Hi i'm a newbee here hope i can get some help. I just bought a 2000 XJ8 vanden plas. I bought it with the motor removed and only limited info. Said they couldn;t get it to run so they were going to replace it. Not the sharpest tools in the drawer. LOL any how i have replaced the engine and have it running I assume that maybe it was "washed down" and lost compresion when it was starting. When i bought tha car the owner said that the mecs. were confused by the valet system. Any way now the engine purrs like a kitten except it say that its in limp home mode. I don't have coolent in it yet since they broke and cute some lines that i am currently trying to locate. Also it seems to be stuck in valet mode.... seats, trunk, radio, nothing will opperate. i have disconected the battery, to no avail.will the low coolant cause it to stick in valet mode?, or do i have deeper troubles. Is there a sorce where i can find sceematics of the valet system so i can trouble shoot it. Is there a modual or is it part of the main computor system. Sorry for the long post!

 

bricklin,

Been looking for my 'vatel' all morning.

You've posted this in the XK8/XKR section instead of the XJ (X308) XJ8 / XJR section so it's had plenty of views but no replies so far.

Good work getting it going but you need to be careful about running with no coolant. The V8 overheats very quickly and serious damage can result.

First approach on troubleshoooting the limp mode problem is to read the codes.

It's a while since I had my 2001 XJ8L but as far as I can recall, the valet button only locked out the luggage compartment (the green valet key won't open this because it's a different cut pattern) and didn't affect seat memory etc. Valet mode should cancel when the vehicle is next locked/unlocked with the remote fob.

X308 section will be able to advise on where to look for schematics and part numbers for the coolant hoses you need.

Graham