I'm sure this has been covered but I'm just frustrated right now.

I got a great deal on my 99 XJ8 and before I could go to the DMV it gave me a message "STABILITY CONTROL FAILURE"! The car powered down (I also get a "restricted performance" messagee and the engine ran rough. I turned it off and restarted it and it ran fine but a few miles down the road it happened again! I need some help understanding this. I don't know what to do.

I've always wanted a Jag but now I'm thinking I made a mistake.
Can someone please help me with this and help me change my mind about how I feel about my purchase?

Thanks everyone.

 

I used a scan tool and I got a code of P0102. Low voltage.

Here's a string from another forum of what I have done so far.
http://www.jcna.com/forums/view.php?...0&Vthread=6377

 

I experienced a similar problem with my 03 S-type 4.2L after having spark plug tube gaskets replaced. The gasket replacement is not related, but the fact that some electrical plugs were unplugged to do the work is. Your car's diagnostic system has found a problem and placed the car in "limp mode". Shortly after I had my work done, my car did the same on a regular basis. I had to pull over, turn the ignition off and restart several times until the computer cleared the error. Then drive for a while until it occured again. A real pain in traffic. The dealer mis-diagnosed the problem using their diagnostic system and replace expensive components unnessecarily in my case (throttle body), as the problem persisted. I was able to discover that when at idle, if I moved (nudged) a certain wiring harness, the car went into limp mode. It was a poor connection at the harness plug to the throttle body. So I unplugged it, carefully squeezed the female connecters within the plug to tighten the fit and plugged it back in. It took about 10 minutes to do and the car has worked perfectly ever since.

I would have a dealer run a diagnostic to establish where the problem is, but ensure that they run an electrical diagnostic of the component itself before replacing it. There are procedures to measure resistence and voltage levels for the electrical components. Have them make sure the problem is not just an electrical connection problem.

Best of luck!

 

The problem has not come back but as a precaution I will check that. You never know.
Thanks for the info.
Steve