Started the XKR up Sunday morning and after idling rough for a few seconds the check engine light came on. Took it in today and was told the thermostat needed to be replaced. This was just done a few months ago. After the work was done, I was told that the thermostat housing was slightly warped, which could have caused the failure of the recent part, and there was a new one on the way. Should be installed in a week or so. Could it be that the rough start, idle problem has finally been tracked down? Time will tell. Service dept. at Barrett is great, btw. Very courteous.

Paul

 

Did the rough idle ever cause the XK to stall? Just curious. I had an issue tonight with a rough idle causing the car to stall and then difficulty starting....just trying to problem solve.

 

No, the car never stalled. Just idles rough for about a minute when cold. I was having a weird starting problem a couple of months ago where it seemed as if the starter was hanging while starting, but that has gone away (around the same time the thermostat was replaced the first time). Who knows...

 

Bought my '06 S Type last week and have driven it less than 30 miles. This morning the engine light appeared. The car was driven to Nashville from Lexington, KY and all was OK. With only 30K on the car, this seems a little odd.

 

I just had a similar problem with my 2009 XKR Portfolio convertible. The Check Engine light came on today, so I pulled over to make sure the gas cap was properly fitted. A loose or defective gas cap can cause the check engine light to come on. Although the light didn't go off, the car ran fine; smoth idle, plenty of power, no noticeable difference in performance. Since the light stayed on, I took the car in to the dealer and they diagnosed it as a stuck thermostat, which they replaced under warranty. The Parts Manager told me this is a fairly common problem and they keep a supply of thermostats on hand. Just fyi...

 

I love my XKR BUT if these type problems are "quite common" why doesn't Jaguar do a proper recall and FIX the problem. Would go a long way in customer satisfaction! By they way I just received my 2011 Buying Guide from Consumer Reports and they certainly do not like Jaguar. The only Jaguars listed were S type and XF and they were rated (predicted from earlier data) "much worse than average".

 

They should include a diagnostic reader/ reset as a bonus lol

 

A rough ide at start up would not have anything to do with a thermostat (at cold start up anyway). I had the same thing happen on my XKR at start up (rough ide and then engine light). I hooked up a dignostic reader and it posted a code that was something to the effect of....wait for it...rough idle. Anyway I cleared it and no more problems. If a thermostat is bad it will usually either stick open..or possibly stick closed (I have never seen this happen). The open is usually harder to reconize but amaazingly the cars do have the ability (had a BMW that did this...although it ran just fine but would not pass emissions due to engine light from a posted code...engine took too long to come up to temperature...ie thermostat stuck open). Now a thermostat stuck closed can become a problem real fast and generally does not happen as it appears that manufacturers have managed to essentially create what appears to be well designed fail safe system (at least I haven't had one stick closed...always open).
Back to the original post...still not buyin a rough idle caused by a sticking thermostat...unless maybe, the car was hot...in that case strike my comment above about well designed systems...the thermostat was probably in fact sticking closed.
and the engine was smokin hot...
So was it hot or cold when started?

 

My sad experience with thermostats is that they stick closed. There are some aftermarket thermostats advertised to fail "stuck open", and they are expressly advertised as such.
There is a very simple way to determine if your thermostat is stuck. The motor will be very hot. The coolant temp gauge will tell you this. But, the radiator will be comparatively much cooler. Just touch the radiator to determine.
I once had a stuck motorcycle thermostat in Tonapah, NV. There was a NAPA store there. I removed the OEM thermostat and the NAPA folks were able to match it with a Toyota thermostat, which was cheaper and better quality than the OEM. My point is that thermostats should be lifetime components. If Jaguar thermostats fail regularly, then find an interchange fit in the aftermarket. It will be much, much cheaper I am sure someone will do this.

 

A particular problem with the late model XK series and a real gripe i have with them...no coolant temperature gauge (not sure about other models of recent vintage...all the other models I have had or currently own are older) . Truly a travesty of what I would consider a minimum gauge to have on any car especially a performance car such as my XKR...but alas Jaguar must really believe we as users just don't need that information (rather sell us a new engine I suppose)...When I drive my XKR I long for my older Jag models that all let me know when they were burning up with a nice gauge...admittedly only right before...but none the less at least I could tell what was up (in that 5 seconds from red to dead...:-)

 

When I first got my car it was throwing an evaporative code every tank of gas. It got to be a pain going back to the dealer every time only to hear they couldn't determine the problem. I ended up just buying a code reader/resetter saves a whole lot of traveling. Also found that my car will throw codes if you top off the tank on a fillup. Since I stopped topping off the tank it hasn't had a check engine light in about a year.
I also agree on the lack of temp gauge. I can't belive that I actually have a jag that I can select 1st gear on and actually handles well on the track but doesn't have the proper gauges to let me know if things are about to go bad.

