I had a serious road incident today which I would like to warn all of my contacts about - especially, if they are using or contemplate getting a DIESEL vehicle.

Back in 2005, lawmaker lunatics in the EU passed the so-called Euro 4 legislation which limited exhaust particles below any reasonably achievable threshold. This forced carmakers to supplement their cars with DPFs (diesel particle filters).

When a car is mostly driven within a city (and not so much on motorways), this filter quickly gets full. Cleaning it (they use the word "regenerating") then usually requires a prolonged motorway drive.

So when my DPF got full yet again today, I took my car to a motorway for that prolonged drive. It used to take me an hour on average in the past for it to clean and the warning message to go off.

This time, however, it just never happened. Along the way, I stopped at the traffic lights. When the light went green and I gently hit the accelerator pedal, my car suddenly took off at about 100 mph in a huge cloud of thick smoke coming from its exhaust pipes.

I was no doubt lucky I was first at the traffic lights with no cars ahead of me. Yet mechanics say I was even more lucky to somehow eventually pull over and stall the engine. Diesel fuel that was being pumped for the DPF cleaning got into the engine oil sump, so the engine quickly reached a huge reading of RPM (revolutions per minute), making the car take off like at a racing track.

Usually, drivers panic extremely in such instances of a runaway diesel, abandon control of the vehicle, or try to shut off the engine before pulling over to a safe zone, forgetting this would also immediately lock the steering wheel. I had no prior experience or knowledge of such situations yet managed to do everything just as one should while staying calm all the way. Luck, a higher force - you name it - helped me stay alive and keep other drivers around me unharmed in an uncontrolled smoke-covered car which suddenly took off at over 100 mph.

I later learned my vehicle (Jaguar XF 2.7D) was banned from imports to the United States due to one of their engineers having voiced a risk of this very possibility, however remote it might have seemed at the time. So don't blame Americans for stuff like pulling from the Paris Accords - they are a nation of carmakers, among other things, and know that some measures like the Euro 4 standard might not cost just money but also lives - many lives. So they came up with solutions like Tesla but not with potentially deadly filters like DPF.

 

You should see whether your car has the updated software (it sounds like it hasn't).

You also need to check its engine oil often to make sure no diesel is in it. (When it does, change the oil.)

Probably Jaguar should have used a better pollution control system but they failed to do so. (Plenty of other cars also have this acceleration problem, such as BMW.)

 

False.

It amazes me how many driver do not know what to do in case of unintended acceleration (no matter the cause).

1) Put transmission in neutral
2) Steer and brake car to a safe stop
3) Turn off ignition

 

I see it from online discussions this problem is common for DPF-equipped diesels when a DPF fails to regenerate.

I had my oil changed just three months ago. Not sure how extensive the damage is now - could be a gone turbo or, worse, damage to the engine. Will be hearing back from the garage on Monday.

Yes, the absolute majority of drivers don't know what to do in such instances or fail to react quickly enough - especially, if they have never heard of it.

 

I had the same incident (uncontrolled acceleration, but no smoke from the engine).
I posted today my message unfortunately in the wrong post (XJ in place of XF). Sorry !

I am not familiar with forums, especially in english.

 

So what was the cause of it and what damage did your car incur? Did you see any warning messages flashing before it happened?

 

cause : unknown (following Jaguar engineers)
damage : no damage to the car.

Just mental damage (the experience was psychological deadly : gymkhana at 140/150km per hour where the speed is limited at 110 and the traffic was very, very dense).

My wife (and I for less reasons) do not want to drive this car anymore. But we are obliged to (too expensive to buy a new one).

 

It's been said that for these engines that fails, in that the engine destroys itself - over-revs and/or lubrication is too bad (diesel in engine oil). Also that due to the way it's running turning the ignition off doesn't stop the engine.

(I don't know enough about these engines to know how true any of those are and wouldn't want to own one and risk finding out!)

The braking should work and at least the occupant(s) should be able to get out.

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In terms of the 2.7D S-Types not being sold in the USA I understood it just could not meet emissions standards and unlike VW Jaguar didn't cheat.

 

Better a blown engine and ensuing lawsuit with Jag than ending up dead from a collision.

 

True. It would be equally horrible to stay alive but kill someone on the road. Is there a class action lawsuit I could join?

 

Not yet action lawsuit in Belgium for this bad experience.
Still waiting for an answer of Jaguar after formal notice to change this (new) vehicle for another one.
They keep the silence... no reaction, no answer...
It seems that they prefer be waiting until someone will be wounded or killed..

I am waiting for their reaction until it will be enough...

 

I worry about over revving the engine putting her in neutral.

 

That's one reason there's a rev limiter. It cuts the spark.

Diesel engines are different and will probably over-rev, but better that than someone getting killed.

 

Definitely.

 

Just heard back from the garage I will need a new engine. Never again a DPF-equipped diesel for me.

 

First, ask the garage to provide you with a written work order detailing their findings. If they are telling you need a new engine, they determined the cause of failure. You are entitled to full explanation in writing even for warranty work. You will needs this on paper if JLR attempts to cover up this, as "we have no records of this" can easily happen.

Second, I suggest talking with JLR headquaters and insisting they purchase the car back from you. They will attempt to just fix the car, as it is cheapest, but they are a lot more interested in keeping runaway acceleration issue from going public. "Run away Jags" blasted all over news will do a lot of harm to JLR reputation, as such they will work on making you happy in exchange for hush agreement. Since you already posted about this incident, make sure this agreement is not retroactive.

 

The car was manufactured in 2008, so there's no longer any warranty. The garage will have no problem to get me everything in writing but will Jaguar Cars buy back a car this old?

 

2008 is too old for any kind of warranty, however it doesn't hurt to ask. Run away acceleration tends to get attention from manufacturer.

 

I have now emailed JLR with a detailed description of my incident. They got back to me asking for the vehicle's VIN, my location, and the retailer's name which I promptly supplied to them. I will keep you posted on my further progress with them.

 

If this is a 2008...why is it in the 2016+ XF forum? This sub-forum is for 260 models only.

Also, next time: neutral.