On Monday the dreaded restricted performance light came on, accompanied by the amber engine warning light. I just couldn't seem to get them to go off, despite parking up, switching off, then restarting, and I was 5-6 miles from home.
I parked up while doing a little shopping, and on returning to the car, started it, intending to drive home and park up until diagnostic reader could be found, but noticed all warnings had disappeared. It has run several days without probs. Today however, (Thurs) it has happened again, warnings on, and won't go. Car seems to go quite well though.
Have others experienced this phenomenon, and where is the most likely place I should be looking? i.e. Is there a common cause for this occurrence?
Can't seem to get hold of a diagnostic reader, so probably dealership is next stop. Any ideas guys? Thanks

 

Rich, there's no reason not to invest in a cheap OBDII reader, you can at least log and post the codes. It could be one of hundreds of things right now.
I've used this one for fast reading on various cars
U581 Car Diagnostic Fault Code Reader Scanner CAN OBD2 | eBay

 

A code reader is important when you have a Jag. Also, if possible, have your battery load tested. It's amazing how many members have had restricted performance and various codes when the battery was at fault.

 

Autozone usually reads the codes for free! And, I agree that anyone trying to keep a ten + year old car of any make needs a code reader. I think a good one like AutoEnginuity with jag extensions is well worth the $$.

 

I just bought an Autel MD702 , sees the generic and vehicle specific codes, for our Jags, engine, ABS and transmission. Live data too, covers a lot of European cars, Bentley and Bugatti included.
I had some similar issue, it was the throttle body, P0121 ,finally changed it, now it works OK.

 

Update so far. Took it to Jag dealer Friday morning. They diagnostically tested and could find nothing, couldn't get it to re fault so carried on trying all day. At about 4pm they called me to say they wanted to keep the car over the weekend and try again Monday (today), and gave me me a nice almost new Citroen (C40 ?) loan car.
About 4pm today they called to say they had found the fault, an ign coil pack.
As they have to order it from UK mainland, it won't be poss to fit it until Tues or Weds, but meanwhile I could keep loan car.
The original Diagnostic testing was quoted at £86 +tax at 5%.
Coil pack quoted as £140 (ish)+tax (fitted)Can't remember exactly.
Total cost for everything £240.
6 days use of a loan car + up to 16 hrs diagnostic testing, + valeting (they always do a valet for all service customers) for £240 quid -wow, seems not all Jag dealers are bad!! I don't think you can beat that anywhere. Well happy.

 

Oops- add "supply and fit coil pack" to that cost breakdown.

 

Well Richy, it sounds like you go off pretty easy. I have a code reader that I keep in the car, hooked up monitoring coolant temp, fuel trims, o2 sensors and throttle position. It has saved me a couple of times. I can read the codes and reset while sitting at a stop light and research further when I get home. Getting home is the important part. It an UltraGauge BTW. I also have a RealGauge. Around these parts, the dealers and the tow truck drivers are just salivating like a pack of wolves when they see a Jag.

 

No disrespect Richy, but you could have saved yourself a fair chunk of the money if you had a cheap code reader. I had a very similar intermittent problem.
1) bought cheap OBD2 scanner on fleabay : £12 approx (dont laugh it works)
2) read codes :£0
(jaguar code reference I used :
Jaguar Check Engine Light DTC Trouble Codes)


3) checked reading by swapping coils and comparing codes : £0
4) installed new coil : cost of coil ( I changed all 4 on the bank with cheaper after market units - watch this space for future rant....)

My point is that the codes are historically stored, the dealer should have picked them up straight away whether the CEL is on or not (I stand to be corrected here...? when I read the codes I had 2 different coil failure codes, due to the fact they got swapped around some time earlier when I cleaned the connectors, but only 1 was "bad" - how long are the fault codes stored for I wonder...).
I accept that not every owner is comfortable with tearing down the ignition components , but at £86 for the diagnostic alone buying a cheap scanner is a must.
Anyway glad you got it sorted without a re-mortgage, maybe the relief alone is worth the money !

 

I bought the Auto Enginuity OBD2 reader and it did not work at all until I spent the
extra $250 for the enhancement. Now it is a GREAT tool. The basic readers won't help with airbags etc. You WILL spend the money now or later, might as well do it early.
Doing it right is less $$ in the long run.

 

Solid post - the main point for Ritchy is the knowledge and long term savings. There is a certain piece of mind with main agent work it's covered by warranty and at that price it's worthwhile. But when it comes to more complex items such as a throttlebody or labour intensive work like replacing timing, then it get's way too heavy!

@ Ritchy -Are there any independent Jaguar specialists on Jersey? Are there many Jaguars there?

 

with SEAN B on this, the U 581 although it sounds like a german submarine is an alright basic code reader that is cheap as chips, but for not much more (less than £20.00 inc p&p) if you have a android phone get a blue tooth ELM 327 and download the torque app (even the free version is better than U 581) but if you have a I phone get the ELM 327 WIFI because I have not found a I phone that will work with blue tooth version. ( these are only my own experiances ) hope this is of use to you .

 

Hi all. I have the U581 on order. When it arrives, it will be kept in the car with me, fear not!!
Sean, there are not, as far as I know, any Independent Jag specialists on the island, and although I seem to see many Jags, many of them seem to be other marques than the XJ8. The amount of money hiding here tends to buy later, more expensive models. The number of £Mn, £Bn aires and just plain very well off people, never have cars more than 1 yr old, and they don't give a d**n how much servicing costs, any probs they just trade in and get another. Andrew, my phone is a windows phone, I don't know if that would work with those apps, but I probably wouldn't know how to use them anyway, I'm no spring chicken after all !! Thanks for that tip though.
Sean has grasped the situation perfectly. The sheer relief at £240 rather than £2K which it so easily could have been is immeasurable. And the point I was making was that I don't think I could have got better from any servicing centre, let alone the main dealer.
May I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their input and help. It is so good to find so many helpful and knowledgeable people, soready to pass on their learning to others. WTG everyone, I'm so very grateful to you all.

