Hi,
I have been looking for a low mileage '03-06 XK8 or XKR and may have found one out of state, however a phone call with the seller revealed that the car has some kind of problem with the cruise control, and I'm looking for input as to how significant/expensive of a problem this might be, or if perhaps it's an indication of further likely troubles. The car has less than 30k miles, so it seems odd for something of this nature to have a defect already.

The seller stated that the cruise control simply "didn't work" and was somehow draining the battery after a week or so. As a workaround, he claims to have removed a fuse to disable the cruise control and prevent the battery from draining. I don't understand how a malfunctioning cruise control might drain the battery, and so I'm concerned that there might be problems other than merely the cruise control involved.

From searching the forum, I've gathered that some likely causes might be:
1. a defective cruise control electronic unit which can be extremely costly
2. a dirty MAFS in need of cleaning
3. a defective switch assembly on the brake pedal

If the problem is #2 or #3, that's not necessarily a deal breaker, however I really don't see either of those as being a reason for the battery to drain.

Is there anything else which might likely cause the cruise control / drained battery problem? Anyone have any other thoughts on the matter?

Thanks,
Rick

 

Rick:

The gentleman really should just get the cruise control fixed before putting it on the market.

Jag cruise controls electonically go thru the ECM. A $70 brake switch often causes problems, but it's not easy to replace. Other problems like CAN ABS/TCM/DCS problems (P1637) disable cruise controls. Some of the cruise control pieces by themselves are extremely expensive--not including an ABS/TCM/DSC module.

I suggest having the OBDII codes read as a start. You'd have to purchase the car at an extremely advantageous purchase price if the cruise control problems are not fully analyzed.

 

If one of the two brake pedal switches are bad, then you'd get a warning on the dash. Are there any errors showing up that you didn't mention?

Also, I think a bad/dirty wheel speed sensor can cause the cruise not to work, but that, too, would give you an error on the dash. It kinda makes me wonder if he pulled a fuse to hide the error on the dashboard.

Like bamaman said, get the codes read. Autozone or just about any other auto parts place will do it for you for free.

 

Thanks for the information and advice; since this might be an indication of other problems and the seller (a dealer) hasn't had the motivation to fix it, I think I'll just pass on this one. It's not local so I can't do very much investigating myself without incurring a travel expense, and after more consideration, I'm not very enthused about buying from a dealer whose idea of "fixing" a problem is removing fuses.

 

If the seller's motivated, he'd be willing to get it fixed. If not too motivated, he might be looking at the car (unsold) a year from now. If this car is an XKR, I'd not give up too fast. Or, tell him to drop the price about $4K under fair market value--to allow room to pay someone to diagnose/fix it. It could be a simple and cheap fix--or complicated and expensive.

 

I'd say he's not too motivated. From the carfax, it appears that this has been sitting on his lot for 8 months now, and he never bothered getting back to me with the additional information I requested.

 

Where is it located?

 

Harrison Auto Sales in Irwin, PA

 

Ole Bobby Rahal was one heck of an Indy driver. He also has a Jaguar dealership @ 15035 Perry Highway | Wexford, PA 15090 | (724) 940-3500. That's where this car should go--22 miles north of its current location--for a full analysis of the problem. Otherwise, Mr. Harrison may as well start planting flowers in the back seat.