Guys,


Just posting this for amusement...


When a 'slightly overweight' friend travels with me I occasionaly get an oil pressure warning indicator light but only when stationary. No codes, oil level perfect, idle speed spot on and pressure switch operating fine. Without this passenger everything is fine, never see any warnings. Others come for a ride, no problems. She gets in and lovely little red oilcan appears when we stop at lights.


And no the car is not obviously 'un-level' with her ample frame aboard.


I think it's time for another exorcism, chicken sacrifice or prostrate homage to cast out the electric gremlin gods that have called my Jag home.


If I do find a cause, other than a possible localised gravitational effect and slight warping of space time I'll definately post it. (Oh, I hope she doesn't see that.)


Donna :-)

 

Strange indeed. Does your passenger have a pacemaker or a brand of phone none of your other passengers have? I'm just thinking of possible electronic interference. Why it would manifest itself as a low oil pressure warning is beyond me, but who knows.

Does the problem happen anywhere with her, or just at one location? Maybe the issue is the location, and you only happen to drive there with her. Years ago, when I worked at the DFW airport, there was one gate with giant electrical feeder lines running underneath the tarmac. At departure, crews would notice all sorts of weird issues with the navigation system. The pilots were usually convinced of a major no-go issue and you'd have to sweet talk them into pushing back anyway. Once away from the interference, all returned to normal.

That's all I got...

 

Hey Donna, I can knock out any concern about AICDs (there's an acronym not explained here, but includes pacemakers and defibs) which, even if your friend has, and may be squawked at by airport detectors or affected by large magnetic fields (never take an MRI), produce zero emissions so cannot affect external electronics.

An alternative is even more amusing . . . hot goss at Browns Lane UK, is that, of the many thousands of S-Types, one was set aside for Sean Connery (aka James Bond) which had a hydraulic passenger ejection seat . . . brilliant, but unreliable it seems. However, Jaguar, in their wisdom, forgot one key asset. The 2nd quickly ordered replacement WAS indeed fitted with sunroof! IIRC, this replacement S-Type was a 3.0L V6, produced about 2003 I think, painted black or similar with nice blue toned interior. Perhaps you know of it . . . ?

More boring possibilities include -

• her guns, once removed from under-arm holsters and placed in glove box, are somehow interfering with oil pressure sender wiring;
• has this only occurred around the start of April each year or are your friendly drives of more ongoing frequency; not getting personal here, but could be relevant;
• your perception of "un-level-ness" (sheesh) is from driver's seat . . . I mean, it would be rather pointed if you decamped at lights to take a more measured look at the ride height; nor would pictures be appropriate I guess, even if helpful;
• as such, and with engine hot but off, I would recheck oil level at dipstick . . . nowhere nearly as pointed, even at lights, and your friend can wave on any following cars . . . or threaten to sit on them if they complain! (Hey . . . that's uncalled for!);
• a more subtle diagnostic test could be to buy and ask friend to hold a bunch of helium filled balloons; start with 12 but be prepared to go as high as 30 if fault persists;
• I know I speak for thousands here who wait with baited breath for the next chapter in your potentially runaway mystery novel.

As for highly technical, Jaguar specific, explanations of this phenomenon . . . well, who needs 'em . . . your tale, Donna, and its assured hilarious ending, is of far greater fun. Please post developments asap.

Best wishes,

Ken

 

I just checked Ken but there's (sadly) no red button under the top of the gear shifter. Shame, I could have had lots of fun with that :-)


Looks like its full diagnostic time... I'll take her for a ride as soon as I can and, once the groaning from the suspension subsides, I'll try every switch and button to see if anything else is affected. I might even have her sit in the middle of the rear seats to see if it is in fact a ballast related problem (although I am a little concerned over possible very light steering...) I'm sure I could engineer some form of trim control.


I have replaced the wiper blades and put new valve caps on all the tyres but that didn't seem to help. Do you think if I hold my iPhone close to the warning light as ask very nicely, Siri will tell me what's wrong?


Stand by for the results,


Wait out,
Donna

 

Donna, I knew it . . . I just knew this was gunna be a fun story!

On a more serious note, I do confess to being somewhat clueless beyond the obvious and most of that you have anticipated or checked. I am also aware I have done little else over the past 2-3hrs than think on your problem and go searching. Still doing so . . .

Cheers,

Ken

 

My thoughts are:

ET needs to ring home, and get a boarding pass, and leave your car alone.

Ken has some top ideas there, BUT, I really want to know what he's drinking??????

My Black car has the "chirps" from the steering wheel every now and then, and I rather like the fact the car talks to me, and never, ever argues.

Then there is my X300, had a dash warning flashing for some odd reason, Traction I think?????, but its a 3.2ltr, NO GOT traction, so I reached up and pulled the bulb, car has NO idea, still does what it does without fuss.

