hahaha yeah i don't know about the car but yeah it was an article about vented batteries and basically said that they were made to outlast normal batteries and i remember it saying that they can last up to 20 years i hope its true! But the way i see it if it will last me even half of that im gonna be more than happy

 

I dropped my car off to the dealership on the 28th for them to check out a few things. One of the items I asked them to check on was the DSC Unavailable light. They called me back the next day and said they would need to keep the car a few more days. The service advisor said that based on the stored codes all the speed sensors are faulty, which is highly unusual. They have cleared the codes and will perform some road tests. I'll learn more on Monday when they call again.

 

All of them? No way! Would have to be wiring or dealer finger trouble. Guess which one I'd suspect most.....

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a bad master cylinder. That is what happened to mine a week after I got. Less than 35k on it. The DSC Unavailable and ABS fault lights came on. It still stopped fine.

 

The dealership called and said they cleared the codes and put in about 10 miles of road tests. The warning lights did not return (go figure, right?). The service manager said there were codes for all 4 wheel sensors and said, perhaps, a code was stored once there was any sign of wheel slippage. I'm guessing I'll be returning to the dealership in about 2-3 weeks when the lights reappear.

 

Hit1, do you have any snow where you are? I ask because mine tripped the warning light after I got a little wheel spin turning left at an intersection. It happened when the DSC stepped in and activated the brakes. When it didn't work right it tripped the warnings. I never did ask for codes or anything (my bad). I just brought it in and told them to make it better and they did. So, if you can, force it to engage the DSC in a empty parking lot. A straight line won't do it because in that case it just acts like plain old traction control. You will need to try to make it go sideways for the brakes and throttle to be controlled by the DSC system as it tries to stop the car from sliding. Best place is a snow covered parking lot. That way you can force it to do things under a low speed condition. Let us know if that trips the warning lights.

 

Thanks for the tip. We still have some snow around here. I'm heading out west (AZ and Vegas) tomorrow though so it'll be a little while before I can really give it a good test. The DSC lights did come on when engaged before I brought the car in. If what the service manager states is correct, a new code will be stored when the DSC engages again. I'm sure this winter will give me plenty of opportunities to test out the DSC. To the credit of the service manager, he was worried about the DSC problem and the lackluster solution. We both agreed we would see each other again soon.

 

Here's an update to my ABS Fault, DSC Unavailable, Cruise Unavailable situation. I dropped off the car once again to dealership for some final warranty work and told them I'm still experiencing the same problem. The result of their testing this time wasn't anything to do with wheel sensors but, instead error code P0411 - Secondary Air Injection: Incorrect flow detected. This error is related to the pre-heating of the catalytic converter.

I asked the service manager how is this related to the ABS, DSC, and Cruise control errors when they are seemingly different systems of the car. He said it is part of the checks the cars go through upon start up (something about high bus and low bus) and the error from P0411 is at the beginning of the check, which causes the next sets of tests to fail and ends in the Cruise Control being unavailable. They loaded on the new software fix for P0411 today. Here's hoping this solves the mystery.

Has anyone else experienced this lately? And does this make any sense?

 

2006MY was the first that the S-Type got SAI, and not many on here have such a recent car. P0411 is rare (exceedingly) on the S-Type. It MAY be reported wrongly, for all I know.

I do not believe what you have been told about it and DSC to be correct, not least because P0411 is from the PCM whereas the DSC etc should be from the DSCCM (CM=control module, P=powertrain, i.e. "engine"). But... wait and see PROVIDING your warranty does not expire. Face them with the DSC problem if your warranty does/would expire (nicely, but you need to know it will not be ignored).

 

On the battery issue in this thread, Just got a new one at AutoZone. About $135.00. Had an Interstate before this. They have the right model for the car, Duralast and it vents perfectly. Quality battery is so important.

 

Well that didn't take long for the problem to reappear. I'm calling the dealership tomorrow and have them rake a look at it again for the third time.

 

Dealership called and stated they could not find anything wrong. No codes were stored in the system despite the ABS/DSC/Cruise going off twice since the last visit. I'm perplexed.

 

Is the car still under the factory warranty? If so, remind your dealership of that and keep pushing them, professionally but firmly. Yes, it's intermittent but you've been battling this for months and you need a final resolution and fix while you're still under warranty. Tell them that previous customers in this situation had a master cylinder problem, and tell them that your battery could be the culprit as well. You've provided some educated clues, now it's up to them to test the systems thoroughly, find the problem, and fix it....

 

Some of the usual causes are:
dirt (rust) on the wheel sensor(s)
bad connector/wire near a wheel
dry joint on the DSC module PCB
wheel sensor going faulty
damp/wet in any of the above

 

Factory warranty is in effect until this coming Monday. They are aware of that fact as well as this being the third time they have had to address the same problem. I am pushing on them to correct this for good, even if it is outside of the warranty period. I will gladly provide them with additional areas to research the problem but I doubt it will help much. They seem to operate on "if there isn't a code there isn't a problem".

I'll kindly, but firmly ask them to check/test the wheel sensors, connectors, battery, and even the master cylinder. I'll also ask them to search for any signs of moisture, rust or corrosion on any connectors. Here's to hoping for good news. Third times the charm, right?

 

May be worth putting it clearly and politely in writing so you have a documented audit trail that this is outstanding during the warranty period.

 

As expected, received a call from the dealership stating no problem could be found. -No error codes were stored- I did recommend potential problem areas to research but they seemed unwilling to research the problem without any codes. I got the line "Jaguar will not pay us to tear down the vehicle and performance test all the parts." Do I have any other recourse other than to document my problem and send it to Jaguar North America?

One small glimmer of hope, the tech did say the dealership has the ability (goodwill as he called it) to make repairs after warranty expired based on my situation. I just don't see how it is even possible for them to fix anything related to my problem when they're unwilling to research the problem beyond what they have already attempted.

 

I agree with the previous advice given to you to document this in a letter to your dealership's general manager. Send it certified mail so you'll have a record of when it was picked up and signed for. "Goodwill" after the warranty period is a great thing when dealerships actually follow through and do it. Our local Lexus dealership did thousands of dollars worth of goodwill repairs to my wife's previous 2000 RX300 AWD after the warranty expired because it was such a dog of a vehicle. But from what you've described thus far about your Jaguar dealership, I think they are just giving you lip service about goodwill. It's great that a tech tells you about goodwill, but nobody in management has mentioned that to you - correct? Until you hear it from management, it ain't gonna happen....

Your warranty expires on Monday, correct? Write your letter NOW and either send it certified mail or hand-deliver it to the general manager yourself. Don't give it to a secretary or anyone else below him - put it in the general manager's hand yourself....

I've had experience along these same lines with a couple of different vehicles over the years. This approach always documented my position, and it let the dealership's management know that I had done my homework and was dead serious. I always got the goodwill follow-up I wanted, a couple of times more than 25,000 miles after the factory warranty had expired and for a repair that would have cost more than $1,200....

Write your letter, get it over there this week, and keep us posted. Good luck - I for one am pulling for you....

 

Good advice there!

 

hit1,

Status update?