Hello Jag Men,

1999 Vanden. (with 2001 AJ Engine)

Vehicle is dead. No crank, The only light is the little red blinking security indicator by the shifter.

I tried disconnecting battery, charge up battery, manually locking and unlocking, to no avail. I don't have a key fob, but I do have one from the engine doner car.

Car ran fine and I was able to solve problem by disconnecting / re connecting battery. I suspect the problem may be related to manual pulling up a rear door lock button.

I'm at wits end. I'm considering swallowing my pride and towing it to locksmith / dealer. $$$

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Jeff xj8

 

The X308 should be about the same as for a X300 in which the BPM sums up the enables ( ignition key , security , trans position and such ) to provide a ground command to close the starter solenoid relay , place finger on relay and feel for click and not sound

This splits starter circuit in half , the other half the health of the starter , battery and power cables

Never place battery in backwards , positive post fwd , and never over tighten the battery positive post bolt , splits nut underneith

 

See page 37

All of your enables are on the left side of the BPM in the print , so in the end the provided ground on the right must make the starter relay click closed

X300 99/E COVER

 

Use one of your other keys if you suspect the immobilizer is at fault?

 

There is a " Hard Reset " of the security back to zero state if it got hung up some place

This involves more than just positive battery post removal and may not be valid as an option on the X308

 

THX Fellas for the quick responses,

Motorcar, I tried the other key and, nothing, What's the immobilizer?

Parker7, THX for the manual, it's way over my head. The starter relay, is that the symptom or the problem? If the security system has shut the car down, will the relay still click? Hard reset? (Is that touching the battery cables together?.)

When I turn the key nothing, at all, happens, silence.

Is there a way to check the function of the BPM and each of the enablers to isolate the problem. ?

Thx fellas, I appreciate the time and expertise

 

Every North Amecican Jaguar from 1998 onward has an RFID 'chip' in the key and a 'reader' in the ignition key barrel.
If a Jaguar ECM has a DTC of P1260, that means that the key is NOT RECOGNIZED.
Sometimes one key becomes 'rejected' but the others are recognized.

 

+1 ^^^ on Bob's advice re P1260 . . . place to start and definitive.

OTOH, if the chip reader surrounding the ignition switch fails, the car will NOT recognise any key.
This has not happened for me on any Jaguar, but it did happen on a modern Hyundai some years ago.

Drove me and our brilliant locksmith entirely witless, until we replaced the entire switch module.
Once done, we didn't even need to reprogram anything . . . it just began working again!

Cheers and best wishes,

 

What Bob and Ken are highlighting is more commonly known as TRANSPONDER.
There is a transponder pill (chip) in each key and there is a transponder-pill-reader in the ring around the ignition lock.
E.g. a buggered wiring to the ring could be the culprit - ... like many other things, too.

I don't know if that helps, but I did this on my 1998 X308: Because I did not like the key to be separate from the remote (I like the flip-keys), I got myself the security module of a 2003 XJ8 and put this into my '98 X308. That way I could get 4 complete keys for the car (the separate old remote is very hard to come by).
The transponder-pills and the remote of the 2003 system can all be easily self-programmed at home - no gadgets required.

Note 1: The X308 has the longer 8-digit Tibbe-key. I did remove that blade from the plastic-grip and incorporated it into the flip-key, which normally houses the shorter 6-digit Tibbe blade only - but a bit of filing plastic away and it just fitted in. Those flip keys were available from cheap online sellers.

Note 2: If you want to do that, but your actual problem is the wiring of the transponder ring, you still need to fix that wiring first...

 

You need to find a locksmith who can reprogram both keys. You will need to call around to find one who has the software needed. Otherwise you local Jaguar dealer can do it or an independent repair shop.

