04 Jag X Type Sport
Automatic
128k



Back Story:

So I've had the car for about 3 years bought used from a Jag dealer. Perfectly fine when bought used with about 100k on it.

Car has been in several fender benders if that's what you want to call it. Yet one time it was left at a parking lot while on vacation and they managed to put the car on a car lift and squish the roof only a tiny bit (has been replaced since then).
Car ran fine for quite some time, transmission went around 120k or so, was replaced and ran fine for about another 3k until what we thought was the transmission again which turned out to be a unidentifiable issue since it work again now and transmissions do not heal themselves. We think it is the fuel injector but anyways...

AND YESTERDAY FML
6 Months later down the line the car is broken again. Car was low on gas but not on E or "go get gas light". I was leaving school and I was going to go get gas. As I pull off of Camus the car jerks, the Amber engine light goes on then several seconds the transmission light goes on. I pull over turn the car off for 10 minuets, turn it back on no lights. Put it in drive, transmission light comes back on. Decided to try and drive home, pull forward make a U-ie and drive off at 35 mph. Car is fine with both lights still on for about 3 miles.
I was hoping it was gas so I put $5 bucks in just to see if it made a difference, turn car back on lights still on. At this point the car is in limp home mode I assume. While doing 10mph trying to get back home which is less than a mile away the care jerks/sputters 3 times in a row all lights go off and the car came out of limp home mode. At this point im going WTF?!, 5 seconds later it jerks again and the lights come back on. Damn thing is in limp home mode again barely moving, applying pressure to gas RPMS just rage and the car creeps. I get home put it in my drive way and cry.

This is the second time this has happened, last time it happened was about 6 months ago. Lats time it happened AAA, Jaguar and several other car repair shops said "Transmission, transmission, transmission". Then we take it to a Transmission place, they say "LOL not the transmission, its the fuel injector." This wonderful mechanic, actually the owner of the transmission place happens to be on vacation this week and I can not get him to look at the car till Tuesday so until then im just looking for other opinions or stories to hopefully make me feel better.

An no plugging the thing in for codes is useless. It always says transmission ect and obviously it wasn't the transmission since it worked again. And it always says my air bag is about to blow up in my face 24/7. The car has had some issues since the squishing.

Anyways in reference, when I say jerk, its kind of like how if someone has a manual car and they do not shift correctly and the thing jams for a second, that what it kinda felt like.
Also A/C or Heat was not on, only the radio and car itself. Windows down some. It had tyhooned that day, lots and lots of rain. Car was running fine all week not a sign of problem. And BAM this bull *@$&.
And I thought the wheel shimmy was the last of my problems.

Please help =[

 

When you run a car ultra low on gas, sediment in the bottom of the tank gets sucked into the fuel pump and filter. Never run a gas tank below 1/4 empty.
That's probably your problem. If it managed to somehow get into your fuel rail then your injectors might be clogged up. A clogged fuel filter will starve the engine, and a gummed up fuel pump also wreaks havoc.

 

LoveIt, I am going to take a stab in the dark here, but have you looked at the connectors for the ECM? The ECM is located in the engine bay, under the cowl for the windshield on the passenger side. If water gets into the connector, it will short out some of the pins and cause the computer to see things in funny ways. This will cause the computer to attempt to run the engine based on what it is seeing, which can cause the motor to jump around like you are describing. Since the computer is seeing things jump all over the place, it is attempting to shift the tranny accordingly too. Needless to say, the tranny computer gets really confused and starts throwing codes. So, I would tell you to access the ECM, take a look at the connector. All the pins should be a silver/gray color. If you see any rust or the like, water has gotten in there and that is your issue.

The other thing I would ask you to think about is the previous time it did this, was it raining then? I bet it was. This would go on to support the water theory. This can be solved atleast for the moment getting some non-conductive di-electric grease. Beware though, there is conductive and non-conductive di-electric grease. You want the non-conductive stuff. The conductive stuff will drop the car to its knees. What this is going to do for you is act as a barrier to the water, keep the water away from the pins, therefore not allowing the shorting between the pins to happen.

 

Both replies so far are consistent with my own thoughts when I read your story. Clogged fuel filter/dirty injectors actually seems a little less likely, given the car's history. I'd want to inspect a number of wiring harnesses, including those under the roof, down the A-pillars, and most notably *every wiring harness and electrical component within the passenger compartment immediately below the A-pillars and lower windshield moldings.* I think you have a serious water leak somewhere, and that water might not be flowing into anywhere that you can readily see.

I had a similar problem on my last car, a Volvo S70 that had the roof replaced after a tree attacked it. I chased after those leaks for years before some text-messaging kid took it out of my misery and I replaced it with the X-Type. Regardless of whether you fix this current issue, I'll recommend that you reconsider your long-term commitment to keeping this particular car on the road or in your stable. Typical of many such accidents, it may very well "never be the same again."

 

My wife thinks I'm crazy for never running a car past 1/4 full of gas. For me it's a "I am so not running out of gas thing" - I've never run out of gas, and I'm pretty sure I never will. But now I see there are other reasons too.

 

Your wife is a wise woman.

 

Loveit - I agree to Rothe. It may be time to "junk" this jag and pick up a different one. I have had my fair share of fender benders and after each one you really need to take a few moments to evaluate the car. If one of the repair shops only fixed the cosmetic issues (and not electrical, frame, etc...) it will never run correctly again. I'm on my second Jag for this very reasons. Plus there are enough of them on the market that you should be able to pick up a "new" X for fairly cheap. Best of luck to you whatever you decide.

 

Thanks everyone.
Well ill check out those wires and if it is the injector what can i do? I am not car savy, im lucky enough I am a female who can change oil and tires ect. The simple stuff...
Put gas in it and rev it for a while?

 

This advice is from Butal on of the techs on the forum "
run some bg 44 fuel injection cleaner through the car first in the tank. if youve already swapped coils and plugs around then you need to look at the injectors. if the additive in the tank does nothing. I would pull all 8 injectors and send them to be cleaned, rebuiilt and performance checked. I send mine here
www.injectorrx.com
theyre $18 each for a complete service and youll know for sure if any are bad or act up in their operating range. He'll let you know and send a before and after flow chart for each injector. this includes, new orings, and baskets in all the injectors. or you can swap injectors too, but if i was going to that much trouble I would just have them serviced."

If needed you can probably find an injector service place local to you, forget the swapping plugs and coils part that was specific to the post he was replying to. Make sure those connections are good!

 

Some objective criteria required. Get an OBD-II scanner and pull codes from the car. It's worth the $39.

Without the information, all of this is just a guess.