Aloha, I'm in Hawaii, my Brake pads are worn as are my tires.I was told by a non Jag mechanic I could take my 2004 50K miles Jaguar XK8 to any Brake place for a repair n tire change. I am skeptical. What do my fellow members recommend? Thank you in advance for generously sharing your experience with a rookie, JD

 

There's nothing unusual or much different with your brakes that any skilled mechanic couldn't handle. Being that the ABS light is also on, the repair is not just brakes and tires though.

 

Agreed. Get your OBDII codes read before you proceed with further repairs....

 

Thank you both. What does it mean when the ABS comes on that makes it more difficult? How do I get OBDII codes read? I'M in Kona Hawaii. No Jag mechanics here. Could send to dealer in Honolulu but it get's damaged in the shipping. We have some good guys that work on old vets n Porsches but not Jags. Should I ask them re brake work. Previous place disengaged my left side gears and S Button but Brakes r more critical for me right now. Thank you for sharing and helping,
JD

 

Do you have auto parts chain stores such as Advance Auto Parts, Autozone, and Pep Boys near your location? They will typically read your OBDII codes for free. In my neck of the woods, Advance Auto Parts has the most capable code readers (meaning they are more successful at reading the codes of niche vehicles such as Jaguar)....

 

The ABS is an electromechanical system most of which is independent from the rest of the brake system. A regular tire and brake shop may/may not be able to assist, but again Jags are not that different from any other car.

 

Unless there is a foreign car specialty shop on the island that has Jaguar software it's unlikely any one is going to be able to read the C codes for the brake system.

If you intend to keep the car it might be wise to invest in the Autoenginuity software with the Jaguar add on for your laptop.

There may be a program available for your phone that reads C and B codes, but one of the other members will have to assist, I am clueless.

 

Let me tell you a little story. I was having intermittent TRAC off/abs/vsc off and on problems. I now have a 2000 BRG XKR paperweight. Even the XK8's have more than enough power to case loss of control.
I was turning right after stopping at a red light. As I turn for the 90 degree turn the TRAC vsc lights came on and off. I had started letting the electronics do the work and was relying on them to catch any loss of traction. I live in Daytona and it was on and off misting. There was fresh painted white crosswalks (we all know how slippery that is). It was as if the TRAC abs vsc was fighting me, I turned the wheel, fed it throttle and ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE! WiTH the TRAC off, reads spun up FAST! I tried to correct but the as I backed off the throttle the engine almost died, turning into the slide was impossible. Then the engine came back up, the steering wheel spun fast and I over corrected. I wound up going backwards at about 20 mph (and yes that seems slow) and stuck the sloped, low divider for the two left turn lane heading the opposite direction. The rear and front hit the slope. The rear slid on my side the front had just enough momentum to slide up and down the divider impacting a Ford Escape's door at the A pillar. Not too bad I thought, just a cracked RF headlight. TO MY HORROR THE FRONT WHEEL OF THE ESCAPE STARED DOING A BURNOUT AND EVENTUALLY STUCK AND LAUNCHED! I SAT IN HORROR WATCHING THE BUMPER SUPPORT (under the bumper cover) OPENED THE LEFT DOOR LIKE CAN-OPENER UNTIL IT IMPACTED THE B PILAR FRONT DOOR LATCH, PUSHED ME OUT OF THE WAY AND I WATCHED MY HOOD BUCKLE AND THE WHOLE THING MOVE TO THE LEFT AN INCH. SHE (the other driver) had mistakenly stood on the gas and after impact. She hit the Chrysler 300 in front at about 35-45, TOTALING IT!
The culprit was the technician that installed the pads before I bought it had pushed the ABS Sensor wire back up through the inner fender panel and just pulled back enough to connect it. It bound up when I turn the wheel sharply and pulled the sensor away from the sensor ring. This cased the TRAC control off and on and off in a rapid series of inputs. It (the computer) thought it was not working correctly and shutoff totally after fighting with me for control.
Awaiting parts, gonna cost a mint.
A word to the wise, take it to a Jag technician and have all the sensors checked, the abs computer checked, the hydraulic abs pump rebuilt and replace pads and rotors. Or sell the car, citing the problem to the next owner.
IMHO

 