 

Please let the record show, that for once, I'm being the most serious responder in a thread.

How reliably can you duplicate the fault? Is it every time you come to a stop with your friend in the car? Or it's happened a half-dozen times and she just happened to be there.

One quick troubleshooting idea: Next time you get the light, slip the transmission into neutral and rev the engine slightly. This causes the oil pressure to increase. If the light goes out, that would point to a suspect switch. I had the same problem with my '02 V6 a few years ago.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...-switch-83426/

Is your engine the V6? Have you checked for any codes, even if the Check Engine light is not on? P1388 and P1389 can be caused by low oil pressure, and are often logged before the low oil pressure light turns on.

 

That changed the direction, oops.

I agree, probably nothing to do with your friend, but ya gotta go there first and foremost.

Then there is the Canberra connection, that's where my X300 came from, Ex Swedish Embassy car. At least they moved up and onwards from a SAAB.

 

Yeah Karl . . . sorry for lowering the tone of things and I do applaud your efforts to help Donna. Heck, I would too, if I could just tear myself away from the vision of a passenger overloaded S-Type . . . which, instead of sagging suspension, complains via sagging oil level. I confess that beyond the obvious, I am stumped!

However, I agree it's a serious challenge . . . one I have been sweating over all afternoon and I have the empty Shiraz bottles that Grant sniffed out and nailed me on!

Bottom line (stop laughing, it was not a pun) . . . are there any circuits impacting on engine oil level or oil pressure monitoring which derive from, or deviate through the area under passenger seat in Donna's 2003 LHD 3.0L S-Type? Answer? Sure I have the wiring diagrams and notes but . . . big but (ah, sorry) . . . I'm just not confident advising on this issue for a LHD car.

Best wishes,

Ken

 

Ken, another bottle is needed.

I note that Donna is in Canberra ACT, around the corner from you, in an Aussie sort of way, and I doubt a LHD car, or do I need to start drinking again???????

Some help here Donna would be so sweet.

 

Arrrr sheesh, Donna I am so embarrassed . . . I saw Grant (Wizard of Oz) rattling on about Canberra in an earlier post but didn't make the connection with your location . . . well, dear Grant, and his inestimable drinking friend JD, can be so confusing at times (LOL). So, my deepest apologies for thinking your S-Type goes walking on the wild side.

Being a RHD car just like all the rest of us in Oz (I hope), makes a helluva difference. Instead of acting the fool, we had better get this fixed pronto . . . hell, the whole world is watching and with you probably in charge of the AFP nationally . . . yes ma'am.

Do us one favour to help us narrow the options . . . locate your car's VIN from outside front RH inside dash through windscreen . . . post here the final 6 alpha-numerics (ie Mxxxxx single letter followed by numbers). The reason is critical and no security threat . . . specifics relevant to your car's specs, including wiring and electrical changes, are tracked by VIN ranges. Armed with your VIN doesn't guarantee success, but may help.

Gosh . . . gotta get rid of these empties and get serious.
Stay cool Donna, yer majesty . . . we're on it!

Ken

 

Donna,

That oil pressure switch has a bizarre tapered physical form. However, 3/8" black iron pipe threads fit the port in the block nicely, should you want to install a "T" with a pressure gauge under the bonnet. Then, when the light comes on, you can pop the bonnet latch then kindly ask your friend to hop out....er....clamor out and check the indicated gauge pressure. As you feel weight departing the car, you will be reminded to check if the light has extinguished, thus confirming or refuting the hypothesis!

Oil Press switch port is on the left hand side, forward. Access obtained through displacement of the power steering reservoir. I suspect the port is in the same position for your RHD, but am less sure about the pwr assisted strng res.

I'll update this thread with specs and pics when I remove the Rube Goldberg plumbing and close the case:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...h-3-0l-178811/
Until then, I can only say you need a 3/8" nipple, a 3/8"tee, and a mechanical gauge.
I tried a variety of nipples to get the proper length, and don't know exactly what ended up fitting the bill. It is somewhere between 3"-4" I think.

Can't really relate it to your issue, except for the light-at-idle. LHD, and reportedly a recurring problem when my daughter had the car out of state. (Bad stuff happens when you leave TX!) Ken, Karl, Grant...I see your minds churning...daughter, LHD...vs. RHD and "friend"....NO! She's a tiny thing...5'2" maybe 90 lbs.

Anywho...I changed the oil and swapped the switch and took it on my 50 mi. one-way commute, which is about 40 miles of 70+ mph freeway then 10 mi of stop-n-go traffic. Opposite on return. No problems in the morning. On return, at the last two stoplights before I hit the freeway section, I got the light. ANYTHING at all above idle and it extinguished. Back home after the freeway run, I let it idle 10-20 mins; no light.

