Ok, so I was on my way home after a late night run with a buddy to WaWa and I hit a pot hole the size of a canyon...but all I can tell you is that it was big enough to blow all of the air out of the tire (I found no hole though after a thorough inspection? just a welt and an inch dent in the wheel lip...I hope thats it...but continue reading) and it tripped the friggen inertia fuel-kill switch!

The whole car died...lights, gauges everything...as I was rolling to a stop the entire car seemed to reset itself, doing a "system check"

Once stopped, I had the following displaying:

-ENGINE FAIL SAFE MODE
-GEARBOX FAULT
-ASC NOT AVAILABLE
-BRAKE FLUID LOW
-SUSPENSION FAULT

thats all I can remember at the moment. But I was towed home after the police came to help me and AAA.

When the tow came, the car was still in Fail Safe Mode, so it was stuck in park. (I didnt know about the switch at this time, I was just panicking and didn't think to consult the owners manual, I know, retard). the guy did the only thing he could just to get me off of the road (I was stuck where there was no shoulder), he winched me on to the flat bed in park, and off upon arrival.

It was then I discovered the inertia switch so I reset that and the car came back to life, with no CEL, or no warnings on the display.

I changed the tire to the spare, drove it around the block and nothing seemed out of the ordinary at all. ASC worked fine to tackle the small iced puddles laying around. No creaking or knocking in the suspension, pulling, crooked steering wheel...all was normal.

Transmission shifted fine, in and out of all the gears, up and down.

I'm still going to take it to my Jag shop to have them look at the suspension and pull any codes just in case.

So here are the questions...what can I be possibly looking at in terms of damage factoring all of the details above?

The biggest things I'm concerned about is any suspension damage (I kinda doubt it because these cars seem to be really well engineered/designed mechanically like a 'tank'), but most of damage to my new transmission after the car was dragged on and off the flat bed in park).

Should I be ok? I think there could be issues if the pothole was big enough to impact the inertia kill switch and kill the car temporarily (it's funny, when I was in an accident in my mercedes, the car still started right up so it didnt have that, but the cop's old personal 92 Mercury did...)

Speaking of the cop, on the better side of things I had an attractive female cop help me out and I told her that it was on my bucketlist of things to accomplish: I've always wanted to be pulled over by an attractive female cop and tell her that she was attractive, ironic since all traffic violation stops they make they probably get the worst reactions (but thats the humor lol)...so she kinda made that complete...

so a night full of mixed feelings of and

 

And you didn't even get arrested!
Seriously, If the park pawl, the thing that locks the transmission, wasn't broken, then there is almost nothing likely to be screwed up in the gearbox. No impact loading was done- you can't push a nail in a board with a hammer, right?

There are plenty of things you could have bent or broken, though. If it still drives right, and the alignment can be put in spec, and nothing is "loose", the only thing worth looking at would be the transmission mount,

 

The sound that it makes when you hit one of these is really frightening - I feel your pain.

I would not concern myself with any of the warnings that came up - all the fluid sensors got bumped and having the flat will set many of the others off. I'm not sure what sets off the suspension warning ? I would reset them and go from that point.

The wheels can be fixed -- but often getting one used is cheaper. I have used the place in Bath, PA for both fixing and replacing. What dealer do you use - I have purchased "take off" sets for $300 - $400. The cost of one new replacement wheel is often more than the cost of another set.

The tire needs to be fully checked out and a general going over of the suspension -- I broke a shock one time on a pot hole.

 

FYI I believe the car can be manually taken out of park by insuring the key into the small hole by the shifter.

 

I pretty much agree with everyone else here, with the exception, throw the tyre away, it has had it.

You might not notice anything now and it might re-inflate onto a new rim, but there may well be some unseen internal carcass damage which could cause it to let go when you are travelling at speed in the future.

The slow speed winch in park onto the truck should not cause you problems, if ever you have a 'next time' make sure that you also set the handbrake on hard, this will help protect the transmission, whilst the car is being dragged, and get the guy to winch from the rear, helps lift the weight off the rear wheels.

 

Ahhh the beauty of driving on the east coast with its terrible roads. I have bent two rims on huge pot holes in my car. The tires never blew out which is kinda weird, they just had a huge bubble on the side. I bought a used rim from a salvage yard in Mass. for $150! It was in good condition too. I found it on some national database of slavage car parts.

