Hi all, I'm Robert and I'm new to the forum. I'm really interested in getting some advice on a problem with my 2003 XJ8, 60K mileage.

Up until a few months ago, I really hadn't had much of any problems with this car. Then, a fuel pump started to fail and I was having trouble getting it started. I had the fuel pump replaced by the dealer, Gaudin Jaguar here in Vegas. A few months later, the same problem! They covered it, this time at no charge, as it was a faulty part.

A week or so ago, I was driving at about 45 MPH in normal morning traffic on a city street. Nothing out of the ordinary at all when suddenly the car just shuts off. The dashboard was blank, power steering and brakes were disabled. I heard a fast, high-pitched beeping noise, like the one you hear if you try to shift the car from Park when it's off.

I was so stunned, I don't remember much more from a diagnostic perspective. I know I tried instinctively to signal to pull over but the signal light didn't work.

I brought the car to a stop in the shoulder. Moved the gear shift to Park, turned on my hazard lights (which did work), turned the ignition to the off position, then turned it back on immediately. The car started without hesitation. I continued my drive to work normally.

Naturally, I took the car to the dealer who, after a review, told me they could find nothing wrong with it.

I'm really at a loss as to what to do next. I love my car, it has low mileage, and, most importantly, it's paid for but I don't relish the possibility that me or my wife could experience the same problem again on the highway after dark.

I've scanned around the Internet and read of some similar problems, but nothing seems conclusive.

I'm not sure what my next steps should be if the dealer is telling me that they can find nothing wrong.

I very much appreciate any guidance.

-- Robert

 

Did you have a check eng lights or any codes?

 

This was a common problem with much earlier cars associated with the throttle body. In fact, Jaguar replaced a bunch of TB's. Haven't heard of such problems in cars past '01 or so.

Another past issue is the power relay feeding the Engine Control Module.

I assume that the dealer did not retrieve any codes in their check (?).

 

any other 'power' losses, like radio, climate control...could have been a total power failure, i.e. electrical feed loss. Testpoint has you on the right track, the ECM was the first thing that i thought of, seems to be a more common issue on the 4.0 engines, but not the later model years as testpoint mentioned. That is a very difficult problem to diagnose. There are other threads in the xk8-xkr area if you want to read some of the other owner symptoms to get fully informed, just in case it is the ECM.

 

Can i switch instrument clusters from 98 xj8 to a 03 xj8 ?

 

Strange attachment to a thread about complete running failure.

The answer to your question is; only if the part number and /xxx extension matches. Probably not.

 

You should see if the shop pulled any codes and I am sure they did. When you say the dash was blinking, what part of the dash was blinking? Did it say Check Eng, Failsafe or Restricted Performance? Did you lose all power to the car, did the radio, A/C / Heat go off at the same time? With the engine shutting down you would lose power steering and power to the brakes.

 

Thank you all for your quick and kind replies.

Unfortunately, the mechanics at the local Jaguar dealership could find nothing at all wrong with my car. There were no fault codes detected.

Just to clarify, the dashboard on my car didn't blink, it just was off (i.e., the mileage display wasn't there anymore). My signal lights didn't work and both the power steering and power brakes didn't work. Truly, it was as though the car was off.

As for the high-pitched beeping noise I heard, this can be reproduced by starting with the car in the off position and then slightly pushing the gear shift out of the Park position. Just wobbling the gearshift slightly out of Park (while the car is off) results in the high-pitched, fast-paced beeping noise. I presume that this is normal behavior for this model.

I appreciate the insights into the potential issues with the ECM. I am going to look for a Vegas-area Jaguar-authorized mechanic (rather than the dealership) to see if they can pursue that line of thinking.

Again, thank you for your insights. Any other thoughts you have would be appreciated.

-- Robert