Let me tell you a little story. I was having intermittent TRAC off/abs/vsc off and on problems. I now have a 2000 BRG XKR paperweight. Even the XK8's have more than enough power to case loss of control.
I was turning right after stopping at a red light. As I turn for the 90 degree turn the TRAC vsc lights came on and off. I had started letting the electronics do the work and was relying on them to catch any loss of traction. I live in Daytona and it was on and off misting. There was fresh painted white crosswalks (we all know how slippery that is). It was as if the TRAC abs vsc was fighting me, I turned the wheel, fed it throttle and ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE! WiTH the TRAC off, reads spun up FAST! I tried to correct but the as I backed off the throttle the engine almost died, turning into the slide was impossible. Then the engine came back up, the steering wheel spun fast and I over corrected. I wound up going backwards at about 20 mph (and yes that seems slow) and stuck the sloped, low divider for the two left turn lane heading the opposite direction. The rear and front hit the slope. The rear slid on my side the front had just enough momentum to slide up and down the divider impacting a Ford Escape's door at the A pillar. Not too bad I thought, just a cracked RF headlight. TO MY HORROR THE FRONT WHEEL OF THE ESCAPE STARED DOING A BURNOUT AND EVENTUALLY STUCK AND LAUNCHED! I SAT IN HORROR WATCHING THE BUMPER SUPPORT (under the bumper cover) OPENED THE LEFT DOOR LIKE CAN-OPENER UNTIL IT IMPACTED THE B PILAR FRONT DOOR LATCH, PUSHED ME OUT OF THE WAY AND I WATCHED MY HOOD BUCKLE AND THE WHOLE THING MOVE TO THE LEFT AN INCH. SHE (the other driver) had mistakenly stood on the gas and after impact. She hit the Chrysler 300 in front at about 35-45, TOTALING IT!
The culprit was the technician that installed the pads before I bought it had pushed the ABS Sensor wire back up through the inner fender panel and just pulled back enough to connect it. It bound up when I turn the wheel sharply and pulled the sensor away from the sensor ring. This cased the TRAC control off and on and off in a rapid series of inputs. It (the computer) thought it was not working correctly and shutoff totally after fighting with me for control.
Awaiting parts, gonna cost a mint.
A word to the wise, take it to a Jag technician and have all the sensors checked, the abs computer checked, the hydraulic abs pump rebuilt and replace pads and rotors. Or sell the car, citing the problem to the next owner.
IMHO

 

The brakes on these cars are pretty simple to do yourself - why waste money on a garage when you can do all 4 disks and pads in 2hrs yourself.

If you are unsure of what to do, download and install the JTIS that you can find on the sticky of this forum and all the instructions that you could ever need are there.

The ABS fault could be anything from a dirty sensor to the ABS pump failing. Give the sensors a cleanup while doing the brakes and see if the problem still exists. (is your battery still good ? Common cause of abs/traction control warning is a weak battery, these cars are very sensitive to weak batteries).

If you decide to do the brakes yourself and hit any problems just ask on this forum. I'm sure all the guys here will be willing to help out.

 

amen to the weak battery .....will cause all kinds of beasties to appear. can buy a good code scanner on ebay easily,pads and having the rotors turned is relatively easy.2 people makes it easier as the tires weigh a lot.while its apart clean the sensors and the plugin connections.

 

Hi JD,

Welcome aboard.

For the most part, the systems that make up our cars are not overly exotic compared to other upscale cars. Replacing the pads and turning/replacing the rotors are completely basic maintenance. DO NOT go to a dealer for these. Any decent back yard mechanic (i.e., most of us) can do these easily. If, after having some local shop take care of the simple stuff you still have the ABS anomalies, "then" more sleuthy efforts would be called for. At this point the forum is a great starting place.

My intermittent ABS problems were caused by the front wires not having enough length from the tie wrap on the upper control arm to the sensor on the wheel. Whenever I turned the wheel fully, it would tug on the connector and momentarily break the connection. I just relocated the wires with a little more slack. It's been a long, long time since I last had an ABS light. Some problems, though unbelievably frustrating to diagnose, may be just that simple to fix. Don't fall prey to jumping at expensive repair options until you absolutely have to.

Take a look at many of the Videos here and read some of the How-Tos to get a feel for what others have managed to do for themselves. Tackle some easy things for yourself and gain familiarity with the car and confidence in yourself as your skills (and tool chest probably - lol) slowly grow. All of us started at "zero" once. Most of us WITHOUT the internet!

The horror stories you'll read about, such as Kulddy's, though rare, are genuine and should be not be easily dismissed. I parked my car for a month to repair a rear hub after reading one these. I realized that if the situation worsened quickly, while I was on a cross country his circumstance could have become mine. Normally I would have just nonchalantly driven the car until it got to an inconvenient level of annoyance. I also changed a weeping oil cooler hose after reading what could happen if it burst while in a turn a mere highway speeds. But most things are just not that imperative.

Don't get scared. Just be smart. And avoid spending money you don't have to.

Above all else, ..... ENJOY THE CAR!!!

 

That is usually a mistake.