Hey Lads,

I have had the British Diagnostics SDD software for a couple of years now and although slow on my car, it does work and does the job. I have used it to check every manner of engine performance and a few other simple features like resetting TCU adaptations.

Over the last year or so, I have noticed the introduction of a slight pinging on my engine at lower revs with heavier throttle. In my research, this is a common issue with the 4.2L years and Jaguar issued several ECU reflash notes over the years admitting to the potential issue.

In the past, I have read several warnings concerning the use of the aftermarket SDD software to reflash citing the possibility of bricking the ECU as a high risk. Although the risk is certainly there according to things I have read, I would be interested in knowing if anyone else has successfully reflashed their ECU using the software? I found one thread with someone who did make the flash work although there were some butt puckering moments in the process which I have noted.

I am pretty proficient with the software and yes, I could take it to a dealer to have it reflashed. I will check in on that and see what the costs are. If its not a lot of money, I will certainly let them do it but if they plan to empty my wallet in the process, this thread gets more interesting to me.

 

Fair Warning: Not a direct answer, but hopefully of assistance anyway:

I wet through the same logic a couple of years ago, and went to the dealer for that reflash. The local dealer charged a diagnostic fee for this (1.5 hr labor), not bad considering the risk. It did not "fix" anything but I was happy to get the newest TCM/ECM code.

Root cause ended up being small air leaks all around, as indicated by trims in the teens, so too low for a code, but high enough for pings. It sort of defied first level logic as there is a knock sensor, but there it was. Bringing these trims back down to low single digit was the key. Pings went away, and throttle response went way up. I went around the heads and replaced all the o-rings I could find in these Norma connectors, plus dip stick. Also got a couple of VVT seals as I could see oil. Best is to do a proper smoke test of course to find all the leaks. Also threw in a new air flow meter as they are common to many cars and pretty inexpensive for our XK8.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Pings you can detect are quite bad. Could also be failing coils.

+1 on checking trims for clues

 

Ok, this is some good intel.
I have been tracking down leaks for some time now and I do own a smoker.
My trims are pretty low but on throttle I do see LTFT get into the very low teens.
Guess it is too soon to consider the ECM flash as I feel I haven't gotten the leaks to an acceptable level to judge.
My vacuum is totally solid now which is great. At idle the car is nearly 0 on trims. Just have to put more time into finding the false air leaks that are present.
One thing that's been driving me nuts is a small oil leak somewhere that is getting burned off causing a smell in the cabin of burning oil.
I had replaced all of the cam-cover gaskets and upon close inspection, I do not have any leaks around the covers. VVT seals and all that have been changed too and are solid.
The smoker hasn't obviously presented the leak yet so I need to try harder lol. This is probably the one that's causing the false air and maybe even the ping?
Any well hidden areas for leaks that you are aware of that are difficult to see?

 

Hmmm,

Yes, this is a distinct possibility as I had a coil fail only a couple of months ago.
Maybe it is time to replace the rest - they are probably original

 

EGR pipe is worth looking into. Cracks in the accordion section are pretty common.

 

I've considered this quite a bit because of an ECM issue I had which led to me successfully replacing my ECM with help from information on the forums (especially motorcarman's repeated postings). I had asked the dealer to reflash my original ECM to see if that would fix the problem, but they actually said no.

Note, I never did the reflash because of the replacement, but it seems to me that a less risky and not particularly expensive plan is to:

1. Buy a replacement ECM that is around the same age or newer than your current ECM, same VCATS number, same or greater part number, no evidence of flood damage (i.e. LNG1410BE/103 is okay for LNG1410BD/103, what I did, etc). It should cost $30-$150, likely depending on your patience level. Mine was $80, but there was one for $30 that vaguely looked like water had been on it. If you have the VIN, you can check the salvage web site for some evidence of this

https://www.salvagedb.com/database/page1.html

Not definitive, but at least something.

2. Use the IDS or SDD (depending on year) immo setup to change ECMs. Takes seconds.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...amming-155544/

3. Try reflashing the new ECM. Frankly, if it was me, I'd make sure I have a native XP computer and an actual Mongoose or VCM or something that didn't cost $12.50 that might flake out during the extensive time needed. Also, rock solid battery voltage support for both the computer and the car are necessary.

4. Either drive happily forward with your newly flashed new ECM or lament the loss of only $30-$150 as replace your newly bricked ECM by immo'ing your old ECM putting you back where you started only losing $30-$150.

All that said, doesn't particularly sound like you need this, as others have noted, but when I was looking around on information to figure out if I could do this. Like you, I found only the one brave soul who succeeded and many many warnings. This is my workaround, if ever needed, to hopefully reduce the risk for this process which hopefully will help someone else avoid much searching.

 

I had previously replaced the EGR pipe and with the newer standard as well

 

I like this idea!
Seems like a relatively low-cost insurance against bricking my original ECM.
It would also provide the forum with some proof positive that it can indeed be done - or not!
Thanks a lot for this viewpoint and suggestion