I just got the car shipped in this morning and its pretty bad. I had a buddy of mine in Houston check it out and I'm not too sure if he hates me or did a crap job but here are all the issues from minor to major:
1) rearview mirror glass "scorched"
2) headliner sagging
3) radio antenna/mast not working
4) Traction control failure
5) ABS light on
6) Gas smell in the cabin
7) Misfire in Cyl 4 (I pulled the OBD2 codes and it said misfire and bad coil)

It's at the indy across from work right not getting the misfire sorted out. I'm really concerned about 4- 7 as "fixes" seem to range in nature and price.

Gents, I need a good talking to to get me off the ledge...

 

mcm97- Slowly back away from the ledge, do not panic. I can help with # 1
Sybesmas.com- they will take your mirror and fix it up for less than $100. Or call them at (616)-392-6911...sending mine to them while I am working on other issues. They will have it back in a week. Other members will chime in too. Good Luck, now back up.

 

You say the car has just been "shipped in" from Houston to CA.

There's a high probability it's been started several times just to move it around / load it / unload it without being run up to temperature. Running rich when cold and also the battery could be down as a result. All this is perfect for setting all kinds of weird errors.

Having read the codes so you know what they are, clear them, give it a good run and see if they come back before sending the hit squad after your buddy in Houston!

Graham

 

I'm off the edge but can still see the drop. Thanks for the direction here!

 

Get that misfire sorted out and the rest is easy stuff. Good instructions here to help you if you want to fix it up yourself.

My brother's '03 XJ8 had all of those issues and more (except for the misfire).

Get it back and drive a couple of hundred miles and you'll be in love.

 

1 is easy, I would go secondhand but if you can use bigcats guy then happy days, 2 is a pain but doable, 3 is a good thing, stops your car looking like a remote controlled toy, however this could be simple as a fuse, 4 and 5 could be linked to the ABS pump, solder fix, I am assuming XJs suffer the same as XKs, loads of info on that in here, 6 could be a number of things but again plenty of info, 7 you pretty much sorted yourself, if you want to make sure swap it with another and see if the problem moves......

These are not major issues, what is the rest of the car like? How much money are you expected to pay, if it's cheap enough might be worth it......

 

1. This is extremely common. As stated, there are several companies that recondition them, or replacements can be found relatively inexpensively. I just live with it not auto dimming.

2. Unavoidable. The foam that backs the fabric simply breaks down after about 10-12 years and the fabric comes off. They ALL do it. I honestly don;t think there is an X308 with a good factory headliner remaining in the world. You can fix it yourself for less than $100 and a couple hours of effort (I did, turned out great), or most upholstery shops seem to charge about $400 to do it (not the easiest removal in the world).

3. Check the motor connector. They can become corroded from moisture seeping down the mast. Manually pull the mast out and clean it. It will usually give you an error message about the mast if this is the cause though. Mine got filthy from ice and road grime last winter and wouldn't work until I cleaned it.

4/5. Check the battery. When my battery was failing, an ABS/TCS error was the first indication, only thing to show up (besides hard cranking on startup) for about two days as the battery was failing. Go get the battery checked, replace if necessary, top off if not. Otherwise it could be a wheel sensor. Not sure how to check them, but they aren't particularly expensive.

6. Check the rubber boot around the filler neck and make sure the drain is clear. Mine was blocked and so any spillage would sit in the rubber boot and eventually it cracked and so any gas spillage would stink up the interior. I fixed mine with a bicycle tire patch affixed with gasoline resistant silicone.

7. Switch the supposedly bad coil with a known good coil from the other bank, clear the codes with a hard reset, and see if the code changes bank.

Despair not! These are pretty much all common, well documented problems, and shouldn't be hard at all to get sorted. And don't take the hatchet to your buddy yet, most of these (rearview mirror, headliner) are nigh-unavoidable, so he probably just assumed you assumed these were a given and not worth mentioning.

 

First off, this thread is why I love this forum. Great stuff guys!
A quick update:

1) rearview mirror glass "scorched" - I can live with the $100 fix for sure
2) headliner sagging - $500 is worst case...dealable
3) radio antenna/mast not working - I need a $15 new mast. The top is broken but you can hear the motor trying to work. Ordering from BMA this afternoon
4) Traction control failure - no idea yet
5) ABS light on - no idea yet, maybe this will be fixed with the new brakes and pads.
6) Gas smell in the cabin - no idea yet
7) Misfire in Cyl 4 (I pulled the OBD2 codes and it said misfire and bad coil) - this is getting fixed. New plugs, 3 new coils, the air intake hose from the manifold and front brake are all getting done too. The good news is the dealer is throwing me $350 towards the repairs but I'm still in the car for $1000 today.

all hope isnt lost but damnit, you know when you are stoked to finally get something and it shows up and you're let down. Granted, I now know how most my blind dates felt but still...

