I can't help with your wife (joke)

There's no set distance to complete monitors, in fact if there's a fault some may never complete unless the fault's fixed.

Even with no faults there's no set distance. It's a varied pattern of driving plus sometimes other things. E.g. if your car has an EVAP monitor (it probably does) then there must be enough fuel so that not too much evaporation could be occurring. By way of example, if your tank was too empty and you kept adding hardly any fuel then that monitor would continue being unable to run. Then if you added enough fuel the monitor would run and might finally find an error (or not).

I don't say I'm fond of this stuff (thanks, CARB/EPA). It is partly why it's not always easy for a garage to run checks fully. And also why clearing codes (DTCs) can actually add to one's woes (as all the monitors have to start from the beginning).

I must emphasise that the above applies to essentially all modern cars, not just jags.

 

This article may help explain why a code can take a while to set:

http://www.motor.com/article.asp?article_ID=1344

 

Very interesting and enlightening information. Thanks for posting it....

No word from our Jaguar service department yesterday. Hope to hear from them today concerning the codes that were thrown and caused the "Check Engine" light to illuminate....

 

Update:

Our Jaguar dealer has had our S-Type back in the shop since Tuesday morning. They diagnosed our "check engine" light as a misfire in cylinder 3. I'm told by the service manager that it requires hundreds if not thousands of misfires to occur before the computer makes the decision to turn on the "check engine" light. Anyone else heard this before?

So our number 3 coil was swapped with number 2 and our number 3 spark plug was swapped with number 1 to see if the misfire codes would follow the component swaps. The service manager himself has put about 70 miles on the car (50% highway driving, 50% in-town driving) since the components were swapped, and thus far no "check engine" light, no codes thrown, nothing. Very strange.

I strongly believe these issues are accident-related. Our service manager states that he is not sure. The coil may have suffered an invisible hairline crack at impact. But if Jaguar does not designate this issue as accident-related, insurance will not cover the cost as just another supplement filed after additional damage was discovered. So I'm trying to influence my service manager to document this issue in my favor. That decision should be made today, and I expect we'll get the car back late this afternoon. If so, our shakedown process will continue over the weekend. I fully expect more codes to be thrown and more problems to arise....

 

Hi Jon,

Based on your description, it appears that it may have something as simple as the connection to the coil for the #3 cylinder got loose. This may very well be related to the accident. If it was a bad coil or plug, I would have anticipated that the CEL would have been triggered showing a problem at either the #2 or #1 cylinder if either the coil or spark plug were bad. You may want to check the connections on the rest of your coils as best you can. Luckily for us the coil prices are fairly reasonable (by Jaguar standards) at around $60 or so apiece. The bad part about the 3.0 engines is that you have to remove the intake manifold to swap out the right side coils and plugs. Why couldn't Jaguar design the intake manifold to allow access to the right side?

Hope everything works out OK.

Mike

 

Good points, Mike.

We'll see how it goes late today once the body shop picks up our car from the Jaguar dealership and I show up at the body shop to take possession once again. I'm prepared to battle them over this being an accident-related issue....

 

Jon89 - I don't know the Jaguar way of detecting misfires. I believe the data will be on their GTR (see the jag home page) but I've not paid (although it looks like it may be quite cheap) LOL

I think it'll be very like the Ford one. If you want to read a bit about misfires, see:
http://www.motorcraftservice.com/vdi...f/OBDSM508.pdf
it's on about page 8.

I don't believe you were told correctly but whether it's wrong enough to fuss about I couldn't say.

 

Update:

Our Jaguar service manager decided late Friday morning that this misfire failure could not be attributed to the accident. I strongly disagreed and told him that I believe he is wrong, stating my reasons why. I then appealed his decision with my State Farm agent, he put me in touch with management at the State Farm Claims Center, I restated my appeal over the phone to them, and they quickly ruled in my favor. So the $240 diagnostic bill at the Jaguar dealership was added as a supplement to the accident repair tally, and we do not have to cough up the cash. Our Jaguar service manager had already left for the holiday weekend before these details were finalized, so he does not yet know that he was overruled by my insurance company. It will be interesting to hear how he reacts to this, and we'll see how it changes the relationship that I have with him....

