I have a 2003 Jaguar X-type and I have been having issues for the past week or so where the vehicle will show a engine system, dsc, and gearbox faults. Just for added context, the vehicle was sitting for nearly 2 months due things not working out as planned. The first day it happened I was on the highway and not putting any crazy load on the engine. Dash lite up like a christmas tree and it shot me into limp mode. Pulled off the road just about instantly into a parking lot and then turned the car off, turned it back on and it was all normal with no lights or limp mode. Just off of that I knew it was electrical and assumed it to be battery related since my battery has been on it's way out for awhile and my alternator was rebuilt recently. Alongside the fact that the battery light was on with the other lights. Kept driving to my destination anyway since an advanced auto parts was right next to where I was going, was going to have the battery tested there. The car did the exact same thing maybe a 1/4 mile up the highway, limped it over to advanced auto anyway since it wasn't all to far away. Got the guy to come out with a battery tester and it ended up showing the battery wasn't strong enough to sustain correct power anymore. Ended up picking up a new battery. Drove the car home an alternate way avoiding the highway and the car ended up making it home fine with no problems. Only thing it had was a check engine light which was a p1229 code. It didn't seem to affect the car at all, cleared it and it hasn't come back yet. The one thing I read that was fairly consistent about the p1229 code was dealing with the throttle body motor and it's connector. Recently I had to solder a new connector in for the throttle body motor and the job didn't really go smoothly and it definitely wasn't done how it should, workable but could easily be a source of problems.

Fast forward a couple days and I take the car out again and drove what I would say around 7 or 8 miles and it throws itself into limp mode just as it did before with all the dash lights and battery light. This time however it was as simple as turning it off and on and it made the whole 7 or 8 miles home with 0 problems. Now of course after this I knew it wasn't the battery at all and assumed it to be that not so good solder job. So I ordered all the correct tools to do a better solder job and to better seal it, thankfully when I got the new connector I cut the wire longer so I have spare length

Took the car out again today to do some shopping about 3 miles out and the car ran really well. Drove it fairly normal, noting really hard just smooth cruising and smooth accelerating. However the battery light was on and off going to the store and on the entire time while coming back. Now I suppose that could be from that solder job but I don't thing it could cause the battery light alone to be on. Did have the heat on but wasn't blasting it or anything.

The only conclusions I can draw after all these experiences is some sort of draw coming from an electrical system or a damaged wire, that solder job, or maybe even something wrong with one of the pulleys or tensioner for the serpentine belt. Of course I'm not all to certain on any of these, main reason I've made this post.

I apologize for such a long post, just figured it would be easiest to include all the info I could so I can get the best advice possible. Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and additional thanks to anyone who can offer me advice. I plan taking the car to a jaguar specialist I've gone to before. Want to wait a bit thought because the car has been sucking up more funds lately then I can accommodate.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

Battery cable

 

Andrew, try this for me: After the car has been sitting for a few hours (ie, motor is cold), start up the car and turn on the seat heaters, dash fan on high, the headlights, and the rear defroster. Let the car sit like this for say 5 minutes. At the end of the time, open the hood/bonnet and then remove the cover off of the battery. Cup your hand over the battery terminals. Is one hot (ie, above the ambient temp from under the hood)? If yes, that is your bad battery cable and will need to be replaced.

 

Thanks for the replies! I did what you said thermo and at least compared to the intake, the terminals didn't feel much warmer at all. Definitely warmer but very minimal, nothing I could associate with a problem.

The car is going to a specialist for it in the next few days and Ill see what he has to say about it.

Regardless thanks for the input.

Andrew