Common issue. What year of car first of all. Please put your info in your signature line (see the Control Panel to do this).

If its an older XK, it most likely is the ABS module and an internal short. Repair process is on the forums, check out the FAQ thread at the top of this particular forum subsection.

Wheel speed sensors being dirty is also a possibility, and sometimes damaged harnesses or sensors themselves.

g'luck with diagnosis.

 

Also, its forum etiquette to head over to the New Member area, read that stickied thread about new membership, and then start a thread so we can all properly welcome you to the group!

 

It's probably dirty wheel speed sensors. Look at the FAQs. It's about the second or third thread down in the stickies at the top of this forum.

Here, I'll make it easy. Start by cleaning the wheel speed sensors as described in this thread. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=37434

If that doesn't fix it then you most likely have a broken solder joint on a module up in the engine compartment. There's another thread somewhere that describes how to fix that problem, but try cleaning the wheel speed sensors first. It's easier, and it will most likely fix the problem.

 

It's fairly common to have this message, I had it last week. Cars like these that may not be daily drivers sit more and when the voltage in the battery gets lower, this message is triggered. Often once th ecar is run awhuile, the battery charges up and th emessage goes away. The other problem is dirty connectors on the ABS unit and sensors. Try spraying them with electronics cleaner if the battery isn't the problem. The older models sometimes have a melted solder joint on the ABS motor part of the circuit board in the module.

 

I performed the sensor cleaning procedure that Reverand Sam posted. A very easy fix that didn't take too long. I hope it solves my intermittent warning messages. I'll test it out tomorrow. It was also a good opportunity to clean the inside part of the rims.

 

Yeah... what you described was a textbook example of what happens when the sensors get dirty. I'll bet H20Boys's pink slip that that fixes the problem.

 

Hey guys,
The sensor cleaning procedure did not fix the problem. I drove the car last night and the warning lights came on during the last part of my trip home. It does not affect engine performance, so I think it's and ABS only problem. I assume solder joints are the next area I should look at. I do not have an code reader, so maybe a trip to my local auto parts store is also needed to determine if there are any error codes in the system. At least I have not been in the "limp home" situation.

 

The solder joint fix is rather time consuming and involved. Get your codes read at the auto parts store and see if that tells you anything. When I had the problem I never had any stored codes and the way my code reader worked the engine had to be off with the key on. As soon as I turned the engine off the codes went away, so I was never able to get a reading as to which particular sensor was giving me problems.

Before ripping out the ABS module to repair the solder joint, have the auto parts store check your battery. They have a machine that tests it under load. It might look fine with a simple little volt meter, but it might fail a load test. If the auto parts place says the battery is weak or marginal, then replace the battery and see if that fixes the ASC error. That would be much easier than the ABS module fix, and it would really suck to open up the ABS module and discover that there's nothing wrong with it.


On a side note (quit reading now if you have ADD. ), when my wife and I took our 7000 mile trip out west I got the ASC error two or three times, and this was even after cleaning the wheel speed sensors. I thought I probably had a broken solder joint in the ABS module that I was going to have to deal with when I got home. Then while driving across Kansas one night my headlights were flickering. It was barely noticable at first, but it got worse the longer I drove. Then I went to flick on my high beams and everything went black! The instrument panel, the headlights... everything. At the same time there was a "thunk" in the transmission and a split second later everything went back to normal except I had the ASC error on the dashboard and a "Gearbox Fault" error, too. The two errors cycled back and forth. I wasn't quite sure what the problem was, but the car seemed to be running fine, and I didn't want to risk stopping on the side of the interstate late at night and then not be able to start the car again. I continued to drive it another 20 miles or so to our hotel. When I turned off the enginge and restarted it everything was fine. The errors were gone. I drove the rest of the way home to North Carolina over the next two days with no other problems, but I was driving during the day. I was thinking that it was "just one of those things", but then one evening my wife and I went to dinner and on the way home it was dark so I was using my headlights. The headlights started flickering, and then the ACS error popped up on the dash. Two days later I went out to start the car and the battery was dead. I thought that maybe I had left the GPS on or something, so I jump started it. Two days later it was dead again. I replaced the battery, and since then I haven't had a single problem.

I think the transmission "thunk" was also caused by a weak battery. Someone on the forum said something about the transmission having a good deal of electonics in it. It has solenoids and stuff that control the shifting. My weak battery in Kansas probably caused the transmission/ASC errors. I've had ZERO problems with th car since I replaced the battery a month or so ago, and my wife and I have driven it on a couple of 350 mile weekend trips.

Soooooo... Get the battery checked before cracking open the ABS module.

 

FYI Its my understanding that a standard code reader will not pick up ASC/Trac faults as these are Jag speciffic sensors. I just bought an autoenginuity scanner witht the hopes that it will specifically tell me if I have a pump issue or wheel speed sensor issue.

