Friday morning my check engine light came on in my 2002 X-Type 3.0; tried to have the codes read at an Auto Zone near my work but it spit out a bunch of random nonsense and I was told I had a computer problem (my instinct was that they didn't know what they were doing, and turns out I was right)

I've recently moved to the area and am I certainly missing my old dealership where diags would be free; this Hartford based dealership charged me $140 just to diagnose it (after quoting me $120 on the phone, the remaining $20 being taxes and "environmental and shop charge," which makes absolutely no sense to me and should have been mentioned up front). Turns out I have a bad oxygen (o2) sensor, Bank 2 Sensor 1 (i.e. Driver side upstream). They wanted $557.60 to fix it, so I've decided to look elsewhere first.

Anyhow, driving home at night I find my xenon headlamps are practically pointed to the ground - I had to use highbeams much of the way because I could barely see. NEVER had this problem before taking the car to the dealer. Anyone have thoughts on this? Suggestions for how to guarantee the dealer takes care of this, no cost?


As an addendum, I went out to start my car after washing it today and all I got was a very loud screeching noise coming from the engine - electrics worked fine. I waited a while, moved the gears (it's a manual), looked at the battery and fuses, then tried again and now it (thanfully) works. Any ideas on this, could it be related to o2 sensor?

 

Sorry to hear of your problems.
Re the Xenons
They are designed to point down if there is a fault in the headlight electrical system detected which stops oncoming drivers being dazzled if they were pointing to high.There are 2 sensors on one of the sills (cant remember which) to detect front-back and side-side levels.A faulty sensor would cause the lights to dip right down but it may be something else like another fault or needing reprogramming to the car.
With factory Xenons when you turn your ignition to the on position before you start your car the light motors will raise and lower to determine their level.
My XJ had very low dipped lights too but all that was needed was the lights to be put on the dealers machine and reprogrammed ie the car had to be "re-told" it had xenons.
Sorry cant help much more
Good luck getting it sorted

 

Slip, you can do the O2 sensor yourself for very little money. THe only money you will have to spend is on a new O2 sensor ($112 for the Bosch plug and play sensor or $62 for the universal fit sensor, but you have to solder the pins on the end of the wires and pull the old pins out of your current plug and install the new pins into that) and then $15 on an O2 sensor socket (looks like a 1/2" impact socket, but the side of the socket will be cut out to allow the wires to be fed through so they are not damaged as you are tightening the sensor).

As for install, you will need to remove the cover off the top of the engine, then remove the air box (both halves). If you look down, the O2 sensor you are after is right there. Pretty easy to get to once the airbox is removed. Just make sure to spray the nut of the old sensor really good with penetrating fluid (WD-40, PB Blaster, Kroil, etc) before attempting. THese nuts are known to be hard to get broken loose. BUt, properly treated, won't be that bad.

HOpe this helps.

 

Thanks for the replies guys - I should be taking my X to the dealer today and hopefully they can simply reprogram the xenons as they did for your XJ (sweet one, too) Buck.

I'd been thinking about trying the O2 sensor on my own, been getting into DIY projects a little more lately; just did the spark plugs, which also required disassembly of the air box. Any chance you know of a detailed write up/pictures just to eliminate as many chances as possible of screwing it up?

 

i'm not sure if i have xenons or not ( i know dumb right) but my drivers side points down, do you think i could have just damaged the levelers in the headlight, and is therea easy fix for this at all

 

In the UK at least (noy sure for US but would presum same) factory xenons must have power headlamp wash.If you dont have power headlamp wash you dont have xenons.
If you have a manual headlight levelling knob beside your headlight switch then you dont have xenons (as they auto level).
Even if you have headlamp wash you may still have non-xenon lights as they were optional with them.
Another way to tell if they are xenons is if you stand infront of the car and get someone you trust to turn the ignistion on.The moment the ignition goes to Acc (I think) the headlamp deflectors inside the headlight will move up and down.If they dont there is a fault if you have xenons or you simply dont have xenons
Xenon lamps also have a metal box attached to the headlamp but I believe this is under the headlamp so you wont see it.

 

Disco, open up your drivers door. Look into the crack where the door hinges are. Inbetween the hinges, if you have a big silver (or white) sticker that says something about HID lights, then you have HIDs, if not, you have the Xenons.

 

Er Xenons are HIDs! I think you mean the sticker will say Xenons/HID OR nothing, probably implying Halogens.

 

TIm, you are correct, I am confusing halogen bulbs and xenon bulbs. Thanks for the correction. Got myself confused reading all that is going on in the topic.

 

thanx guys, i kinda feel like and idiot for asking, mine just might be 1600k-4300k, thats pobaly why i havn;'t noiticed, but ill check tommmorrow

 

Took it to the dealer, but they wouldn't hook up the computer without me paying for another diagnostic (liking this dealer less and less). Finally convinced a mechanic to at least look at it, he stuck a screw driver in the hole slightly above the light and aimed them up. My auto-leveling is not working, but for the moment they appear levelled ok (haven't driven them at night yet, will update later)