Hello everyone. I just bought my 5th Jaguar, this one was sold to me by a friend of mine. This car had sat in a garage for the last 4 years at least and not driven, luckily the fuel tank was almost empty, showing less than 1/4 tank on the gauge. We pumped out what we could and the low fuel indicator did come on the dashboard. We proceeded to put fuel injector cleaner, octane booster and also HEET water remover in the tank and then filled about 10 gallons of fuel. The engine starts right but but hesitates/misfires. There were some misfire codes that came up on the scanner, I replaced all the plugs and all the coils. Only code that remains is P0341 cam position sensor bank 1 out of range. That cam sensor was replaced by my friend. I have read on several Jaguar threads that the "camshaft position sensor" in question is the one at the front of the engine, the VVT solenoid. When i first drove the car down the street it barely moved under it's own power, bucking and jerking. Then I put more gasoline in the tank, and feathered the gas pedal, it seemed to run smoother.... by the next traffic light it was even smoother, and 2-3 minutes later I was doing about 50 mph and it felt fine, However the reduced performance light came on but then went away after continued use. So right now I have that intermittent "reduced power" message/mode coming up and there's a low coolant message. I did smell coolant when it was idling, no overheating or any indication of the temperature rising. Any common spots to look for leaks on the 4.0 V8?? Any clues what may be going on here?? Oh, I also forgot to mention that at times when i step on the accelerator it tries to bog out, then i let go of the pedal and feather the gas and it responds I thought I had read there was issues with the throttlebodies or the position sensor?? Also know about the timing tensioner issues, but at 40k miles should I be worried about any of these timing components? I have it on my To Do list but hopeful that I can drive and enjoy the car first before having to dig in and do the timing component upgrade

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Dan

 

As for the coolant, the valley hoses often leak and you won’t see any obvious coolant leaks. I bought my 02 VDP with 46k miles and it was garage kept. Be prepared to replace a lot of plastic pieces and things that don’t like heat, age or sitting unused. Clean the VVT solenoid electrical connectors first. It could need replacing.

You will most likely have to replace the cam cover gaskets and when you do, you can see if the tensioners have been replaced. I was fortunate that by one day, my motor had the updated tensioners. Yours will be the original style unless already completed by the previous owner. Good luck and post photos!

 

Thanks for that!!! So the P0341 code can be linked to the VVT Solenoid then? I have heard that the connectors sometimes go bad. I will check them! As for the coolant leak I will need to pressurize the system and check everywhere. The valley hoses, are they under the intake? Similar to the "******* hose" on the 6 Cylinders? What about the "reduced performance" would a bad VVT solenoid cause that?

Thanks again

 

Hi Dan
P0341 is Cam Position Sensor. One for each bank is located at the rear of the head. They read reluctor teeth on the rear of the intake cams. They are not the same a VVT solenoids which are at the front of the heads.
The code is indicating that the cam position is not in sync with where the ECU thinks the crankshaft is. A faulty crankshaft position sensor could also give you the code but I’m not sure the engine would run with a faulty or missing crank position signal.

 

funny thing is that the P0341 code comes right back after I clear it and engine is ran for a few minutes. I have replaced the cam sensor already. I guess I will replace the crank sensor also, in case it's on it's way out. I know the crank sensor was a common issue on the older 6 cylinder engines. Maybe same on these v8's

 

Sorry, you’re right. I read that wrong this morning without enough coffee

 

jumped timing?

 

No I don't believe that with 40k miles on the engine. I have spoken to a Jaguar expert here in town and he suggested to check the wiring harness between the sensor and the main harness for breaks. I will do that tomorrow.

 

Unplug the sensor. The ecu can will switch to the crank position sensor to run the ignition timing and fuel injection. If it runs fine, then it's a wiring harness issue. If it still runs poorly, then it's probably mechanical.

Note that it may take a couple of times to start. The ecu doesn't know if the crank is in the first or second revolution relative to the cams, so it'll just choose one and roll with it. Don't crank the starter for a long time if it's not starting, just let off an try it again.

It is still possible to have timing issues at 40K considering the tensioner issues with these cars, but wiring is more likely considering the symptoms. If you can't find the wiring fault in a timely fashion, you can just run without the cam sensor plugged in for a while. I did it for a couple of months with no issues (other than the starting).

Also, just to make sure you've got the right bank, bank 1 is passenger side.

Beautiful car! Never seen those rims before.

 

I think the wheels are called “Crown” but the dark centre Daimler hub caps set them off more than the typical light ones.

