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I just checked the fuse boxes, and they all looked like this one in the boot. I wiggled, and withdrew each relay a little, and then pushed them home tight. so I didn't actually remove any, but they felt 'right', and all were in place. I also checked the +ve stud to each of them, again most carefully, and I couldn't tighten any, reaching a quite reasonable force, before deciding, that's tight enough, and none was corroded, at all. Not sure what the white is on the rubber, but underneath it was pristine and the rubber was still soft and compliant, and it was black inside. I should have photographed it whilst it was off, but didn't, but it was perfect, and tight, as were the others.
Your problem sounds like the inertia switch. The switch is in the passenger side footwell, on the side behind the plastic cover, straight ahead of the door. You can see an opening in the top of the plastic, and if you reach your finger in there, you can push down on the top of the switch (a rubber button). The button resets the switch if the car has been in an accident, but in your case, the switch itself is likely going bad and has nothing to do with it needing to be reset. I had this exact same problem years ago, and I chased down one potential solution after another (as you're probably doing now), until I discovered the inertia switch issue. I bought a used one for $25 on ebay at that time, and I have never had the issue again. The inertia switch shuts down various electrical components including the fuel pump during an accident, for safety purposes. You can try pressing down on the rubber reset button, but generally if the switch is tripped, the car will not start at all. For that reason, in your case, it is more likely that the switch itself is going bad internally, which is why the problem flares up occasionally. If it had "tripped", your car would not start until you reset it.
I hope this helps.
Hi Eric
It's certainly worth a look, as I am following any and all advice received on here so far, so I will be checking that for sure. Might be a couple of days, as I am fishing all day tomorrow, and it's getting a little late here now. Thinking about it though, I won't be able to check it, unless it makes a log entry, so I can read it when I get my scanner. Sounds like the sort of thing that should make an entry though. Can't check it if it's working at the moment, which of course it must be, because as usual the car is currently working flawlessly. It only isn't, when it grinds to a halt, lol.
Thanks for another thing to consider. Much appreciated, as are everybody's comments, so thanks all so far.
I got my iCarsoft scanner, and performed a smart scan. If I can attach the pdf here, maybe someone can take a look, and see what's what for me. There were some sections with no errors, but these are the errors found. Some are clearly not correct, for whatever reason. For example, the one referencing side lights. The lights work perfectly, and are always in the auto position. For the sake of the test, I put it in the off position, and on position, but got the same result. Same for turn signal, where it says, left and right switch active, which they cannot be, because the turn signals operate as they should. Also, the wipers say park sense, but I never have any issue with the wipers.
All say current, so I don't suppose clearing them would make any difference?
Anyway, such things do not really concern me. Is there anything in there that might have lead to my intermittent cut out?
It is very common to testers say things that aren't there or correct with these type older cars. Sometimes it is very difficult to determine is the readed value correct or not. It is not just I car's fault.
Yeah, thanks, that doesn't surprise me, and doesn't really worry me. I'm more worried that there might not be anything in there to point me at my intermittent issue. I'm reluctant to drive it anywhere right now, with it liable to stop on me at any given moment. If I drive it more and more, I will become more and more confident, that it isn't going to go wrong. Eventually I'll trust it such that I stop just driving in the inside lane, at which point it will stop on me, just as I'm trying to pass someone in the outside lane. You know it will happen, it's sod's law.
How on earth can I expect someone to fix something that doesn't exist as a fault, bar once every five or six thousand miles?
Sounds very much like the old sticking throttle problem that early V8's had. Do a search for TSB 303-S514
All you need to fix it is clean the throttle house and valve.
Sounds very much like the old sticking throttle problem that early V8's had. Do a search for TSB 303-S514
All you need to fix it is clean the throttle house and valve.
That reads exactly as per my issue. 'Very exceptional circumstances', 'complete stop', 'brakes and power steering work, due to wheel drive', 'restarts after coming to a complete stop', 'operates normally after restart'.
It has to be it. Better, it says the work must be carried out on both in and out of warranty cars. Whether they will honour that, who knows, but it's something to cling on to.
I have already called Jaguar, and she gave me her email address, so she could forward my detailed query to classic cars, or whoever turns out to be the correct department. Email is already sent. Let's see what happens.
Yah, good luck getting Jaguar to do something for free :-D
Seriously though, I had that issue on my '98 3.2 If memory serves, the throttle cycles through some cleaning process where it closes the throttle after 5 decelerations, and if there is too much residue in the housing, it'll stick in the closed position.
All you need to do is to take the intake of the throttle house and clean up the sooty residue from inside and off the throttle valve with a lint free cloth and some petrol. will take you 15 minutes max. I just made cleaning the throttle housing a part of the oil change and I haven't had the issue since.
Yes, I know it's a long shot, but being able to reference them to that printed material, that actually says, 'in and out of warranty', should give me some sort of chance. Let's see.
