Today I repeatedly received an airbag code. The airbag icon on the gauge would blink once then 7 times. From the FAQ area, I assume the meaning is:

17 - Pass spatial sensor CAN fault

Coincidentally, nobody was sitting in the passenger seat but I happened to have a few sheets of paper on that seat. Is something like that enough to trigger such a fault?

Doug

 

Hi doug, looks like not alot of support in the air bag system for you to lean on. I wouldn't think the paper would be enough to cause any erroneous readings unfortunately.

Spatial sensor...is that the one in the b-pillar or in the overhead console that ultrasounds the passenger?

Any chance the hydraulics could have fouled the sensor, or its harness connector around the latch? just thinking out loud...

 

Doug,
I was looking at the oneline (2003 is the best I could do) and saw that the air bag system has several sensors. I did see that they are designated to LH & RH drivers so you may want to look at that. I am concerned with you getting involved in the process of troubleshooting that I think should have safeguards and the sad part about that Is that I have no idea what they are. You should find that out! I have been a long time advocate on having clean connections and I am sure you will hear a lot about that from the experts. I am a firm believer for many years in Cleaning and using Di-Electric (spray if you wish) to establish and maintain a good connection. Not knowing the precautions find out how to do it safely! I will keep looking and let you know what I find.

 

Additional information http://www.gusglikas.com/images/Auto...xk8%201999.pdf

 

Well I am guessing that it was the papers and other very small items that were in the passenger seat. The several times that I drove then stopped then restarted then drove then stopped, etc. I got the blinking 1-7 then a steady light. After I finally got home from the various errands I removed the stuff from the passenger's seat and then drove again later in the day--NO warning lights and none since then, including a couple of times when my wife was actually in the passenger's seat.

As I stated elsewhere it does not take much for some warning light or warning message to get triggered in these cars--most of the time they are erroneous.

Doug

 

Good to know that you did not need to get deep into it!

 

very curious. When you said a few papers, I pictured just that...3-4 sheets of paper

hope the light it stays off

 

To be exact, it was 2 sheets of 8.5x11 paper and my eyeglasses that were on the seat. Today I had a small travel case on the seat (along with some papers) and there were NO problems. Like I said, every time I drive the car and do not get some kind of random message or warning, I feel pretty lucky. I never know when these are going to pop up but it seems like at least once every few weeks for no apparent reason.

Doug

 

Got the same code today with nothing on the seat. I had been driving a while with no problems and was coming off the freeway on an offramp that had a long and tight curve to the right. That is when the SRS started blinking (1 blink then 7 blinks) and then stayed lit. Of course the next time I started the car there were no problems.

Does anyone have an ideal of where I would even look to find connections that might be loose dirty for this particular warning (Pass Spatial Sensor CAN Fault)?

Thanks,

Doug

 

I would focus in two places. The seat sensor or one of the sonar sensors.

I haven't had a bad seat sensor on an XK, but I have found bad sensors on XJs. It is highly unlikely it is going to be a bad connector, however, expect it will more likely be an intermittent failing component. Do not turn the ignition key to any position other than 0 (off) while any SRS sensor is unplugged.

FYI - I should have added - It is not adviseable to do repairs on the SRS yourself. There are lots of rules and equipment shops will use to keep from accidentally deploying an air bag, or hosing up the system by accidentally running diagnostics with any of the system disabled.

 

Here is one old TSB for diagnosis and I found one that does not apply to your VIN range but it might give some idea how the system works.

bob gauff

 

Bob, those are great docs you uploaded.

Doug, good luck.

 

Hey Bob--those docs you found are great. I probably will not fiddle with anything myself but it is useful knowing more about the system so that if I bring it to the dealer or an independent, I can point out what the likely culprit is rather than having them start from square one.

As I understand it, there are 3 ultrasonic sensors in my convertible: one in the screen mesh in the console over the rear view mirror; another in the front windshield pillar (A-pillar) on the passenger side; and another in the rear pillar (B-pillar) on the passenger side. I also read in the JTIS that blocking these sensors could trigger a code so I briefly tried blocking one or more of these while I was driving this morning to see if I could trigger the blink code but it did not. Maybe someone also has to be in the passenger seat.

I realize this is really nothing more than an annoyance due to a "false positive" and the warning typically goes away the next time I drive the car but it is still distracting to get warning messages and blinking lights--the price you pay for having a Jaguar I guess.

Doug

 

The system had not thrown a flash code since mid-October. Then a few weeks ago, right after setting the clocks back, the flashes have started again. The moving of the clocks is significant, I think, since I am now needing to put the headlights on when I leave work. The first time I got the flash codes was when I was driving home (headlights on) and, since it was a cold snap here in SoCal (actually went down into the low 50s) I turned the heater on. Right before I got home (a 3 mile trip that takes about 15 minutes in LA traffic) I got the usual 1-7 flash code.

The next day when I started the car things were normal again. When I left work I went through the same pattern (headlights on, heater on, near home) and got the 1-7 flash code again. This was the first time I got it again so quickly. Of course the next day things were normal again.

This got me thinking that it has something to do with how much current is being drawing from the battery so the next day I tried forcing the code by turning a bunch of things on--headlights, heater, rear window heater, etc. Surprisingly, I could not force the flash code.

It has been a few weeks now without incident except for one other time that the flash code came on during the day. I think it was a 1-7 but might have been 1-6. In any case things are back to normal again.

I still assume that I am getting a bunch of false positives due to the touchy circuitry in our cars. Since this is the SRS system I am hoping that my aftermarket extended warranty might cover this if I choose to have the dealer try and track down the problem. In the meantime, it is just one of those lovable annoyances that make driving these cars so interesting.


Doug

 

just when you think they're dead...

 

When it comes to Jaguars, old threads never die

Actually, what I was hoping is that there could be others who have gone through the same thing and suddenly spot my thread with something useful to add. I am always a bit comforted when I find a problem with my cars that I thought was unusual only to find that there were many others with the same issues.


Doug

 

Your code doug is one that I haven't seen or heard about before. It may be worth letting a dealer take a shot at it. Challenge them to solve it in 1 hour!

And the death comment, I wasn't referring to your thread, but the error code itself. Have you asked for Divine intervention?

 

I have just resigned myself to the fact that modern cars with whiz-bang electronics and sophisticated computer monitoring systems are just prone to a myriad of ultra-sensitive sensors that sometimes trigger false readings. This seems particularly chronic of the higher end cars like our Jags.


Doug

 

Not really good news but I can report that the light is pretty much consistently coming on now not long after starting the car. It is always the 1-7 flash code after which the light remains lit. The only good news aspect of this is since the so-called problem has gone from intermittent to constant, it should be easier for the deal to address. I will first check to make sure my extended aftermarket warranty will cover this (I opted for the Platinum version of the warranty which is supposed to exclude NOTHING).

Doug

 

I have an xkr 2005 rhd (UK) convertible and have a 'permanent 1-7 airbag warning.
Diagnostics show a B2291 code
I understand it is a Passenger Spatial sensing Occupancy Position fault which may be the circuit or a sensor.
How do I find out which sensor?
How do I buy a sensor outside the Jag dealership?

Any ideas anyone?

Many Thanks

Albert

albert.king@btclick.com