 

Speaking of blind dates, if the car LOOKS GOOD (except for the headliner), you can look beyond the other stuff. The other stuff is easy to fix in a car, maybe not so much in the blind date!

 

yeah it needs some detailing but its a good looking car.


Go ahead and throw valve cover gasket into the mix today gents. When they were pulling the plugs they noticed oil coating the plugs and saw seepage from gasket.

Tonight, beers will be consumed /Coneheads

 

Hi
Item# 5 ABS light on - warning messages.

Weblink to ABS thread by forum member WaterDragon:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...odd-way-78792/

Here is an interesting fix that I used from that thread - I copied it from my post (post# 12):
"I lowered the brake fluid level a bit below the top about 10 days ago. We have not received any abs errors since

A big thank you for this thread. My wife is a lot happier that she is no longer getting the abs warning and the trac off messages."

Also there is a weblink to the DIY on how to clean the ABS wheel sensors in the thread's post# 16.

Actually it would be a good idea to review all the posts in that thread.

Jim Lombardi

 

Jim
Thanks so much.

Question - when the mechanic is doing these repairs should I have them disconnect the battery so it clears the codes and see what happens when the car starts up again??

 

Doesn't matter if they clear the codes or not. You know what they are, they will likely come back.

The ABS and TRACS are likely related. 9/10 It's the ABS module that needs to be repaired/soldered.

I'm about to do cam cover gaskets as well.

 

Either you or your mechanic should do a Hard Reset.
Procedure is:
Removing the negative battery cable from the battery,
then pull the negative battery cable over near the battery positive cable that is still on the battery
and touch the negative battery cable to the attached positive cable.

Here is the weblink to the Hard Reset thread (look at post# 47 thru 49):

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...d-reset-38112/

Here is a partially explanation on the Hard Reset:
Vehicle ECU's & modules usually have smoothing capacitors inside them between the negative & positive rails, so when you disconnect the battery these capacitors may still hold a residual charge.

Jim Lombardi

 

The overfilling of the ABS tank occured in Sept 2012.
Then I had no warnings or issues after I removed some of the brake fluid.

In May 2013 we started getting a constant ABS warning messages, I had my ABS module removed and had the module board repaired (resoldered the 2 bad solder points).

Bad solder connections is common on a lot of automotive electrical modules (even our 1990 Acura Legend's Main Relay needed a bad solder repair).

Jim Lombardi

 

Day two starts...here we go.

I read the forum all night and wonder if the ABS/Traction control was due to a new battery install and then not driving the car or as I read on here completing the driving cycle. #7 should be done today and after that I'm going to get some gas and drive the car for a bit. Fingers crossed...

And again THANKS for everyones help on this

 

The abs module is a simple repair. I have a 2000 xj8 and had abs/traction light warning.Remove the module and open the case by gently sawing around perimeter groove and solder the the two contact posts where plug makes contact.Note my the solder joints looked intact until inspected with a maginifing glass.there were hairline cracks present.problem solved .Its a simple fix we used black silicone to reseal case.Took less than 2 hrs start to finish.

 

I would drive it around a while and see if the TRAC/ABS lights go away. I get this message immediately after starting my car, but they go away in a second or two. This only happens in the winter, or if I don't drive the car for a day or two. I replaced the battery about six months ago. With my old battery the "check rear lights" would also come on sporadically as well as the other two. Batteries and ground and power connections on these cars can manifest themselves in many ways that often have people throwing money down the crapper in a panic and cursing all things feline.

 

good post! I'm leaning hard that it has something to do with installing a new battery and then immediately putting it on the truck for shipping. Well leaning, hoping...ya know.

 

An update in case anyone cares:

1) rearview mirror glass "scorched" - getting shipped off next week - $100
2) headliner sagging - getting done Sat. Found a guy through a rec at work for $300
3) radio antenna/mast not working - mast is sitting in my bag now!
4) Traction control failure - code cleared, fingers crossed
5) ABS light on - code cleared, fingers crossed
6) Gas smell in the cabin - Still on the tbd list
7) Misfire in Cyl 4 (I pulled the OBD2 codes and it said misfire and bad coil) - done
8) Valve cover gasket - done
9) Front brake - done
10) Manifold intake tube - done
11) Oil change - done

$1000 out of pocket so far. The seller chipped in $355 and my ASC Warranty picked up $300 for the valve cover gasket I'll be at $1400 after next week and then fingers crossed on the gas odor. The next project will be shocks. But I'm going to pause the bleeding from my wallet for a bit and actually drive the car for a bit