Once upon a time.... and after 3 years faultless trouble free motoring...

I tried to fill my tire with air at Tescos. Off course BBS wheels have the tool and screw in valve. So in the pouring rain I did the necessary and pulled out the air hose, clipped it on to the tire - the hose then recoiled sharply, snapping the valve off. Dreadfully inconvenient! 2 visits to independant tire dealer turned in no results. You'd think independants would be able to sort BBS wheels out? They're not exactly rare? Only solution, main dealer repeair.

So, booked in to Crawley Jaguar, thought I might as well get the MOT and and the service done at the same time. I couldn't risk running the part deflated tire all the way down to Andover, and to Kevin at DesignXKR who had looked after the car to perfection for the time that I have owned it.

So today, after 2 weeks with the car standing, I get to the dealer at 8am. Service done, MOT done. The wrong tire valve was sent, but hey ho, they inflated the tire and all would be well until the valve comes in. Not such a big deal and not as expensive as I thought it would be.

So, jump in the car to come back. Oh boy! Console lights up like a Christmas tree. But not straight away. After say a mile. Although in auto the car would not change up through gears. Restricted performance. Check rear lights. Handbrake on. No ABS / TRAC. No windscreen wipers working. No headlight - though this was intermittant. No rev counter though sppedo was working. No console lights. Battery light. Brake fluid low. Pretty much every light on the console along with spurious messages from the ECU. And so I limp home. Not far, so all safe. I have emailed the service manager at Crawley of my woes, since if this is connected to anything they might have inadvertantly done during service MOT etc.

I thought that in the test run by the mechanic that he'd fancied trying the manual flappy paddle switches behind steering wheel (I have never used this add on in the 3 years since I had the car). Tried resetting that. Even tried driving with it engaged but couldn't get the car above 3rd gear which in itself, to me wasn't a good sign. But no gearbox warnings or nothing.

I'm thinking all these things can't have gone wrong all at once and that it must be something (relatively) simple. Maybe a fuse, lose connections etc etc. I did have a look for codes via an OBDII scanner the only code except for the usual P1000 was P1642. I have no idea what this is and have left it on.

So not sure if anyone can shed any light on this catastrophe. As an individual I wouldn't know where to begin to look. Any pointers or suggestions would be most well received.

Steve

 

Steve,

P1000 (OnBoard monitoring tests not completed since last memory clear) is NOT normal. It means someone has cleared the codes recently. The one you always want to see is P1111 (OnBoard monitoring tests complete).

If you haven't had any issues in three years there's no reason for the codes to have been cleared .......

Graham

 

It could also be the ECU lost power long enough for it to lose memory. Might even explain all the weird errors if there is a flakey connection to it somewhere.


Dave

 

And to think it all started with those stinking BBS valves!! There is always some sort of drama when going to the gas station and checking the air. This used to be not such a big deal in the days where all the stations had air hoses at every pump, but now (at least in Los Angeles) there might be one air/water station and you need to have the attendant turn on the compressor. There is NEVER enough time to go through checking/filling tires on just one setting of the compressor. And most times in the race against the timer the little valve piece ends up rolling under the car somewhere. The simple act of putting air in the tires is a comedy of errors.

It amazes me that with the car already at the $75K plus range and then adding another $6K for the BBS optional wheels that there wouldn't have been an automatic pressure sensing system installed as part of the deal.

Doug

 

Hi Graham and yes. The Jaguar dealer attached OBD during MOT/service. The sales manager confrimed that. I guess they wiped any codes, if there were any. I will spend this next week looking for a solution to this and well feed back to the forum.

 

Dave, absolutely! There is no way that all that the ecu dashboard is reporting can be wrong! Hopefull this is something really simple.

I have noticed another symptom now. When the inermittant no dhashboard lights, light etc is present, the car is in Park, I cannt select any gear. Drive Reverse etc Its stuck in P. At these times, I have no lights, no windscreen wipers, no electric windows nothing!

Once again, I am going to work a solution this week and report back to you guys.

 

Car picked up today by Kevin at designXKR - trailered to workshop. Soon, all should be revealed.

 

Steve and all. I am sorry for your bad luck and as for the filling the tires with air. Harbor Freight sells a compressor for $40 and for $10 more you can buy a kit that will fill all your household needs. It's small and light weight, not on their payroll but for the occasional use tool, not bad.
Only tool I know it runs is a small nail gun, not much else.


Wayne

 

Thanks Wayne. I am in the market for a compressor as it goes. Although, that isn't prioroty as you can seen from the other electrical problems I seem to have accululated.

 

I bought a cheapie small compressors at Harbor Freight on a whim at Harbor Freight--the kind that plugs into the cigarette lighter. It is borderline useless for tires since it takes several minutes of running to add a pound.

Are the $40 ones much better?

Doug

 

Doug, I have the big upright one for air tools and painting, but the little $40 one has served me well for air in the house garage and for adding molding in a house we were selling. It holds air very well and fits under a bench. It's so easy to move around, I sometimes just walk it to the big garage to keep from waiting on the big one to pump up. Hope that helps.


Wayne

 

Ok - the electrical problem was due to a failed alternator. That has been replaced. Also 4 new tires, discs and pads all round. There was a little bit of corrosion underneath / rear. That has been done. Its all good to go now and seems to be running better than ever!

BUT - I notice now after a run, when I switch off, remove key, a fan comes on under the hood. I assume a cooling fan. That never happened before to my recollection. Is this normal or a cause for concern? It runs for a short time then stops.

 

It's normal for the fan to run when off and hot...
btw- you'll need to change your signature after this event ;-)

 

Indeed I will and I shall right now!!!

 

My car only did that when the Thermostat went bad (Temp Gage was normal).

 

Mmmhm... like I said it never did it before the alternator thing. But now I have all sorts working that weren't working before - like the head rests lowering when you bring the backs of the front seats forward for access into the back. It never did that before!

The fan running - is just for maybe 3-5 minutes at most then off. I'm wondering if guy that had the car last somehow disconnected this to save battery wear. And now that alternator has been replaced, thats its all been connected back up again. Long shot I know. Just a bit baffled.

 

jtis: Cooling FansThe two radiator cooling fans are mounted in a twin fan and motor assembly between the radiator and the engine.The fans are controlled by the fan control module dependent on the demand from the cooling system (temperature) or the air conditioning system (pressure).The fan control module is located on the twin fan and motor shroud. The fan speeds are controlled by the variable pulse width modulated (PWM) module.Under hot operating conditions, the fans may continue to operate for some time after the engine has been switched off, but will stop automatically when the coolant temperature has been sufficiently reduced.