 

Thanks for the tips! I will try them. I will also have a visual on the wiring connecting that cam sensor. Yes Bank 1 is Passenger side.

The wheels on this car had a sticker price of $6900 when new! Unbelievable!!! They have color coded center caps with the same pinstriping as the car itself. Very tastefully done

 

I unplugged the Cam sensor plug and then it would crank and not start, When I plugged it back in, fired right up!! So the cam sensor must be good??? Maybe the crank sensor is bad then?

 

The car usually starts without the cam sensor but it takes many tries. You probably just got unlucky. Anyways, I doubt it's a mechanical issue because the car would be running reallly rough which doesn't seem to be the case.
I doubt it's a crank sensor because it'd be throwing a code. Do you still have the p0341?

Follow the wiring for the cam sensor and open the connectors to check for corrosion. I can give you wiring diagrams if you need them.

 

I checked the wiring and it's all "like new" looking. the connector also looks to be fine. Someone said if the battery wasn't up to snuff it could cause all types of codes/malfunctions, but battery looks to be fairly new. but when I bought the car they did have a battery charger on it.

 

Is it possible to have a bad TPS sensor and no codes? The restricted performance message is intermittent still, I cleaned the connector to the TPS, and it seemed to get a bit better but I find there's no/poor throttle response at times. where you push the accelerator and nothing happens, almost like a dead spot in the travel. IS this typical throttlebody issues? Would I be able to replace my throttle body with one off a 2001? Mine is 2000. There are 2 at the junk yard I can take a gamble to see if they work better than mine?

 

Hello again, it's been a while since i last posted but here are what has transpired since the above posts. 2000 XJ8 VDP 4.0 V8.
I brought the car to a Jaguar specialist. I replaced the MAF sensor, this made the car run better, and the reduced performance message comes on less often. Also, it does not really impact the performance as much as it used to.

So here's the mystery: Car has 40800 miles. The Jaguar specialist took the valve covers off thinking he had to do a timing chain/tensioner job. Reported back that the crank/cams were in time. All parts had been updated with the new metal ones. Good news! Well, he then did a compression test and 6 of the 8 cylinders showed less than 100 psi, doing a wet test only increased it slightly. THEN he said the heads seemed to have been removed, he stated most likely the engine overheated at some point. He checked valve clearance and said the exhaust side was ok, but the intake side was "tight". he also found 2 major air leaks, one from a hose under the intake manifold and one at the fuel rail, so he replaced those, and also a small coolant hose that was leaking. The P0341 code was still present. When I first started the car up and drove it around to the back of his shop I could hear a clack clack clack as I was coming to a stop. He said it sounded like a VVT hub/solenoid making noise. The noise went away and never came back after I drove it home. He suggested I put some marvel mystery oil in the crank case and keep driving it. Remember this car has been sitting for most of it's life. The front and rear shocks were seized up!!! Anyone with any insight on what could be/have happening/happened? And how to remedy it if it's possible without major engine work.
One thing I noticed using my Autel scan tool, when the P0341 comes on is when the car is started and left to idle, if I keep my foot on the gas a little and clear the code it does not come back. there is also a P1316 misfire that could damage catalyst. Is this due to a bad VVT Solenoid/hub?? The car drives well for the most part, as soon as it's off idle. At about 50mph it jerks and stumbles a bit but I think this is a bad TPS sensor as I can see on the scan tool that desired and actual values are way different the one to the other. I have ordered a new TPS

 

That which is used, develops, and that which is not used, waste away. One of the worst things that
an owner can do to these cars is let them sit. There are so many electrical dependencies that interact
with one another, that any bit of corrosion can build up and cause electrical issues. Usually you can
free the shocks just by bouncing them a bit. If it were my car, I would tend toward taking the car on
an extended local drive to try and let the kinks work themselves out. You might be surprised just how
much good such a drive may do. After that you can focus on the main things that are left.

 

yes of course, that is what I have done. driven it about 200-300 miles recently. and continue to drive it. I will start with the TPS sensor. I will try freeing up the shocks doing the bounce test maybe jacking it up and quickly dropping it like we used to do "shock test" in the old days.

 

It sounds as though you are on the right track. Let us know please, how you progress. The low compression
on a couple of cylinders is not ideal however I have seen these cars drive for 150,000 miles with that condition,
I would be checking my coolant level often as replaced heads is not a good sign.

 

Thanks RandyS I will do that, we found a coolant hose that was leaking, the one from throttlebody to the egr. Replaced it and the cap of the reservoir. Will keep my eyes on it and report back once TPS replaced