My CEL came on. Code was P0171.

Mechanic cleaned the MAF sensor on my 06 XK8 Friday. I drove straight home. No problem.

Got back in car for the 1st time tonight (Sunday) and car doesn't want to start. Never had any problem starting my car.

Of course, this is related to whatever the mechanic did.

Can anyone give me a hint how cleaning the MAF sensor could affect the car not starting - before I take my anger back to the mechanic.

I went out of town Friday night. So glad I did not drive that car since it must be towed.

Anybody?

 

Of course it seems likely that it was something the mechanic did, but there is always a chance it could be a coincidence.

Does the engine turn over when you try to start or do you turn the key and hear nothing?

 

Sorry, I should have mentioned that.

It's not dead. Kinda sounds like it's misfiring or not connecting with something. My best explanation of what I hear.

 

The MAF is is on the black round pipe coming out of the airbox, just behind the headlight on the passenger side. It has a connector with 5 wires. Check that the connector has not partially fallen off. Maybe he did not push it in tightly.

Also, sometimes the locking tab breaks off of the connector. You can then use a tie-wrap to hold it in place.

 

Thanks WhiteXKR. But I'm just not one to open the hood and take these steps. Sounds simple, but I would not know what I'm looking at. I can't even get someone else to help me until next weekend. I don't want to wait that long.

But it helps to know it could be something that simple. I will pray it is. If it is something so simple, then that shop will lose a lot of my trust. That's too careless.

Many many thanks for the quick response. Such a great forum.

 

This is a decent how to video. It shows a different car, but this one is an easy check. You CAN handle this Samantha. Your air cleaner will be toward the front on the passenger side (opposite side of the engine bay from this video). Open your hood and you'll easily see the plug on the MAF that this mechanic points to. You can do it! 10 seconds, your done checking to see if that plug is tight or not. You only need to watch about one minute of this video to understand.

 

@Jeff in Tucson

You are right. Thanks for that video. I can do that. I should be embarrassed of how afraid I am of what's under that hood. This is my 3rd XK8 since 1996. And I have never opened the hood on any of the cars. How pathetic.

I try hard to know something about what's happening under there (by reading) since for the 1st time, I have the car with no more warranty. But the real live mechanics scares me. To me, it's almost like trying to do open heart surgery.

I'm gonna face my fear and open the hood for the 1st time tomorrow and check out that connection.

Don't laugh at me. Being honest.

 

Kudos to you!! We'll be here to help.

 

If you have the hood open, and start the car, take a quick video w/ sound so we can here what she's trying to do. In the driver seat is fine, we should be able to hear it from there on your phone or using a little point-n-shoot.

If it doesn't fire up, continue the video and walk us over the engine bay slowly, maybe we can spot something that you won't be able to notice. Then upload to youtube if you haven't gotten yourself a free account yet, and just copy n paste the link back here for us in your reply box. It should be 'inserted' like Jeff in Tucson's example above.

 

I can certainly do that. My internet/computer skills far outpace my skills under a hood. I might not be able to handle getting to the mechanic until Tuesday anyhow - if I need to. If that happens, I will do a vid and attach.

Thanks...

 

Might even be that the intake duct has come loose? Could happen after servicing the MAF...

You have our attention! Gotta know what it is! So, you have had "3" of these cars??? You must love your Jaguars! I'm impressed.

 

Okay, here's the deal.

Monday morning, i opened the hood for the first time and the MAF connection looked solid to me.

Weather was bad here all day Monday, so I waited til this morning to have it towed.

I told them I wanted the mechanic to show me what he found that was wrong BEFORE he fixed it and that I wanted any part that needed to be replaced.

After about 60 minutes, the car was ready. I was told the car had flooded. Duh .... Flooded? How could that have happened? He said it could happen when you start the car and suddenly cut it off. Really? Never heard of that. Don't people do that all the time. People would get towed all the time if that were the case. I told him I had not started the car & suddenly stopped it. However, before I left town Sat morning, I did move my car into the garage. (BUT I never shared that with them.)

If this story is true, then the flooding must somehow still be related to the cleaning of the MAF sensor given the timing of everything.

My brother thought maybe something may have been loose or wrong in the work they did last week but they didn't want to admit it. Hmm.... I don't know.

Very concerned about it happening again. If it does, I might have to take a trip to the dealer.

I tried to record the sound of the engine but the sound was too faint to make out anything.

Car at home. No cost, but I'm still uncomfortable.

If anyone can chime in again with whether the flooding (if true) & cleaning the MAF sensor could be related, I would be very appreciative.

 

Yes, it was love at 1st picture when I saw the convertible xk8 in 1996. Bought one in british racing green in 1997, then a triple black in 2001, and now I have a burgundy with coffee top. Liked the triple black the most.

THis is my last because I don't like the new body style. Hate that they took out the burlwood dash.

 

Glad you got it sorted out. Have to say, I'm with your brother: I think they missed something and fixed it quickly while you weren't looking. Something very embarrassing they weren't going to own up to...



See how she goes for the next few weeks.

Still like to see some pics of the car if you can get around to it.

Best wishes, Colin

 

I thought bore wash was a problem only with early Jags with nikasil cylinder liners, but was informed recently by one of our resident experts, that it can occur with almost any car.
When you start a cold engine extra fuel is provided by the injectors. Engines have always needed a rich mixture when cold and many years ago when I was young there was a choke lever in the dash to control this manually. Now it is controlled automatically by the ECU.
If you shut the engine off within a minute or so there will be excess fuel in the cylinders and the engine will not be hot enough to evaporate the fuel. It will drain down past the piston rings, removing the oil coating the cylinder walls, and the engine will not have sufficient compression to start again.
That may have happened when you moved the car, but there is no way to confirm. Anyway, it is best to let the engine warm up for several minutes before shutting it off, and even better to run it until the temp. needle is mid scale.

 

Glad it's running again and hope that fixed it. Did the mechanic at least pay for the tow fee or some part of it? At least they didn't charge you for the "repair".

 

Ivehad my xk8 for 6 years, and put over 100,000miles on it myself. Never once, did I 'flood' the cylinders and couldn't get it to start (unlike the 2002s and older w/ the 4.0). 99.999% positive that you did not 'flood' yours Samantha. Don't let that worry you, drive it with as much confidence as you would any 6-yr old Toyota, ford, or Chevy.

 

I agree with Matt---Instead of "bore wash" I believe your tech was feeding you "hogwash". I've got an '06 and have complete confidence in the car. Go ahead and enjoy the car. I've got to believe the tech may have over looked something when putting the MAF back on---everybody makes mistakes but don't like to admit it sometimes.

 

Didn't pay for anything. My auto insurance comes with roadside assistance. They tow for free up to about 25 miles, but the shop was also willing to send their tow truck. So, made out okay there.

I hope it's fixed too.

 

Muchas gracias my friends for being here to help. I hope one day I can give back something instead of being a beggar. I will try. Maybe someone can learn something from my experience.