I picked up our S-Type late Friday afternoon. As of this morning we've put another 200 miles or so on the car. No warning messages have appeared on the dashboard so I presume no additional codes have been thrown. The only problem I've detected thus far is that the new headlights are woefully out of adjustment. It's the first time we've driven the car after dark since repairs were supposedly completed, and the low-beams project only about 20 feet in front of the car. The high-beams are aimed only slightly better. But this is easy enough to get corrected once our body shop reopens on Tuesday morning after the Labor Day holiday....

So the shakedown process continues. My wife leaves on Wednesday for her next solo trip to visit her parents in Florida. She'll be driving her 2004 Lexus RX330 on that trip for the first time since we purchased the S-Type back in mid-December. She simply doesn't trust the S-Type right now. If the car can just settle in and prove itself to her over the next month or two, perhaps her trust in it will return. Only time will tell....

 

Hi Jon,

If the body shop can't get the headlights adjusted, you might have to use the repair method Brutal came up with. It should still be a sticky.

Good luck,

Mike

 

Mike,

That won't be necessary. Thankfully, our S-Type does NOT have the ridiculously-expensive self-leveling headlights option. That is one option I would never want - just something else to break and create costly problems....

 

Jon89 - more on misfires: you can probably find page 6 of file called p20003.pdf

(that's 200 for the S-Type and MY 03, dunno if you have later files)

 

That won't be necessary. Thankfully, our S-Type does NOT have the ridiculously-expensive self-leveling headlights option. That is one option I would never want - just something else to break and create costly problems....


The self leveling head lights are only on the HID lights. It is a requirement of the European lighting regulations in an attempt to keep you from blinding the on coming traffic. It was not Jaguar's choice or option to install them!! They had too.
.
.
.

 

Update:

I've put more than 300 miles on our S-Type since picking it up from the Jaguar dealership last Friday. Other than having the headlights properly adjusted by the body shop on Tuesday morning, there have been no new issues with the car thus far.

So I called Geico yesterday and informed them that I would be pursuing a Diminished Value claim since I have been advised that our car has lost $3,500 to $4,700 in value simply as a result of being plowed by their client. The Geico claims adjuster fully expected to hear from me on this issue and she assured me that they will cooperate. We'll see - I expect a low-ball offer and an attempt to quickly settle with me. I'm open to negotiate but any final figure must be fair to me and substantial enough to significantly increase the balance of my existing S-Type Maintenance Fund which I established a couple of months ago at the time of our car's factory warranty expiration with $2,000.

Geico says they are waiting on the final subrogation paperwork from State Farm. Once they get it, they'll reimburse State Farm for the full cost of repairs (nearly $12,000), reimburse me for the full cost of my deductible ($500), and contact me to begin the Diminished Value negotiations.

Let the fun begin....

 

Update:

We've put nearly 1,000 miles on the S-Type since getting it back from repairs a second time on September 4th. No additional problems uncovered yet, no codes thrown, no dashboard warning lights, my wife stated last night that she thinks the car drives as well as it ever did and her confidence is starting to come back. That's all good news.

But dealing with Geico on getting our claim paid has turned into a joke. Their call center claim reps lie to me repeatedly about the status of the claim. I was told on Tuesday that "one more level of management needs to approve your claim and then it will be paid." Then on Thursday, I was told "final approval just occured and your check will be mailed out today." Then on Friday night, I was told "another level of management needs to approve your claim and that should happen on Sunday or Monday and then your check will go out in about a week." I get a different claim rep every time, they always put me on hold so they can speak with "upper management", then they come back and feed me a story to get me off the phone. What a bunch of sleazebags....

Because we have multiple vehicles in our household, I didn't stick Geico by making them pay for a rental car while our S-Type spent nearly a month undergoing repairs. Now I wish I had done so. I didn't claim any injury as a result of the accident even though my left knee was a little sore for a few days afterwards. Now I wish I had run up some doctor visits on Geico's dime....

