My 2003 S-Type 3.0 v6 Base has been running lean with a P0333 high bank knock sensor error and occasional bouts of Restricted Performance in mid-to-late March. So, for over a week and half now my car has been sitting in an independent shop for some much needed engine repairs. They've replaced the upper intake manifold gaskets, the cracked PCV hose and o-rings, replaced the sparkplugs with iridium plugs, and one failing #5 engine cylinder coil. And after ordering a new knock sensor from a certain parts supplier in California, replaced the High Bank knock sensor.


All those codes went away EXCEPT FOR THE P0333 error code. Resetting the code does nothing, so hard code... Suggestions?


The shop is currently looking at wiring and electrical issues.
I'm pondering just a faulty replacement sensor whose piezo electric crystal didn't like the box jagbits put it in.
Could this be a dreaded sign of an PCM going bad? I have had no issues starting the vehicle or serious engine or shifting hesitation issues (before the failing cylinder happened in mid/late March) which to me would be what I would expect with a failing PCM... Ugh!!



Help! If the shop has the car much longer I'm going to have to ask them which kidney they want in payment!

Edit: I'm not second guessing the shop. They do seem to know what they're doing, but as of yesterday said it was odd to replace the sensor and still have the code. "Odd" and the phrase "up to my elbows with your car and electrical diagrams" are two things I fear hearing from a Jag technician or an indy import shop!!

 

Buying a genuine Jaguar knock sensor could be cheaper than hours of diagnostics.

Don't know if the equivalent Ford part would fit. Someone else may know.

 

The code has a few meanings, all listed in the codes PDF. You can get it free from the stickies here and it's in JTIS, also free there. It can''t be beyond a shop to check each of those meanings and I rather hope they can test a knock sensor not to mention replace one with due care.

I suppose it's hard to say it cannot be the PCM but honestly it's incredibly unlikely and there are no signs at all so far that it's to blame.

I don't really see how so many faults all appeared at once. Did they?

Has the battery been checked? Quite a few of those could be falsely flagged if the battery was failing or not properly charged.

 

Are you sure he replaced the correct knock sensor?
Maybe review which one goes where?
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So many codes at once is probably due to this car being relatively new-to-me, and having sat in a dealership lot for sale over a very cold winter in the mountains of East Tennessee.


A month ago, or two weeks after I bought it (relatively inexpensively, and thus expecting repairs), the car was reporting the P0333 code and had slipped into restricted performance mode. The code went away after a week of running premium gas (restricted performance went away, and my cheapy ELM scanner was able to clear the P0333 code). Two weekends ago the code returned along with restricted performance. On that Monday my scanner and the scanner at Autozone showed just a P0333 and the P1000 status code. That Tuesday was cold and snowy and I felt some definite engine hesitation around 1500-2000 rpms returning from work. Wednesday morning the CEL was on, flashing, and definitely felt like I lost a cylinder (cylinder 5 error code came up on my cheapy scanner).


I brought it in with those codes. The shop said their scanner was pulling those codes and codes that said the engine was running lean. With 125k on the car, I knew enough that vacuum leaks could be likely (but hadn't affected performance as far as I could tell -- no hard shifting, no sputtering, no rough running or idling). They said diagnostics and a smoke test showed a cracked PCV hose, gaskets, and that the relatively new-to-me car was not yet upgraded to iridium spark plugs. They thought the censor and the cylinder errors were likely caused by these. Knowing from reading these boards that these are common engine wear-and-tear on the S-Type, I told them to go ahead and do the work.


Regardless, after doing that work, the car still showed the failed cylinder code and the P0333 code. They replaced the cylinder and the that code went away. They replaced the knock sensor, and the code is still being reported.

 

The shop owner confirmed they were working on the knock sensor bank 2 located atop the engine, under the upper intake manifold, not the more easily-reached sensor on the side.


I am assuming a failure in knock sensor bank 1 on the side of the engine wouldn't confuse the computer into throwing a P0333 by mistake...


I did ask if the sensors were interchangeable the way cylinders are, and perhaps if the sensors were swapped and the car started throwing errors in bank 1... The shop owner said they're not interchangeable... ???

 

I haven't paid a lot of attention to the 3.0's plugs, changed at 70K miles, but I thought they were platinum (my car has iridiums, changed at 100K). They won't affect a P0333 I think, so no worries unless anyone knows better.

Realistically it's not going to be the "computer". Call it 99.999% chance it's something else.

As I recall, knock sensors are fairly delicate and the torque value is important, but the shop should know that better than I do.

 

UPDATE 4/8/14:
Well this just gets funner. Indy shop has had the car for 11 business days (closed weekends). After fixing other worn engine components, they spent three days investigating the Bank 2 Knock sensor wiring to no avail. I asked for the car back, figured it might make a neat project for me and my stepfather who is a master electrician. I had the car back for 10 minutes yesterday. Took it to a gas station since it was running on fumes and rough idling. Filled it with 92 octane and the can of Seafoam the shop recommended -- I prefer Techron, but whatever, okay.

The rough idling immediately smoothed out a bit, but a half block down the street the car started running very rough, CEL came on flashing, and my ODB scanner pulled P0305, P1313, and P1616. Considering I brought it to the shop to have the Cylinder 5 coil replaced... grr.!??!

From my research on the forums, it looks like someone put it back together leaving a vacuum leak, an incorrect sparkplug gap (they replaced platinum plugs with iridium), or neglected to notice a damaged or clogged fuel injector or two. Or...

Thoughts?? Help? I'm a day away from biting the bullet and calling our local Jaguar dealership's service guys. But, as this seems to be a "putting it back together and checking the parts you put in issue," I'm leaving it to the indy shop guys to fix what they took apart... unless there's some other explanation.

 

Shop can't fix simple things. Coils, air leaks etc are ordinary nowadays and have been since OBD II came in (20 years ago was it?). Putting things back that they took off is really really basic.

Flashing MIL is cat-damaging misfires, btw.

 

Update: Shop identified the problem as a faulty replacement coil pack (one of my top three explanations for what happened), promise to return it today purring away.

In the past I've been hesitant to mess with the engine or transmission myself. Now? I'm going to learn how to remove the upper intake manifold as I will probably have to replace the other coil packs before too long myself. I could do this work in two weeks

 

By way of closing out this thread, car finally came back from its long voyage through the repair shop. Running much better than before, MPG up from 25.5 average on highway to 27+ in sport mode, no hesitations and for the first time in a month and a half, back to P1111.


Intend to learn how to remove the upper intake manifold myself as those other coil packs are going to have to come out sooner than later. Weekend projects include replacing oil filter and checking MAF and throttle body for crud.