So Wednesday I was sitting in the drive through line at MacDonalds. Before anyone says it I know, I deserve it for going to MacDonalds but it was prior to the 7th game in the Stanley Cup and I live here in riot central.

When I went to move forward the car shuddered, and no gas pedal. I looked down at the dash and the yellow light was on and gear box failure and the red light right beside it was on saying something like total system failure. No check engine light tho. I put it in park and the revs which are normally around 700 RPM were at 1500-1800RPM.

Of course I'm thinking s**t!!!!! So I put it in gear and the car coasts out of the drive through and I park it in a stall and shut it off. I'm thinking I am looking at a giant tow bill and generally being a pessimist but after 15 seconds I fire it back up and no lights everything seems normal. Have put around 200KM on it and it is normal. I checked for codes and the only thing on it is P1111 so that's normal.

Resolution below

 

my 04 did something similar if not exactly the same. On ly thing is mine didnt start back up. I was letting it idle for a while because i was servicing the a/c. The thought track im on is that the alternator overloaded because of heat which i think is because my fan control module is bad. I have very little output from my cooling fans.

 

Did you happen to wash your car or have rain that day? I had something similar happen when they tinted my windshield becuase of all the water they used in that 60 or so minutes. After a code reset, nothing ever happened again.

 

Nope that's the weird part. No rain here for a week, car is dirty. Didn't drive through a puddle or anything. And when I checked the codes, nothing. I've been driving ever since and no issues at all. I thought maybe I should have checked the battery wires for heat but was so freaked out I didn't think about it until later. Nothing reset either.

 

The Bruins did it...
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar

 

That was my first thought!

 

Happened again last night this time I took the time to read what it said:

first the Gearbox Fault came up on the screen along with the amber light, then immediately after the red light with DCS System Failure and Engine System Failure.

Kind of freaky, again, shut it off, turned it back on but waited a second with the ingnition on to see if the lights stayed, they went out and it fired right up. Took it straight home so 5 minute drive and read the codes, P1111 was all that was there again.

I know it's something electrical, if it happens again I'll leave it running and pop the hood to see if the terminals on the battery are hot and see if I can spot anything, or worse smell anything. Nothin on the inside of the car indicates an issue.

 

My XJ6 has taught me to carry my code scanner in the glovebox.

 

I wish it would throw a code, give me a clue. Has to be a bad connection someplace.

 

Hmm, Is the battery old?

I was getting all kind of random codes, then bought a new battery and fixed it up.

Nothing wrong going drive-thru Mcdonalds, Gotta get that #1!

Best of Luck to ya!

 

OK, hasn't happened again but wondering if this might be a new wrinkle. I noticed the other day a spot on my driveway, not oil though, just a discoloration in the concrete. Then Monday after I parked at work I got out and smelled that distinct coolant smell, but the gauge is right where it should be so made a mental note to have a look when I got home.

Got home and saw a bit of coolant on the top of the motor right side. Fired it up and looked around until I noticed the small hose on the top left side of the coolant tank appeared to be leaking, moved it and the pipe out of the tank broke right off in the hose. $@&#@

So got out the trusty JB Weld 2 part epoxy and after cleaning everything I tried to mickey mouse it until I got a new tank. Dont try this at home kids because yesterday I was on the way to work and steam started drifting up from the hood and the temp gauge was actually just across the center. Pulled in to a gas station and sure enough although when I checked it before starting out it was completely blown off.

Good news is, the dealer wanted 218.00 for the tank but my trusty British Car Parts guy locally got it to me for 186.00 plus tax and it's a 5 minute job. But the point to all this is I noticed right under the tank is a great big wiring harness and plug that was saturated with coolant. Hmmmmmm, I guess we'll see if I get the same faults and lights.

 

Well got the same thing yet again, twice in 1 day, gearbox fault and engine system failure, pulled over (which isn't easy since there is no gas pedal when it happens), shut it off, waited a few seconds and good as new, no codes.

I put my charger on the battery yesterday (original jaguar equipment) and it showed the battery as middle of the gauge, charging took 5 hours at 10A. We'll see, wish I had a multimeter.

Another odd thing that leads me to think it's electrical and battery related, it only happens when I'm stopped and sitting, never when I'm moving. In Canada our cars are equiped with daytime running lights, which mean all the lights are on except the interior dash lights, HID, tail and marker lights are on. I have a Premium so when I'm in traffic or stopped and in gear, all the lights, plus brake lights, plus the radio and amp, plus the heater, (never has the AC been on when it happens) and any other associated draw. always when the engine has been at idle which is 6 or 700 RPM. We'll see if charging the battery has an effect, it took 5 hours but accepted the charge so...

 

sidewalkman, if it took the battery 5 hours to charge, then it is starting to go. It should have taken less than an hour if the battery was up to snuff. Replace the battery and see what is going on. If you want to check the battery, you can either:
1) pull it out once you get to the auto parts store and they have the machine inside the store to test the battery, or
2) talk with your neighbors/co-workers and see if anyone has a multimeter that they will let you borrow for the day (or you can stop by say Radio Shack or Lowes/Home Depot and they have cheapy multimeters that will do the job for around $15 USD).

 

Thanks Thermo, my brother has one, he lives 10 minutes away but works weird hours, I'm going there next week when he's off. I'll give you an update but I think you're right. I charged my other battery in the X5 from almost dead (toasted alternator) to full in under 2 hours with my charger. When after a couple of hourse I went out and checked if it was complete and it showed as just over mid gauge I suspected the battery was half pooched. Opened the cell caps before I started and they were half empty as well.

 

sidewalkman, check the low slung + battery cable as well. It runs across a bolt and if the insulation is worn it can cause your problems.

 

my 97 xk8 has gear box failure. its probably the trans.

 

Was there an outcome to this? I'm interested in knowing if you found the cause.

 

It only happens now 3-5 times a week, so I'm just learning to live with it. Seriously! I'm going to replace the battery, only happens when I am either stopped or letting the car roll forward, but I can get up to 20KPH because the revs go up to over 1K and although there is no gas pedal it will shift up to third. too funny.

I like the car, no longer love it, probably won't be doing any more mods to it simply because I can't see a long term relationship.

 

Is there a decent dealer close to you. They could probably help.

It's a 2004 so it's probably time to upgrade in any case

 

dealer was no help, they said they would pull the codes, I told them there were none, they went 'oh, umm'. I replaced the battery today, so we'll see.

As far as an upgrade, toom me 8 months to find the Estate , sedans don't do anything for me.