 

There seems to be a preference for the bluetooth versions of the ELM327 devices. That is likely because of the ability to use it with Torque on a Android device. The software that comes with the generic devices is dismal at best.

However, it is possible to get a package consisting of good software and a generic ELM327 type device from scantool.net in a usb format for $49. That solves the frustration of trying to pair bluetooth devices.

The next leap up is straight to a J2534 passthrough device in the form of a Mongoose JLR, whether genuine or not. That lets a user run at the dealer diagnostics level.

The time has come and passed for Autoenginuity et al since they can cost as much as a Mongoose setup and do less.

 

Oh Heck, the saga continues.
Got a call from dealer today to say car would be ready for collection at 5.15 pm after valeting. Fault corrected, all running well, no problems. THEN, got another call at 4pm to say don't collect car, light came back on and they want to look again.
I do hope they find it soon, I'm beginning to despair. My previous elation seems to have been a little premature.
BTW. Is there a provision for sending pvt messages on this site ?

 

plums;
I respectfully disagree that AE's time has passed. Unless the JLR software has improved drastically, it is much slower, and painful to use for display of paramaters than AE. I have and use WDS, IDS and AE, and have not used the Mongoose arrangement.
Obviously, there are functions and configuration downloads that AE cannot do.

 

@sparkenzap

If someone already has an autoenginuity system ... it is without doubt more capable than a plain ELM327. But, it is less capable than a Jaguar SDS/IDS system.

For those who do not have a system yet and want something beyond a generic reader, then given the comparable cost, or even lesser cost, a Mongoose based Jaguar SDS/IDS system is the better option. The operator can then see and do everything the dealer can because it is the same system. The only limitation is certain engineering functions which require a authorisation code issued by Jaguar Tech Support over the phone on a case by case basis. Only authorised dealers can get those codes.

Speed is not of great concern to most potential users on JF because they are not doing this professionally day in and day out. If they want to buy multiple systems, that's fine. But, if they want one tool that has all the capabilities, then SDS/IDS is the only choice.

Some of the techs who post here use alternative systems when they want a quick readout, and for that they depend on generic dongles like the scantool.net device to get powertrain codes and do resets. For other operations they are right back on SDS/IDS on a VCM or Mongoose.

The interface on SDS/IDS may be a bit convoluted for some tastes, but it is by no means slow. Even on an Intel Atom based tablet running Win7.

 

Just left click on the name of the member and select the 'send pm' option.

 

I cannot disagree that the mongoose is a good solution, since I have no direct knowledge of using it. I continue to take exception to your asertion that "IDS/SDS is a better solution" than AE with Jag extensions. Again, I have and use both.

No doubt you are familiar with Real_Tech's rant concening IDs that is a Sticky in the General Tecnical Help Forum. It is accurate and funny as hell.

The slow I am referring to with the IDS is both the update time (resolution) on when charting multiple parameters on a trend and the time to navigate the highly non-intuitive software navigation. especially if you do not use it everyday. they nav is nothing like Windows conventions most of us are used to.

One more thing... It may seem a little old fashioned, and I am not one to give many soapbox preaching sessions, but there are still those of us that reject using pirated software and rip off designs. Stealing software is no different from pocketing a tool at the store.

I fully agree that you are lacking the ability to change certain parameters with AE, but other than doing the TPS calibration and the Lambda re-orientation in an XJ-6, I have found little use for that feature. And as to programming modules, if you do not have access to the database keys, you will probably not have a lot of success anyway.So, I recommend anyone trying to decide which software to purchase, should attempt to find someone close by and try it out for themselves.

 

As you like. On the other hand, I also remain convinced that given a single choice for dealer level advanced diagnostics beyond a ELM327 device ... SDS/IDS is the clear winner on the basis of capability and compatibility. AE can do some things, but not all things. So, there is no point in paying for the AE hardware, the base software, and then having to purchase the Jaguar specific upgrade.

There is also a rant from yours truly floating around somewhere. But, that does not detract from the fundamental point that it is the only officially blessed diagnostic package.

And some people loath certain pieces of software or certain operating systems. It has nothing to do with ultimate usefulness. They just personally do not like the menu arrangement or some other factor. In fact, the IDS software interface is very similar to Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups 3.11, predecessors to Windows 95.

As for charting lag, it may be down to your use of a VCM rather than a J2534 device. The Mongoose is a J2534 device capable of reading the Canbus at wire speed. There is also the fact that certain models of Jaguars use a protocol that limits update speeds to a maximum of about 10 updates per second. Any of the 4.0L engine models fall into this category. It wouldn't matter what software or hardware was hooked up, that is a hard limit imposed by the protocol selection.

Further, for logging power train PID's the generic obdlink devices from scantool.net are probably one of the fastest out there. They can grab canbus packets at wire speed. It is then up to the software to get it off the dongle before buffer overflow. It requires custom software. Some people have gotten 500k/sec rates out of them.

There is no requirement for database keys, saving only the special operations where even dealer techs must obtain a one time use key from Jaguar Tech phone support. These keys are generated after the tech reads off the one time challenge displayed in SDD/IDS to the support tech.

My preference for logging is a obdlink from scantool.net, for diagnostics I use SDD/IDS exclusively.