 

The chip in key decoder / transponder / exciter ( 1 item uses many terms for same thing ) The item is located very near the ignition barrel with the barrel loop antenna and it must be powered as the first step

See on page X

The fuse is in the trunk and must pass through the BT - 4 connector which is above the fuel tank and should have a tie wrap on the connector lock bar otherwise this connection can be compromised ( must show voltage as well as adiquant current to properly operate )

 

From the jaws of defeat.......back into the jaws of defeat...kind of

A buddy asked if there was a parasitic draw on the battery, if the negative terminal sparked when disconnected.

I disconnected and quickly tapped the negative terminal to the negative post and it chirped and came to life, started.

After a nice ride I parked it ....tried to restart it and....dead again, little red light flashing

I repeated tapping the negative terminal to the negative battery post, chirp, back to life.

I'm gonna clean any grounds I can find. I plan to go to a locksmith and get a fob (from another car) programed for this car. I currently have no fob for this car.

Can I assume that the issue is not with the key nor sensor? Do any of you guys have any further ideas in the light of this developememnt?

Thanks for the advise and encouragement, some all the was from Australia!

Jeff xj8

 

The battery is bad or the wiring from the battery. FOB will make no difference, FOBs on 308s do not play in the starting process.

Scroll up a few threads to: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...arging-295482/. and review those suggestions.

Also, download the PDF that Don provided in post #6 of that thread.

 

Thanks Jhartz for forwarding the info and putting me on the trail.

I called several dealers, they will not touch anything over 10 years old.

Locksmiths don't want anything to do with Jags. ( Nor, I suspect , that may be a challenge or may take some time)

Anyone know "a guy" in the MD, PA , VA area?

I attached a battery tender and the little red light changed from a slow blink to a fast blink. Anyone know what that means?

I If anyone has suggestions please advise.

Thanks, jeff xj8

 

Jhartz,

Thanks, I followed the outline you sent.

Battery had 12.1 V

I disassembled, brushed and sprayed all the positive side cable connections to all five fuse boxes, the junction box in the trunk and the false bulkhead connection and he battery terminals and negative strap ground. ( I did the alternator and engine ground strap when I put the engine in, a few months ago)

To my very pleasant surprise, it powered up and started and continues to start no problem. I'm very happy. I hope it continues.

I don't understand why a low amperage situation would engage the security system to shut down.. I guess maybe the bpm isn't getting the proper signal from somewhere.

I'm going to keep it on a battery tender and disconnect the battery when it's parked from extended time.

I'm so glad I didn't have to pay a dealer or locksmith.

Thanks everyone for the help, any further suggestions are welcome.

jeff xj8

 

Not sure where in Maryland you are located (Bethesda is where my draft board was located): but you need to find a reliable independent. My local dealer also has flaked out on cars over ten years (makes me want to sue Checkered Flag or JLR North America). But I found a local independent that HAS THE SOFTWARE to trouble shoot and re-boot software dependent systems. He can barely keep up with all the Land Rover, Jag, RR and Bentley business that has opened up.

Having owned three X308s (and tons of Land Rovers) since 2000, I have found this forum unbelievably valuable for almost all issue: but every now and then you need real specialists whom you can reach out to. In addition to Abacus Racing, here in Virginia Beach, there are a couple of others . . . it has become a cottage industry.

Another trick: at some point, with the age of your car, you will see issues that may bite you: view this forum regularly and when someone has posted a document, download it and build a library. In 13 years, I have pirated 30gigs off this site. Frankly, these are no more difficult than any other Ford. A printed instruction or diagram often is all a good tech needs to convince him how easy they are to fix.

 

A fully charged battery is 12.75 volts so increments below that has large effects on battery power

Open cell on battery ? Pound side of battery ( wood block ) with a meter on it showing change in voltage indicating the lead substrate structure is broken causing an open , only takes 1 of 6 cells to do this and the auto parts store can do this for you

Never install battery in backwards , positive post fwd , a dealer / shop can make this error so your eye ***** on it

 

If you're near Rockville, Try Master Auto.