......bring on the divorce. Sigh....it started out as a love affair, the way it should be. Now she is lazy and lethargic, just sitting there in the driveway, refusing to move. Lol, anyway here's the issue:

I was driving home Tuesday night and drove over a small snow drift, I was only going about 15mph, as it is in town. Just before I pulled into the driveway, the battery light came on and I noticed the voltage gauge was reading low....Hmm, it's late and dark outside...better check that in the morning. I went out to start her up and all she does is crank. If I hold the gas pedal to the floor, she will fire for a few seconds then stall out. When it is running for these few seconds, the battery light no longer illuminates and the gauge reads normal. When it stalls out, I can hear the EGR valve venting or something. It makes a very loud hissing noise, very loud, like it's venting into the atmosphere.

It is getting fuel, and spark as far as I can tell (I pulled the lines off the fuel rail) and I also pulled the plugs, expecting them to be wet from from flooding, but they too were OK. I removed/cleaned/reinstalled the crank position sensor as well. It sounds as though the timing has been knocked off or there is a massive vacuum leak. Is the EGR supposed to make a hissing noise? I am at my wits end here......Before this issue reared it's ugly head, the car had been running as smooth as silk.

Any thoughts? Anyone have a similar problem that they were able to resolve?

***edit: I forgot to add, I have a code reader and it comes up clean

 

Also, the EGR valve isn't leaking where it actually bolts to the intake manifold. The sound is coming from the bottom of the main body part.

 

I wish I could say I have an idea as to what happened, but I don't! It sounds as though something were knocked loose or perhaps bent and cracked open...?

If you're now sure of where the noise is coming from, I'd begin a close inspection and removal (if necessary) of the problem part. If any question about where the noise source actually is...pinpoint it first with an assistant.

Hope you find and fix it quickly! I'll be curious to learn what you find.

Best wishes,
Bob

 

The battery light probably came on due to the alternator taking a face full of snow and ice. It is slung in a bad spot for wet/snow driving especially if the shield is missing. Check that the wiring is still connected to the alternator and that it is turning freely. Check the belts too. The hissing might be coming from the fuel pressure regulator releasing pressure that you normally wont hear with the engine running? Hard to say until you pin point just where the sound is coming from. Inspect everything under the front of the engine for damage. And just so we know, exactly what model and year are we talking about here? X300 encompasses several different engines etc.

Cheers!

 

Sorry, I thought it would show up in my sig. 1997 XJ6 4.0 liter. Yes, I have checked the alternator for any loose wires and everything seems fine there. As for pinpointing the sound, if I place my fingers under the canister/body of the EGR, it muffles the sound.

 

Cold snow on a hot EGR or exhaust could crack it. If you have an exhaust leak the car will not idle properly.

 

No, the snow drift wasn't that big. I tried starting her again a few minutes ago and it ran quite a bit longer with some vigorous gas pedal mashing, so I may have it narrowed down. Even though I was getting fuel through the line yesterday, maybe there just isn't enough pressure, so I picked up a new filter today (surprise-surprise, my small hic-town autoparts store has it in stock ). I'll put it on tomorrow and we'll see what happens. I don't have access to a pressure gauge, but I should have enough parts laying around to MacGyver one over the weekend.

 

The hissing at the egr leads me to suspect deeper exhaust problems. As in a cat that is blocked? A good bump can dislodge the contents of an old cat and it ends up blocking the exhaust. Or it might just be a leak at the egr gasket or lines? Check where it connects to the throttle body as well. Maybe the line got crushed? Sometimes internal scale can dislodge in the exhaust and also block the flow. Check the main exhaust header to lead pipe gaskets as well. Use an oven mitt to avoid burning your hand and listen for changes. The silicone ones are great for this. Also loosen and re-tighten the two air blower lines going into the exhaust headerl. The system probably took a jolt. I am hoping it's just a gasket somewhere.

And a product called PB Blaster will be of great help in loosening exhaust bolts. Works great on stuck, rusty bolts that experience severe heat cycling.

 

A quick follow up: If the exhaust system is blocked, you will get a hissing sound at the weakest point in the air blower and egr system as the exhaust is being pressured back through these systems to atmosphere. The car will likely run very poorly even at idle. It will also tend to blow out weak exhaust gaskets at the headers above the blockage. Excessive leaking in any of these areas will be a strong indication of a blocked exhaust. All depends on whether the exhaust took a hit during the snow drifting incident. (Sounds like fun)

Anyway. Just some ideas. Hope it helps.

 

Blocked exhaust was the the reason for the EGR hissing. Both mufflers were full of water which froze because of the inclement weather. The snow had nothing to do with it at all, unless someone intentionally packed the mufflers full out of spite. I almost hit the garage floor when I saw the rooster tails of water spurting out and was preparing myself for the worst.....coolant scented water...WHEW! what a relief, just plain clear water. I drilled a small drain hole in each muffler (which should have been there in the first place) to prevent future water accumulation. I also drilled a small inspection hole in each of the intermediate mufflers and they were dry, so the water entered through the tailpipe.

 

How odd to have that much water/ice in your mufflers.
Glad you got her going though!

 

Yes, which leaves 2 possibilities...either it was a practical joke (could have been an expensive one) or the person whom I purchased the car from was careless when he washed it and inadvertently squirted a ridiculous amount of water into the tailpipes. Either way, I haven't had the issue since discovering it.

 

Yet another marker to put on one's motor car learning curve, (which lasts until one is too old to drive, I suspect !)

 

That actually has happened some times for me aswell when i worked as a Jaguar mechanic.

We drilled small holes in the reaer mufflers at the bottom closest to the wheel on all cars to prevent this from happening.

And i think the water in the mufflers are only from condenstaing water (hot and cold alot)

 

Good that you seem to have solved the problem. Fingers crossed.