The dealer says my car is ready and I'm set to pick it up today. They have had if for over a month. The first two weeks I was out of the country on vacation and when I returned I asked for a loaner car but they gave me a rental instead. It's nice driving a 2017 Ford Explorer but of course the acceleration is far shy of the S-Type. You step on it and it downshifts and just makes a lot of noise then eventually gets going.


I'll try to find out specifics on what they did to get the XF tank and bits working in the S-Type however the dealer was stumped numerous times and had extensive interaction with Jaguar engineers.


My registration is expired until I can pass a smog test. Found a local guy who for $20 will give me a report that the monitor status is not ready (fail) and I believe I need such a report to get a temporary operating permit from the California Dept of motor vehicles.


..fingers crossed that this whole episode is resolved soon.

 

Update: With the car back, no more codes have appeared and no more leaking fuel. It took about 1000 miles and 6-weeks to get the monitors to reset and then I promptly took the car for the emission test and it passed the California standards.


The only remaining issue is that upon filing up the fuel tank, the gauge (and computer) is very slow to recognize the full tank; but it does eventually indicate the proper level. I will probably just live with this symptom.


Things that they did include:
- removed the XF tank pressure switch and reinstalled the STR unit.
- replaced purge valve and some vapor piping.
- replaced alternator since they suspected that low charging was causing the groaning/ thrumming noise at the tank.

 

Glad to hear you are satisfied with the repairs thus far. I'm not surprised that your fuel gauge system takes some time to recognize and respond to a fill-up since this solution is essentially a hybrid fix with no previous history regarding what to expect....

Diminishing parts availability to repair our S-Types will become more and more of a factor as time passes. I recall from a number of years ago that a manufacturer is required by law here in the U.S. to keep a "sufficient" supply of all parts for 10 years after the release of any model. I'm not sure how one defines a "sufficient" supply from brand to brand or model to model, however....

My 1999 Dodge Ram pickup is now more than 18 years old. I've never had a problem obtaining any part I've ever needed for it at a very reasonable cost from a variety of suppliers. The most recent example was a new negative battery cable assembly about four months ago. We won't be nearly as fortunate with our S-Types as they continue to get older and creakier....

 

Just as an aside, there is no such law.

 

The 10-year parts requirement statement was made to me by a trusted source. I plan to investigate....

 

I bet there were a lot more of those vehicles or at least others that shared the same parts. Kind of like my 99 Suburban.

This gas tank conversion to a later XF because of an unfulfilled recall is not something I could find when asking my semi-local dealer about. Maybe they just don't want to get involved?

I agree with you though, it will be some absurd unbotainium part that puts these cras in the grave. I've already got the shovel out for mine anyway. Can't fix a coolant leak though minor and after going through the entire front end removal for bulb replacements ALL FOUR were done now my RH low beam headlamps is intermittent. These cars are maintenance PITA.

Very happy for the OP but it sounds like yet another pitfall that awaits the rest of us ...

In general modern cars are beotch.

 

One of you is in Canada ...

 

Back in the dark ages when I worked for a living and because of an unforeseeable set of circumstances thrown at us by a customer, my employer paid me to track down and prove/disprove the existence of such a law in the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Oz, NZ or any other civilized place.

I milked the project for all it was worth and as of spring 2009, came up with nothing.

Maybe somebody with a fresh copy of the internet can prove me wrong.

 

Still checking various sources. Nothing definitive either way yet....

 

Over here it seems to be something like generally true (for common cars) but actually a myth as regards law. Well, in regard to 10 years - an expensive purchase such as a car would have to be durable enough and parts readily available enough to pass some rather loosely defined periods of time (ultimately, what a court decided if someone really wanted to argue).