Naturally, I fit the above-mentioned apparatus to determine what pressure (or lack thereof) was tormenting the light. At first, ran the hose up through the bonnet/cowl interface and taped to the windscreen. Couldn't recreate the problem. Car was due for state inspection, so I coiled the hose and secured the gauge to the plastic engine cover. Have done limited testing thus far, but still unable to recreate the issue. May wind it all up this weekend. My suspicion is that I get the light when at idle and coolant is flirting with 210F. Unfortunately, both my ELM 327 adapters were in other cars the day I got the light so I don't know what the coolant temp was. I have seen that one hit 210 in traffic on hot days, though. I've had it as hot as 205F while monitored since fitting the gauge and the lowest idle pressure I've seen is 18 psi. Have 80 psi on a cold-start. Hot idle thus far is between 18-20.

FWIW, I have commonized oil across my fleet on Rotella T6 5W-40 synthetic. Until about a year ago, I had both S-Types on Valvoline 5W-30 Syn.

 

BINGO! Aw heck, Donna he's good . . . he's very, very good. It took a while to track down the Wiring Diagrams for a MY2002.5 S-Type which I hope matches yours . . . certainly has significant differences to mine.

Back to Bingo . . . guess what lives not under the passenger seat but which is located immediately behind the LH A-pillar trim pad, against which an ample thighed passenger would naturally exert pressure? Answer? The General Electronic Control Module (GECM) . . . and guess what hangs off its pin FH59-9? Answer? The ground-seeking Oil Pressure Switch. From GECM, the SCP net communicates to the Instrument Cluster with its array of warning lights. Thus, a grounded FH59-9 at GECM (or perhaps just sufficient pressure exerted onto the GECM and its connector, immediately flashes on the warning light. I'll bet the actual Oil Pressure Switch out in the engine bay is nothing more than an innocent bystander.

A word of warning though . . . unlike the washer warning level switch which also connects here, the oil pressure switch has a connector PI41-16 between switch, located on engine, and said GECM . . . I would guess at the firewall.

So Donna . . . I suggest you start car (in Park with handbrake applied) then move to passenger seat . . . exert lateral pressure against the LH A-Pillar cheek trim below dash in the manner you might expect ample friend to do . . . and watch for oil warning. If confirmed, stop engine, and before disturbing anything at all post your findings back here. OK? Just to repeat . . . I'm betting this is an electrical fault and not an oil pressure problem at all.

Best wishes,

Ken

 

Well done Ken.

Time for my beauty sleep now, so I will catch up tomorrow.

Clever cars these S Types.

 

Excellent postulate, Ken...but what is it about idle that causes the ample thighs of Donna's friend to exert pressure on FH59-9? I should think if it were her grounding the pin, it may occur off-idle at some point during the ride?

Butt I'll for-sure squiggle around in the seat during my next test-run...........(so-to-speak)

 

Hahahaha . . . Zane, is that idle or idol, or perhaps I remain a-dill?
Equal quantities of good humour and good wine help enormously.
Anyway, we will know soon enough when Donna investigates and reports.
I choose (wisely) to ignore any further discussion of anatomy (LOL).
If I disappear suddenly, then figure I got Donna's car all wrong, and . . .
. . . that she really is the boss of ASIO, and they scare even the CIA.

Gotta follow Grant's lead and catch me some beauty sleep.
See ya, mate.

Ken

 

+1 on that. I think we're onto something here. I left Texas and within a few days met my first wife, aka plaintiff.

Coincidence? I don't think so...

 

Definately a right hand drive, or with my passenger aboard a higher side drive...

 

Thanks guys,


Looks like I'm in for some fun this weekend... Intrigued by Ken's diagnosis.


And you're all wrong, I'm just a lowly Detective Inspector (Captain to our American friends) with the ABF (Border Force). I do have a badge and a gun though ;-)


Donna

 

Hey Donna, that's really weird . . . after all my poor attempts at humour, you really are a ranking officer? I can hear Grant in Adelaide, laughing his head off at my present discomfort, but I claim no fey insight to people or their vocations . . . just Jaguar idiosyncrasies and the value of highly structural fault diagnosis. On that basis, I really do believe we have nailed the albeit obscure cause of your issue.

Observing your wiring diagrams and notes, GECM location moved in later cars, which leads me to a further possibility, . . . whilst new to me, is your issue not unique? I can find no evidence of this in my overnight research, but perhaps Jaguar moved the GECM in later cars to better protect it and its connectors from passenger impact?

I suspect a loose or corroded GECM connector and await your feedback from simple test I recommended.
Best wishes,

Ken