Hello,

Bringatrailer has an XKR listed for auction that is less than a couple miles away from me. It is a project car (car needing work with failures). The description says

An invoice from September 2022 indicates that the ECU was replaced in an effort to address a non-functional instrument cluster. The replacement ECU “has failed” and “is locked,” per the invoice, and the selling dealer indicates that the cluster displays a variety of warning lights and messages. The analog gauges do not work, the digital odometer shows 839k miles, and total mileage is unknown. The instrumentation does not work and the gauge cluster displays various warning lights and caution messages, a problem that is said to have developed after the ECU was replaced in September 2022.

I am considering bidding for the car on account of the distance from me. I've not worked on any electrical or electronic issues with cars, before I spend a few thousand on these, what are your thoughts on (a) the likelihood that the ecu has actually failed vs some other reason for failure? (b) any questions I should ask the dealer to gain confidence on a failed ecu vs some other reason for instrument cluster failure (c) how difficult would it be to get a replacement ECU? and how likely that another replacement would fail due to no addressing the underlying cause.

Thanks

 

Its more likely the instrument cluster that has failed rather than the ECU. Just one of many threads on the subject here, along with a link to the TSB:-

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...repair-265687/

By the way, if the car starts and runs the ECU is working.

 

Thanks Dibbit.

 

Curious:- what year is the XKR?

 

whoever was on that repair order sucked and had no idea what they were doing

 

> Curious:- what year is the XKR?
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...convertible-4/

> whoever was on that repair order sucked and had no idea what they were doing
Definitely sounds like that, they seem to have also discarded (or kept to themselves) the original ECU on the car and it is no longer available with the sale.

 

A replacement ECM for the 1998 North American XK8 will need an IMMOBILIZATION SETUP to introduce the new ECM to the CAN bus.

The engine WILL NOT START without the immo-setup.(the 1997 should start as the RFID transponder keys were introduced for the 1998MY Jaguars in North America)

 

To get this 2000 XKR operating you will need to take it to a shop with the necessary software to do the immobilization setup and also replace the instrument cluster at the same time. Then, if it turns over, you may have to replace the fuel pumps and possibly also the chains and tensioners. If you're lucky, the total cost would probably be in line with the market value, but could easily be much higher.

 

From the listing:-

"This 2000 Jaguar XKR convertible is a running-and-driving project"

Which strongly suggests the ECU is fine and it doesn't need an immobiliser setup, just a new instrument cluster, or the existing one repaired.

 

Further down they claim the ECU has failed and is locked. A request was made yesterday to clarify whether the car does run and drive.

 

Cor sold for 13k which I thought was ridiculous given there were no records of maintenance (tensioners / chain / thermostat housing) etc. and came with an un-diagnosed issue. It is crazy/

 

It is a nice looking car though and the winner (comment copied below) sounds like they know what they are doing, so they will probably just swap the instrument cluster for a replacement and have a running car:-

 

Yes, that is true. For me tho, it doesn't make sense when one just as good with no issue sold for 13.5k two days prior. I'd have liked to take a look and see what is up with this car but somewhere around the 8k point the bidding went out of the sensible range and mostly bonkers.