The crash sound these cars make when they bottom out the suspension is kinda scary.

How is the snow treating you in the XJ? The snow has been terrible in Mass. It was embarassing to see a POS Geo Prizm driving up a icy hilll that my car was struggling to get up.

 

So you know not to startle a big cat! it thought you were upside down?

I'd agree with all said - had a similar 'role of fortune' on the display with a tiny misalignment of trans, so I agree with Spark on the checking the mount, and realignment. Replace like for like with the bent rim, once bent it's not worth risking if you can pick a good s/h one for $100.

 

Cool beans guys. Thanks for all the input. I'll be sure that my Jag shop looks over everything, including the transmission mounts.

I've never had a car stall on me like this before. It was just a wild experience.

Snow is actually not that bad for my car because my tires are pretty darn excellent for what they are. I've only gotten stuck once and that was because in haste to keep going in deep snow trying to get home I found myself perched on top of a plow drift by accident.

These cars aren't terrible in the snow as long as you have right footwear and know how to handle a car in the snow.

The pot holes though are something else. NJ is way too crowded, our government is broke so when they fix the roads, they're "cheap fixes" and the amount of snow we're getting...it just makes for a crappy situation all around.

 

I agree! Pot Holes are a big issue here in the UK also. I have to straddle lanes near to where I work because of the Trucks in & out the docks have torn the roads up after the snow.

I drove my XJ in the snow without issues, they are OK if you drive to suit the conditions. I have Falken Tyres on mine, pretty good and can insert snow spikes should I wish! :P

 

What tires do you have on your car? I think this winter in Boston is the most brutal on the east coast. We keep getting covered in snow and ice. There are alot of neighborhood roads that require a truck to drive down.

I'm looking forward to warm weather. I have a friend with a Subaru wrx (non sti) that wants to race, and I want to race against one of those huge S500 Benzes from the late 90s. Btw I'm not impressed with that car's interior. The technology it has is impressive tho.

 

I parked my XJ8 here (Boston area) in December and won't drive it for another month or so, until the snow and (especially) salt are washed away. The potholes are the worst, though, and I wouldn't want to inflict them on any sort of a nice car. I can't imagine a Jag or any other nice car as a "winter beater." The potholes increase especially in late Feb and March, because of the freeze/thaw cycles.

 

I have Falken ZE 912 tyres of the same size of the standard Jaguar size. They are pretty good and grip well. They are quieter than the Pirelli tyres, I found them to be too noisy on long trips on the motorways.

My Boss in his Porsche Boxster got a shock at how well these jags will go from a standing start when he tried to play silly beggers after work!

 

you said ur running the standard size tire for the car next time you get tires you may wanna go down to a 245045 60 gives much better handling. I use to run the Michelin Pilot Sport, but went with Eagle GT when I replaced them a few weeks ago and much nicer ride with the wheel base being so wide and long. Much better corrnering now and excellent snow and rain handling.

 

I have Michelin A/S Pilot Sport Pluses, A/S for all season. They were top rated on TireRack and Costco had them on sale so my father was very nice enough to help me pay for those because he said he didnt want me to get into another accident.

I made a thread reviewing them in the tire section and so far they're pretty darn good.

I'll definitely be looking into the Eagle GTs. Did you happen to have the regular summer performance Pilots or did you have the A/S Pluses?

I originally had the summer Pilots and they were good until...well it dropped below 55 degrees. The A/S Pluses are softer but have an equally if not more aggressive tread for harsher weather. They're much quieter and ride better, but handling does soften but only very slightly...I mean VERY slightly.

BTW here's the bend in my rim.



It appears most of the impact was absorbed by the tire which was good because it was shot.

What do you guys think?

 

The place in Bath PA can do some amazing things -- they were one of the first to get into the straightening business. I took a mercedes wheel up to them -- it had to be the late 80's -- and they fixed it the same day.

Evidently as long as the wheel does not have any structural damage - like a major rip or crack they can fix them.

I have also purchased wheels from them. In many cases on the common wheels it is easier and cheaper to get one off e-bay or a wheel supplier and not have to work with a rebuilt wheel.