I was in a parking lot at grocery store and was returning home when the engine was just kind of violently shaking all of a sudden and then stalled. I was unable to restart the engine. Never drove the car more than maybe 1 mph in the parking lot while it started to shake. I had to have the car towed home. Any ideas?

Jaguar XK8 2001 -82,000 miles
Note: car's battery is pretty new (maybe 1 year old)

I hear a lot of people mention things like replacing the fuel filter as a possible resolution.

The only error code I can pull up from the port is P1111

 

You should have your car towed to motorcarman on here. I think he's up there by you. Fuel filter no way, fuel pump maybe, check for fuel pressure at the shrader valve at the rail. Turn the key to on without cranking and it energises the pump for a couple sec. No pressure bad pump.
Now the other more likely is the upper secondary chain tensioners failed and engine jump time, possilby bending a couple valves, no matter how fast you were going. Youll need to pull both cam covers to check

 

P1111 = Drive Cycle Completed

It's normal to see this code stored once sufficient miles have been covered since codes were last cleared.

With no other stored codes, the behaviour you describe certainly sounds as if it could be fuel starvation.

 

The mechanic you mentioned is over 70 miles away from me or else I would consider it honestly. I am getting the car towed up to Shroeder Automotive up in McKinney next Tuesday. Luckily I have a second Jaguar to spare (2004 Jaguar XJ8) which is normally the one that breaks down on me all the time. I've already replaced 2 of the Air Suspension on the 2004 XJ8. I don't mind showing my XK a little love (although the timing around the Holiday Seasons could have been better). It has been a relatively dependabe car compared to the piece of crap my 2004 XJ8 is.

 

I agree with Brutal, if the pump went and fuel pressure dropped to 0, the usual symptom is just loss of power and stopping. The sudden violent shaking is more like jumped timing from a cam chain breaking. Hope I'm wrong but there it is.

 

Flooded cylinder? Happened to me with same symptoms. Mine would crank, but not start.

 

It does not seem the Fuel pump is getting power and we have a concern that the Safety Cut off switch is blown. Where is it located (we can't seem to find it) and how is it best to test it?

 

Sound to me exactly like a broken timing chain tensioner.

The safety cutoff switch is to the left of the steering wheel next to the fuse box behind that little cover that you can only see when the door is open.

I recently had fuel pump problems but it never caused the car to violently shake.

 

Well I wanted to tell everyone my issue was related to a failed fuel pump. Since the fuel was sputtering gas to the engine constantly and starving it, the engine was shaking violently from the fuel pump in the middle of the failure. Once the fuel pump completely failed, the engine then did not start (for obvious reasons). I just want to say, getting to the Fuel Pump on a 2001 Jaguar XK8 was a ROYAL PAIN IN THE ***!

 

Interesting reading, and a note to be stored. Glad you resolved the problem. But as to the pain in the rear, try a Jeep Cherokee with the plastic tank & the integrated pump/gauge sender, which fail with monotonous regularity. There is also a message i the responses that you received. Brutal's comments about the chain tensioners is prescient. Keep an ear open for a rattle developing in the front of the engine, and when you notice it somewhere in the near future, attend to it smartly. If you don't you'll probably do a bit more damage than just bend a couple of valves. My business partner's experience is that is usually cheaper to purchase a good second hand engine, than to repair the damaged old one.

Good luck,

Languid

 

I recently had my fuel pump replaced at a dealer. Luckily I still had ext warranty so it picked up a good deal of the cost. They also recommended replacing a wiring harness at the same time. That was my $$.

 

sgparnes

Replace the wiring? Why, did they damage it when changing the fuel pump?

Unless the pump failed because it shorted out and the fuse didn’t blow (which would ‘cook’ the wiring), it is unlikely that anything was wrong with the wiring. In my personal opinion, you got ‘conned’.

Everybody, when you get ‘storys’, ask questions. If you get evasive, expansive, and elaborate answers full of technically hard to follow details in reply, ask for them in writing, and talk to someone who can decipher (and usually will expose the b.s.) the load of crap it will generally turn out to be.

Happy New Year all,

Languid

The nice thing about telling the truth is that you don’t have to try and remember which fairy tale you told whom and where. In fact, you don’t have to remember anything.

 

Just to note, the Jaguar techs that post regularly, at least 2 have recommended replacing the harness while doing pump/s due to job difficulty and people making very soon returns to the service department. When I did the pumps in my XKR, I paid $90 for the pumps and $150-200(I forget) for the wires; and I'd honestly rather get kicked in the nuts by Chuck Norris repeatedly than go do that job again. The dealer price for the labor to go back in is staggering too if you don't DIY.

If they didn't charge additional labor and charged the $75-100 for the wire, that's a very nice deal.

I'm curious what some of the forum techs chime in to say.

 

lanquid, its laways a good idea to replace the link lead wiring from the vapor loss cap to the pump/s. many times the connectors are alittle burned when the pumps pull more amps than normal and heat is generated. the cap connections do the same thing but not a s often. many times ill quote these since I still cannot see through metal(although I can ALMOST see through paper now so maybe 1 day) and I inspect. If needed I replace, if not then the customer has a few hundred smaller bill. But I can tell you Ive also been burned(pun intended) by the link lead that looks good and isnt and had to go back in and replace..There should never be any extra charge for the harness or cap in labor since it all comes apart anyway though..
Not replacing that harness can indeed invite return problems, even when it looks or test good. Of it were a harness outside the tank and easily replaced it would not be much issue would it now....