Anyone seen DSC FAULT on the driver's information center while cranking?

The car is a 2003 XKR Convertible. Key in and on SYSTEM CHECK doesn't find any faults...UNTIL I crank.

No MIL present before or after crank. Starts up and drives fine.

Did have to have it towed about 2 years ago because the whole car died. Learned about manually unlocking the transmission so I could push her out of the garage. The Jag dealer asked if "anyone else" had worked on the car (which always makes me feel uneasy -- as I contemplate all the unknown stuff previous owners may have had done).

I digress.

If you've seen this, give me a clue.

thanks,

Ron

 

You need a battery. That's a typical symptom of low voltage problem. Are your windows keeping their memory?

 

+1
Sounds the most likely, especially if your battery is five years old or more.

The Jaguar explanation is less informative. According to the Driver's Handbook the message DSC SYSTEM FAULT is an amber priority warning. The meaning listed is 'report fault to a Jaguar Dealer. The vehicle may still be driven'.

The DSC system in the 4.2 vehicles seems to be very sensitive and throws many more warnings than the earlier 4.0 system. Whenever a DSC fault is displayed it means the vehicle will operate as if DSC was not fitted. I've come to the conclusion it's a shame it can't be switched off permanently!

Interesting question from the Jaguar Dealer about "anyone else" working on the car. Perhaps he was trying to find out your personal level of knowledge on the vehicle or your access to an independent expert?

Graham

 

I was thinking that was the problem, but I wanted verification. The windows have lost their position a couple of times. The battery was unable to crank the car a few weeks ago, so I charged it for 2 days. Probably have a bad cell.

Thanks

 

He never fully elaborated... Just said they found some curious things. At the time the car was under warranty, so I hadn't played with it at all.

Thanks,

Ron

 

I had that exact same issue until I changed the battery. Also had occasional window drop (maybe 1 out of 100 times). All else worked fine, and nothing else seemed to indicate anything wrong with the battery other than it was 7 years old (it was the original Jaguar battery).

 

Speaking of battery life. I've had my 2000 XK8 for three years and no battery issues. The previous owner had if for six years and never changed the battery or had an issue that I know of. That leaves the original owner having it only three years and I'm sure never changed the battery. So the best of my knowledge my twelve year old car still has the original battery. Jaguar may not have done a lot of thinge right but they sure did put in a good battery.

EZDriver