 

This is a nasty problem in that there are three distinct things that go wrong often enough to qualify as prime suspects: a cold solder joint in the ABS box, an intermittent open circuit in the wiring to one of the wheel sensors, and dirty sensors. The last two of these can occur of course with any of the four wheels.

If cleaning the sensors does not help, there is an easy way to distinguish between a "box" problem and a "wheel" problem and, if the latter, to figure out which wheel is in trouble. The first thing to do is open the big 25-pin connector at the ABS box and test resistance to the wheel sensors. The connector pins involved are these ("live" sensor pins first, sensor ground pins second).

RF: pins 3 & 4
RR: pins 6 & 7
LF: pins 17 & 18
LR: pins 21 & 22

There is a helpful picture of the connector layout on page 26 of the JTIS electrical guide (at least for MY '01).
Note that this picture is a MIRROR IMAGE of the connector side that leads to the sensors.

Readings of ~ 1k ohm on each sensor are normal (if I remember right) but for sure all four wheels should read about the same. If you get one wheel way off from the others, you have more than likely found the problem, or rather narrowed it down to the wiring and sensor for that wheel. People have resolved "wheel" problems by re-seating connectors, replacing the wiring harness, or replacing the sensor for the wheel that's in trouble.

If all wheels read alike, the trouble is in the contacts within the 25-pin connector (unlikely), or within the ABS box.

In my case, it was the "box" problem. I removed the ABS box, per instructions found here ... http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/jaguar/jaguar_xk8/8501721-1.html , cut it open and found a cold solder joint exactly as predicted here ... http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/jaguar/jaguar_xk8/9290833-1.html . (I'm assuming it's OK to reference posts from other forums here. If not, someone please let me know)

With this cold joint repaired, and a thorough contact cleaner bath on all connector contacts, the trouble vanished.

Good luck ...

 

I see you received a lot of information on the checking the sensors and connection and that is the correct thing to do. What we have found is that the ABS module board needs to be re-soldered to reestablish a good connection. I am not sure but a few configurations allow the module to be removed without removing the hose connections. I am attaching http://www.gusglikas.com/images/Auto...e%20Repair.pdf a procedure that was made up by another person and is a good guide. Good Luck!

 

I gave the three year old battery a good charge yesterday to see if it is a factor. I'm not too concerned about not having ABS available all the time as long as it's not part of a bigger potential problem.

 

Hmmm just tried this and for some reason I'm getting no continuity whatsoever. My ASC light is intermittent (although once it come on it stays on until I restart the car at which point it may remain on or not turn on). I have the JITS diagrams in front of me, so I'm pretty dang sure I'm on the correct pairs. Also made sure my probes were actually on the contacts as the female connectors are tiny.

 

I had the same intermittent ABS light on both my 95xj6 and 99xk8. I checked all the connections and sensors and at one time I thought it was a bad connector on my xj6. At the end it cost me 2 ABS modules at Jaguars prices.

The symptoms on my 95xj6 I could start the car and all was clear until the car moved about 25 - 35 feet and the ABS light would come on. This was intermittent but on the most part often. What confused me the most were the times that all was good (no ABS light). The symptoms were the same with my 99xk8 and elected to replace the ABS and it fixed the problem. What I did not have then and I have made available to everyone is how you can save the pain of paying an over inflated price to replace it. If you have the skills and desire you can fix it or you can get a reconditioned one and replace it that way. Make no mistake if the connectors and sensors are clean and the ABS acts as it did with my cars you will be looking at the ABS Module.

http://www.gusglikas.com/images/Auto...e%20Repair.pdf
http://www.modulemaster.com/en/index.php

 

Howdy,

I'm working without a net here (no notes) so if this isn't right, I'll check further tomorrow.

I think the resistance of the sensors is too high to see using a continuity tester ... they will look like open circuits. Do you have an ohm meter? If so, give a look using the 1000 ohm scale. Then we should see some readable values.

 

Sorry, let me clarify I was using a volt-ohm meter on the ohm setting at a variety of sensitivity levels.

 

II bought an Autoenginuity scanner hopping it would tell me the answer For whatever reason I can't get it to work...phone call to the scanner people tomorrow.

 

Having a little trouble reading my own scribble, but it looks like 1 to 2 K ohms is what I saw. I'll try to repeat a measurement tonight and let you know.

 

Dneider,

OK, I measure a little north of 1000 ohms for each wheel sensor circuit.

Some things that can get in the way ...

- the graphic of the connector pin assignments in JTIS is of the male side. So you have to flip that in your head to picture the socket positions in the female connector, which is where we measure.

- the female sockets are pretty deeply seated. I had to poke a little piece of safety wire into each one to make contact for the measurements.

Good luck ...