Hi folks,

wondering how far you can drive with these lights on, I am buying an xk8. 2001 and have a 150 mile journey home.

The owner has told me although the lights are on the car drives well and I have seen other posts which appear to confirm this may well be the case.

I have mixed messages with regards to restricted performance, i.e max 3000rpm in all gears and others say 3000rpm in one gear only, I would appreciate if you gurus can confirm what I can expect, if it 3000rpm in all gears that is not a problem but in one gear that is a different story.

If it is one gear onyl can you tell me what gear this is I would imagine second gear ???

Any info gratefuly appreciated

thanks

 

I have done 80+ miles with restricted perfromance, and could use all gears, as well as the cruise control. But, in my case I was fully aware why I had restricted performance.

You will have to find out the cause first. If you can pull the OBDII codes, it will give you a much better indication of the problem. Many parts stores will read you the codes for free. The cost of repairs are too high to take chance.

Now, I will let the experts chime in..

 

I would not personally drive a car with an unknown history 150 miles with the check engine light on. Not sure I would buy one either unless it was priced accordingly.

I assume this has what is sometimes called a "tail light warranty". A TLW means the warranty is up as soon as the previous owner sees the tail lights when you drive away. In which case you will be out of luck if something major happens or it breaks down along the way home.

Any way you can pull the codes on the car to see what is really wrong?

Not the expert on the restricted performance, but I think you can drive it with a reduced RPM and speed. However, this feature was designed to get you home with a limp, but not to drive 150 miles.

 

If you are going to own a Jag, you need to have a code reader. Others will will be able to suggest inexpensive apps for various cell phones or laptop software.
I would not drive anywhere without knowing what's wrong, too much money at risk.

 

Thanks guys,
the owner says he has had it checked and apparently it is a knock sensor????

He says the engine light is on all the time and the restricted performance light comes on and off intermittently, it is a decent price, just turned 100k miles and decent service history

 

so can any of you tell me if it is all gears up to 300rpm or one gear only up to 3000rpm

 

Even more reason to dig a little deeper. Read the codes.

 

It's 3,000rpm in all gears.

 

forgot to mention I already have one of these on order hopefully be here Mon

Maxiscan MS309 Diagnostic Scanner Code Reader

 

Welcome to the forum megliam,

I would and have driven an XK8 that I knew well when the MIL was illuminated and it went into restricted performance mode but only as this happened during a journey.

Setting out with a vehicle in that condition could end up with you getting home on the back of a recovery vehicle. Provided you are prepared for the inconvenience and expense involved (and possible loss of power in traffic), then the distance involved is not an issue.

As other have suggested, I also I would not take a vendors word for the cause of the MIL being illuminated.

When you get a minute, please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see.

In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

 

You have several problems that generate a Restricted Performance and for that reason I would first identify the cause of the problem before purchasing or driving the car. It may not be a problem at all but you do not want to find out the hard way. Read the codes!

 

One thing I think worth noting is that restricted performance is not the same thing as limp home mode, and there are two modes of restricted performance. The common one that is safe to drive limits you to 3000rpm in any gear. This is perfectly drive able in terms of performance and many intermittent codes (like minor misfires) put you in this mode. There is another mode which limits you to 30% throttle and you dont even want to be driving like this. You will struggle to hit 50mph. To be honest this could be the limp home mode; I'm getting rusty already!
But my point is restricted performance is often a symptom of a very minor issue (not always!) so don't panic!
But: read the codes!
To qualify this post somewhat: I bought my xkr and drive it home over 200 miles with an intermittent restricted performance. The car is totally solid and the code was being thrown because of a very minor issue.

 

Do not panic but be concerned find out what the codes are it may also be a safety issue.

 

Hello megliam! I recently bought an XKR 2004 and on my 1 600 km way home (1000 miles) I got several Restricted Performance messages. I didn't have the CEL. The car feels very sluggish, especially when you drive it uphill on the motorway and you will lose some speed, so prepare to stay in the right hand lane. You won't be able to get the kick-down, actually it feels like nothing happens when you floor the pedal. What I found out though, is that you can use the manual gear shift to get more RPM:s (but probably not more than 3000) when you need some increased power in the uphills.

My RP was due to a fried Supercharger Intercooler water pump, so whenever the SC had to do some work the temperature got to high (not the engine temp, but some other temp gauge) and the car computer threw the RP to cool things down.

Good luck on your journey if you decide to go ahead!

Mark