As for cleaning it, as the solution, I will learn how to do that properly, if and when Jaguar let me down. 15 minutes will be for a skilled, competent and confident operative, like you. For me I'd be looking at much longer, but happy to do it. Obviously cleaning it is a workaround. Not saying it's not a good workaround, but it says in the TSB that it needs replacing, against what appears to me to be my range of VIN, subject to their confirmation, and I'll definitely do it if they want hundreds of pounds to do it, so I'll be hoping there's a fully documented description of how to perform it, aimed at dummies, lol.
There must be a fully documented description aimed at dummies, because that's how I learned it. If Jaguar lets you down and you can't find it, let me know and I'll walk you through it. There really is nothing to it.
Also, I forgot to mention the error codes you got. There's nothing shocking in there. I'd just reset them, take the car for a 15 minute drive so all modules cycle through their diagnostics and then read the codes again.
Brilliant, thank you, I will do just that. Although taking it for a 15 minute drive sounds scary, lol. Only kidding, I've been on longer, since it last did it to me last week, so I'm prepared to do that.
Thank you so much, for the offer of the walk through as well. Very much appreciated.
I just watched this video, and he was doing it because of the exact same issue. It looks easy enough. So easy in fact, that I may well do it anyway, before Jaguar even come back to me. I wasn't keen on pushing open the butterfly with metal, but it's probably fine if done carefully enough. I will probably do it with a stiff plastic stick, or just with my fingers, despite his warning about getting your finger stuck, lol. Only thing that looked hard to me, because I tried the other day, for another reason, is removing that plastic pipe, with the two squeeze clips. Having said that, I was probably doing it wrong, because I couldn't see properly, as it was starting to go dark.
I notice he said carb cleaner, which I have, but you said petrol. Is there any particular reason why you prefer petrol?
Blimey, I'd never stick anything metal down such a precision engineered piece of equipment. I just pushed it open with my fingers.
I never used carb cleaner on anything that isn't an actual carburettor. Some of these throttle housings have a coating and I'd just not risk using anything agressive. I just used a lintfree (very important, anything that goes down that housing gets sucked through your injectors, valves and down into the cylinders) cloth, damp with a bit of petrol and rubbed the housing and valve (especially the edges) clean.
But apart from that, yes, that is all there is to it. Also, while you have the intake tube off, inspect the 'harmonica' bit for holes and tears. That plastic gets old and brittle and even a tiny leak there will cause a lean mixture.
Edit: Just saw part two of this video. Do not try and start the car with wide open throttle. The ECM interprets WOT as an instruction to not inject any petrol during starting. Only ever use WOT starting when you have borewash. He is actually starting the car on pure carb cleaner, hence the shitty running at first. That's another benefit of just using petrol instead of cleaner.
Thanks, that's clear. Petrol on a lint free cloth it is, with finger pressure.
In the meantime, I got over excited, and had to go and have a look at why I couldn't get that tube off previously. Once I studied it properly, it became obvious that the squeezy clips were already broken at one side, so I couldn't squeeze them to release it. I managed with pulling and lifting the clips with my finger nails, but as I pulled, the other side broke off too, as it came away. I think I can order a replacement for about a tenner, used, off eBay, if you could confirm the type is right from the link below. Looks right to me. If so, no big deal, it was already broken, which is why it wouldn't release, and it's only a tenner, including delivery. I released the other end, just to confirm how it should operate, and that went well, and clicks back in, but the engine side now will not lock, which I imagine will be important. Must have been previously damaged by some ham fisted Jaguar technician when in for a service.
I'll examine the concertina section, but I expect it will be totally fine.
Honestly, if it's only that price from Jaguar, I think I'll get the brand new item from them. Thanks for linking it. That's surprisingly reasonable. Other things I've looked for have been nothing short of extortion.
In Dutch we have a saying 'beter duur te koop dan niet te krijgen' which roughly translates as it's beter to have expensive parts than parts no longer available.
It's my go to excuse for spending exhorbitant amounts to keep the fleet running
Forgot to mention: After you've fixed the issue, the way to test it is to find a quiet road, accelerate to about 60 and then let go of the throttle for a bit, than accelerate again, ease off again etc. If the car doesn't stall after, say 10-15 times, you can rest assured the issue is solved - or, god forbid, the throttle housing wasn't the original issue at all.
I love your saying, lol, and that testing advice is absolutely brilliant. I had been so worried that I would have no clue if it was resolved. First time it happened to me, I had just moved into the second lane on the motorway, and the guy in front slowed, so I had to lift off. Then as he pulled away again, I pressed to go again, and nothing, so I had to quickly negotiate my way back to the inside lane, and then onto the shoulder, feeling a little flustered.
Next time it happened, just last week, I had barely joined the motorway, and was about to move out to overtake, but decided not to, because I was only going one junction, so again I lifted off and it died.
Knowing how to test it, is going to put my my at rest when I've done it. I'm more than happy to do that in the middle of the night, on the motorway just near me. It's pretty quiet in the day, but it's very quiet at night.
As for it not being the issue, I think with the added detail of how it happens in your test, and how it happened to me the last two times, I think it's nailed on.
05-16-2022, 03:16 PM