But my Diminished Value claim against them won't be filed until after September 28th, and you can bet that I'll take all of this into consideration as I go after Geico to pay me for the value loss that our car has suffered as a result of the accident. I gave Geico the benefit of the doubt throughout this process that they would be honest and treat us fairly since their driver was 100% at fault. But they don't provide updates when they promise to, they consistently lie to me about paying our claim, and they transfer me around from person to person when I call in for updates....

My Diminished Value settlement target continues to spiral upwards. Initially, I probably would have accepted the lower end of the range ($3,500). But not now. I'm on a mission for $5,000 or more, and Geico has no one except their own employees' actions to blame....

Stay tuned....

 

I'd give up on the calls and use writing - fax probably - so there's an audit trail but also writing seems to work better (go figure).

 

Jon, I would suggest gettimg the name(s) of one or more of these "upper management" types, their address(s) and start writng letters to them. You've done enough phone calls already and don't need to do anymore.
Be sure to send them "Certified..return receipt required" AND "Restricted Delivery" That makes sure the addressed individual gets the letter. Send copies to your insurance agent, they'll appreciate it and may even have good suggestions.
My wife and I had to do this on some legal stuff years ago, and it does work.
Good luck

 

There is already an audit trail. Each of my phone calls is recorded on tape, and notes are entered into Geico's system. I ask for and write down the name of every Geico rep that I speak with. My running notes on these call center contacts are already three full pages long....

This claim will indeed get paid - I'm not concerned about that. I fully expected for the payment process to require at least a month after the car had been repaired and returned to us. I have it in writing that Geico has accepted responsibility for the accident and will pay the claim in full. I asked for and got that letter only a week or so after the accident occured back on August 3rd....

I realize this is a high-dollar claim. I realize that multiple levels of approval must take place. I realize that payment may not be released until weeks after the final approvals have occured. What I object to is being lied to. Don't tell me that the reimbursement check will go out in today's mail when you know full well that it will not....

I'll get my revenge through the Diminished Value claim, and I will savor every dollar of it....

 

Good for you!

 

Jon89, can you give us an update on what has happened since then?

Did you have 2 way insurance? Sorry, I'm a very new driver, only 18 years old and buying my first jag s type.

 

Here's an update as you requested:

Geico claims to have mailed a check to State Farm this past Thursday to cover the full amount of repairs as well as my $500 deductible. That remains to be seen. Geico phone reps have lied to me multiple times in the past couple of weeks so I'll believe them when the check shows up at State Farm's corporate office, hopefully next week....

No, I don't have "two-way insurance" as you phrased it. The guy who hit me and was at fault in this accident is covered by Geico. I am covered by State Farm. I chose to go through my own insurance company for repairs and then have the at-fault driver's insurance company reimburse my insurance company for the full cost of all repairs. This is called "subrogation", and it has several advantages. First, my insurance company handles the claim, and they have my interests in mind much moreso than the other driver's insurance company does. My insurance company insists on new parts, whereas the other driver's insurance company would have used as many refurbished parts as they could get away with. Second, my insurance company presents the final bill to the other driver's insurance company and then stays on them hard until it is paid. If the other driver's insurance company would have been in charge of repairs, they would have constantly tried to chip away at a premium level of repairs, attempting to do things as cheaply as possible. And third, I was warned by the body shop I selected that going through the other driver's insurance company would be a significant risk based upon prior dealings the body shop has had with them. This advice proved to be correct based upon the lies that the other driver's insurance company has told to me throughout the process of me attempting to find out when the claim would be reimbursed to my insurance company....

This experience has taught me that subrogation is the only way to go if you want your vehicle repaired to as much of a like-new condition as possible. The company that you pay your insurance premiums to is much more likely to fight FOR you instead of AGAINST you. I was not aware of the subrogation option before this accident, and I am certainly glad I discovered that I had this choice....

Hope this explanation has provided you with a better understanding of what takes place in situations like this....