rpm: ~150 cranking

 

If multiple ignition coils started throwing codes it's probably worth checking the ignition modules and surrounding wiring - probably more likely for one of those to suddenly fail than for multiple coils to fail at once.

 

It could stem from the engine jetwash?
The engine wiring harness has a large black connector attached the a bracket off the front centre bulkhead behind the engine, the center cover should be removed to access it - this may have water ingress so WD40 it. The wiring to the 2 fuse boxes rings that are under black rubber covers also. Engine Earth back of engine to chassis, and the false bulkhead connector attached to the brake assembly cover too.

If it's a very late car I'd doubt skipped timing at this point.

 

Not just multiples, but all 8 threw a code along with a couple other ignition related codes.

I'd have to look again, but I seem to remember this car being a very late build month. I will pull the connectors apart at the firewall and see if there's anything going on there.
What else could cause the entire ignition system to crash? When do I start suspecting the ecu, or am I seeing enough response from it now that I shouldn't suspect it?

 

So I was on my way home tonight still trying to figure out what to check next. My wife was asking how bad it could end up being and I told her it's rarely catastrophic. First I figured I would go through a check fuses for the heck of it.

Number 18 up front was popped and of course that's for the ignition! Changed it out and started it and think I figured out my wife's description of running rough. Can driving on a burnt coil pop a fuse? Was my only guess right now.

 

I think you've found it, Fabworkz! Well done!

Before you install a new coil, it would be prudent to check the wiring harness and connector for any signs of damage, and maybe even check for battery voltage from the Ignition Coil Relay on the Red/White wire, and continuity to ground on the Black wire. The other two wires connect to the ECM.

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks for the pointer Don. Are you thinking it could be wiring and not the coil? I was thinking that big chunk of melted plastic sticking out the side of the coil meant it was bad.
I will check the harness for sure, but so glad it was a stupidly simple thing. Usually seems to work out that way, right?

 

I agree with you that the coil was probably the failure point. But my thinking is that a failure that created enough heat to melt the plastic could have also harmed the electrical connector and wiring harness. And just in case the real problem was a short in the wiring harness for that coil, it would be good to test what you can before putting a new coil at risk of meeting the same fate.

Cheers,

Don

 

Forum nember Stu had the exact same just 3 weeks ago, he changed the coil and all was ok.
His post must be linger somewhere on page 2 I guess.

 

So, my new set of coils showed up today and got them installed without issue. I did check the harness everywhere but didn't see anything unusual. I'm also getting power and ground consistently on the #3 harness as was suggested to check.
Anyway, runs good as new. Thanks again to anyone who chimed in with diagnostic suggestions.

-Fabworkz

 

Coils worked great, but now a few thousand miles later and it's misfiring. Odd thing is I hear a ticking noise under the dash near the steering column every time it misfires. Anyone else experience that with a misfire? It doesn't misfire all the time, just under hard acceleration and it goes away when the engine gets warm. The ticking noise is curious though and can't check for codes till I find my missing scanner.....

 

Figured I'd update that one too. It was only needing new plugs. Runs like new....again.