 

You can easily add a coolant temperature gauge function with a ScanGauge, an UltraGauge or any gauge that connects to the OBDII port.

 

Why would they do a recall. The thermostat doesn't stick, what happens is the seal flips in the thermostat assembly. The thermostat is a three piece assembly. Maybe brake pads should be recalled, they wear out too.

 

Funny you should mention the ultra gauge I was going to order one as they are dirt cheap and should do a lot for easing anxiety on a mid-summer trackday. Have you used one?

 

well....I would guess that Toyota says (I spose I should put it in past tense "said"...) the same thing about accelerator petal mechanisms. It is only my hayseed opinion but I find it hard to believe that car manufacturers (dealers as their representative to us) in this day and time of light speed communication directly between owners (such as here in this forum) still put up such a fight when there are clearly issues that are recurring and most assuredly design/manufacture/quality related. It will become more and more difficult for them to sideline individuals and more and more likely that some class action lawyer will intervene. I don't mind a dealer stepping up and fixing a problem but I also know that dealers (I have to believe it is fostered or at a bare minimum sanctioned by manufactuers) can create a huge problem where there was none. I have gone fists to cuffs with the dealer over the glove box mechanism (not a big deal until they tell you it will be 700 dollars for you to fix a car that is almost brand new)....and then to add insult to injury right in this forum there were at least 4 or 5 people that chimed in that they had exactly the same problem I did after I had this experience at the dealer basically telling me to kiss off...FYI the issue was that the hydraulic damper that slowly drops the glove box lid just one day stopped working (read as broke) and allowed the lid to slam open...

 

Once again the thermostat comes in a three piece assmebly. The top base, the two springs, and the bottom base. You have to assemble it into the thermostat hosing on the top radiator hose side. It attaches under spring pressure in the housing. The top base hooks in the housing a certain way. The chances or finding a aftermarket vs. OEM that would work is probably pretty slim to none.

 

Im not sure that I agree about it being a big deal to find a single piece aftermarket or for that matter what excuse there would be for a problem thermostat in new cars. Let's face it if there is a problem than there aren't too many things besides oil related problems that can escalate faster than a thermostat/coolant related issue. The Jag engine is a derivative of an american design (the old buick engine that in its day was I believe the first engine to derive 1hp per pound...quite something back when it was created) and although it is a good engine it has had its problems over the years. The multiple piece thermostat if at all like the prior years (I have not had my XKR apart but i have had many other previous jag models apart...) then there is in fact a single piece replacement available. As an interesting sidenote you can use a lot of ford/lincoln parts (as well as aftermarket parts available to these vehicles...tho I would be careful especially on something as critical as a thermostat) as they also used the Jag engine in some of their vehicles...so if you need certain parts look to the ford thunderbird V8 (it I know the ford part is a three piece as I used one) and if I recall correctly maybe some versions of the lincoln LS as well. I do also believe these are in fact designed to fail open as some of the discussions point out is much preferable to failing closed....

 

This is a followup to my 11-11-2010 post. Here we go again!

The check engine light came on yesterday, 6-7-11, so I called the dealer and made an appointment to bring my 2009 XKR Portfolio in this am. The technician diagnosed the cause as a defective catalytic converter (surprising at just under 30K miles; just one side, not both), cleared the code and ordered the part since it wasn't in stock. I didn't notice any difference in driveability, either before or after the check engine light came on or after the fault code was cleared. Repairs to be done under warranty; to be continued...

Anyone else have a catalytic converter failure with under 30K miles?

 

^^^^cant comment on your issue but I do know that theirs a federal warranty on catalytic converters, So regardless of the vehicle being under warranty or not they (your mechanic) should cover the catalytic converter as long as the cars is under 8yrs old & has fewer then 80,000miles. Just some info that may come in handy for a few. GLW your fix. keep us posted.

 

This is to followup on my previous post, above.

My dealer didn't have the catalytic converter in stock, and had to order it. It came in last Thursday, and was installed Friday, 6/17/2011. I thought my XKR ran fine before the catalytic converter was replaced, but WOW! was I wrong! Low-end power off the line is now scary fast! The old catalytic converter apparently was clogged up, partially blocking exhaust flow and creating backpressure, which adversely affected power. I didn't notice it happening, since it occurred over time. But the ECU noticed, and lit up the check engine light. Thanks, ECU! City MPG has improved noticeably, too - from under 14mpg to over 16mpg; more power plus improved fuel economy.