I'm on my 2nd XKR. I had an '11 and have a '14..
I had the E-Diff light come on in my 11 and it wouldn't let me go into dynamic or winter mode. You couldn't feel or hear anything wrong. Sometimes the light would go off and allow me to engage those modes. Then the next time I got in the car it would be back on. The dealer ended up replacing the whole differential. Not just the motor for like 4600 or something, under warranty.
Now I'm having the same issue with my new car and I haven't got my appointment booked but I'm expecting the same thing. The light came on after a fun day hitting corners aggressively in the Berkshire Mountains. No warranty this time, so I'm probably screwed.. what's up with this differential in these cars?

 

The E-diff can overheat quite easily. Certainly on a track day you have to try really hard to NOT make the light come on. Even on fast road driving, I have overheated it more than a few times. Once it cools down, the light should go off again. Mine always has. I find overfilling the diff by about a 1/4 of a liter helps and so does changing the oil every 20k miles.

 

Yeah this happened last Sunday though. The light actually went off for a start up Monday night. The car went into dynamic mode and everything. Gave her some good pull and went well. The next time I turned the car on it was back on again. This happened with my 11 for as well. My jag dealership is overwhelmed constantly so I won't know for a couple of days what's wrong. However like I said. The light went on and off with my last for too. They still told me my differential was fried. I'm really hoping it's not the case. I'm not financially prepared at this moment to replace a 4k+ differential out of the blue.

 

It could be a temperature sensor fault - about $30.00 or the clutch motor that is bad around $750.00 for that. Jaguar wont service the diff, just R & R. There is nothing fancy inside the diff, any specialist could repair it as long as they can get the necessary parts.
Let hope the sensor is bad or you are a little low on fluid.
What is the deal with Jaguar dealers, they are always backed up and 80% of the time don't even return your call to schedule service or warranty work. ?

 

Mufc..
Thanks for making aware of those options. I can use that as firepower of knowledge hoping they would more liable not to lie about the damage. Makes wonder if the last differential was actually smoked being as the car drove great.

As for the dealership issues. I'm not sure if it's the same everywhere but at mine in Albany NY.. It's a matter of not keeping mechanics due to the payscale and expected work output. Even when they do get new hires they need to spare weeks at a time to send them to training. The turn over rate is high

 

Interesting as I use Albany Jag and so far have not had any issues with them. Maybe because it just been oil changes and fixes like glove box and wheel alignment. So far been good to me with service cars and also delivery to my home 75 miles away.

 

I'd never discredit them on their service generosity. Jagtoes.. Chris treats me like I'm his most important customer. As I'm sure he does most clients. They've gone out of there way many times to help me out. Last year they out me in a land rover for 8 weeks when a recall update locked my ecu. The issue right now is getting me a car. They said the 28th of July but he's trying to finagle me one for right now. They are however constantly overwhelmed with repair and maintenance work. Especially to have to book me nearly 3 weeks out just to look at a differential fault

 

Lots to say, but I already said it elsewhere... take a look at my thread on the forum about my warranty, which details my own adventures with an E-Differential-- ending with it's replacement:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...y-ever-184802/
(the bad news: had my warranty not covered it, I was told it's a $9,000 - $10,000 differential)

 

Well that's terrifying. I wasn't going to be able to afford the 4,600 I thought my last one had cost on my 2011 xkr. I'm truly hoping it's something lame. I'm not getting any hop drag or whining. Doesn't mean it's fine though

 

Well on the flip side both indie shops I spoke with (who suggested I go the dealer route first) said they could crack it open and try a rebuild/repair - which Jaguar won't do - to keep costs down.

 

I may have to by force. Three days in a row I've left voicemails with no reply. I might even try a performance shop. Powerhaus performance in jersey got a rwd ftype s into the mid 10's by porting the supercharger about, adding meth, nitrous, and tuning the jag. If they can do all that. They probably could handle a differential. All speculation of course. I'd rather have a jag tech tell me something first. If I could ever get one to look at my car. I'm wondering if I was under warranty would it be easier

 

I was told by my dealer's sales manager in person someone would call me next day to schedule a cosmetic repair..nothing...then I called to follow up after not hearing for 4 days and he apologized and said he'd walk right over now to have someone follow up with me...it's been 5 days, and nothing. You have to wonder.

 

If you can do Jersey, can you do CT?
J & J Car Care Center Inc. - expert auto repair - Westport, CT 06880