Hello all!

New to the forum, my first post.

I have 2004 XJ8 with about 40k miles and just returned from a 5 week trip.
Heard that while I was gone, there was downpour on almost every day (I live in Miami) and when I went for a drive, I found that the passenger foot area behind the driver was wet! A lot of water there although nothing in front area, only behind the driver's seat.

After drying it with the towel, I pulled the carpet up, let car car idle on the driveway and put the heat on so that the air was blowing under the carpet. While the car was running, I noticed the DCS and ABS light came on, then check engine light and also the parking brake failure...

I have the car in garage now with A/C on and dehumidifier in the garage, disconnected the battery and will let is sit there until next weekend and will then connect the battery and see how it is.

Questions: Any idea where the moisture needs to be for this to happen (trunk is bone dry)?
Can it be the wiring going on the door sill (although it's bone dry also)?
Assuming I get everything dry, will the codes clear if everything is ok or do I need to go to the dealer and have them cleared up?

Any ideas where the leak could be (any know problem areas)? All the seals etc. look perfect.

Thank you in advance!

 

look to the grill in front of the wipers if the drains are plugged then water will back up into the ventilation system. Remove the grill and poke around to unplug the drains. It worked for me. i drove many a happy mile with wet socks.

 

Thanks Joe,

That's what I was thinking too as I usually make sure they're open when I wash the car.
Maybe there's a little blockage and with Miami's recent downpours (it can be like a feet a day...), this could be it. I better check the driver's carpet better in case there's something wet there although by now, after sitting in a garage with dehumidifier etc. for few days, everything should be pretty dry.

Any ideas what could cause the ABS, DCS, parking brake & check engine warnings?

 

Not too sure where all the electrical components are located on your model.
I drive an XJS V12 coupe and there is a lot of circuit stuff under the
passenger floor mat. Cruise control boards and such. Go to Rock Auto or
one of the forum promoted parts sites and find a shop manual. It saves a
lot of grief and answers a lot of questions.

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There's no units under the passenger floor, not even wires except ones going into the front seat.
I need to get the manual and see where it is although I am taking the car to my friend who is a Jaguar mechanic so that we can hook it up to a computers, read codes and hopefully clear them.
If everything fails and I need a new unit (I'm 99% sure all of the problems I'm having are caused by same unit that controls all of those problem areas), insurance should covers it since it's water related problem. I do have a $1000 deductible but I'm sure if I need to change the whole unit, it will cost an arm and a leg...

 

I tried from Rock Auto and everywhere in internet but couldn't find shop manual for 2004+ XJ8's? Only older models, anyone know specifically where to find one?

Little more info regarding finding the leak...

I washed the car and yes, it leaks. Water started to slowly enter the left side passenger foot area. There is a beam where the front is bolted and it seems that water is coming from under there although not sure if it also comes from the back of the rear floor area.

I looked at the drain pipe and took it off & cleaned it, will try to hose & locate where water enters but I have a suspicion that it might be drain pipe related. I had my car in 50k service recently and after that, the leak started... When I looked underneath the car, where the water from drainpipe is/should come down, the plastic/fiberglass piece is broken. Whether that makes any difference or not, I don't know but when I put a lot of water to the windshield, water from the drainpipe doesn't only come down behind the front wheel, but it also finds it way into the rocker panel and is seeping out from there and also from those little holes on the plastic floor panel under the car. Is that normal?

If someone is washing the car in near future, maybe you could check and put water down the drain pipe and see where it comes out, this would help.

Anyways, the car is all dry now and I will try tomorrow to locate where water enters the car, if I can find that, it will help me to figure out the leak.

I was thinking of taking it back to the dealer who I believe broke that piece which might've caused this leaking problem (car has never leaked before and it started after the service...) but I'm sure they'll just deny everything and will charge me a ton to fix this problem.

Once I can stop the leak, I'll start figuring out the error codes.

 

Hi,

For technical info jaguar have a thing called GTR (think it means global technical resource) which you access via Jaguar website. You can subscibe for a day (£10) and download lots of info using a thing called cute pdf.I need to do this myself-I have registered and the site is not very good but you have to persevere with it.
Apparently the system goes down for maintanence every Sunday and you get 2 days for the price of one!
Regards water ingresss i am only guessing but I would suspect water in a wiring connector.

Bob

 

Thanks Bob,

I'll look into it today (since it's Saturday). It would be good since you can download them and use then later on.

Today I'm trying to find where water enters the car...

 

Hi guys,

Just to let everyone know, it was the sunroof that leaks...

Somehow from there, the water enters through the rear pillar under the rear seat, and then from there to the passenger floor area.

Car is now all dry, no mold, mildew or anything and no smell either so all that is good.

Now I need a new seal. Tried to look on-line to no avail. so the call to the dealer is needed.

Probably won't be a big deal to change, anyone done this?

I have to say, even though this is Florida car (so under the sun basically 356 days a year), only 5 years old and the seal is leaking, not very good.