Hi all,


I am new to this after just purchasing my first Jag


Recently bought a 1998 XK8 convertible with a suspected big end noise, a few dents, one owner from new and 88k on the clock, all for the bargain price of £2,100.


Turns out it was the timing chains rattling which I did at the weekend so it has turned into a lovely cheap car.


After replacing the chains I started it up and noticed the dash lights flickering which seem to flicker in relation to a small amount of hunting from the engine.
Before you drive off anywhere I also get the stability control, traction control and ABS failure all spring up.


The car drives nice, but on one occasion it came up with a gearbox fault. (I have only driven it a couple of miles)


Its not something I noticed when I picked it up as I trailered it away, and whenever it was running it was such a horrid noise I always wanted to shut it off asap. Didn't know if I could of disturbed something when replacing the chains? Or left something off?


Has anyone got any ideas that can help me out? The weather so good I want to get out and enjoy my new toy!


D

 

If the battery's a bit flat or old, it may be that.

 

Mods: would be best to move this over to the XK8 forum.

Yeah, Jags like nice healthy batteries - probably worth charging it up and see if that helps.

However, the usual symptom of a low battery in an XK8 is the the windows drop when you open the door, but they don't pop up again when you close it. If that isn't happening, you may have a different problem. Lights dimming + engine stumbling sounds a bit like something's either interrupting the +ve feed or shorting to ground. Perhaps check you haven't disturbed any wiring when you were doing the chains.

Do you actually have traction control & ABS working? You'll know pretty quick if you don't, on a wet road anyway. If they are actually not working, rather than it just being an electrical gremlin, it's probably one of the ABS sensors; that was the case on my XK8.

 

I had to bump start the battery to start it after doing the chains as it was only on 9v, charged it to 13v and it has dropped to 12.4v after a couple of days without running it.


On tick over the charge rate fluctuates between 13.5 - 13.8 (due to hunting) and if the revs hold at 2500rpm the rate is 14v.


Is there a way to delete the fault codes without a scanner to reset it??


If it is an ABS sensor I cant imagine it causing it to hunt, if the battery wont hold its charge above 12.5v can that cause it to hunt as it could cause the traction,stability failure??


Thanks

 

Sorry, I was suggesting two separate faults - i.e. a bad battery or a poor connection somewhere, and a real ABS fault. If the ABS & traction control are actually working, then the fault messages relating to them are 'phantom' ones caused by the electrical problem.

The battery sounds a bit suspect, but if you aren't getting the 'window drop' symptom, then it less likely to be the source of the problem.

No, you need a code reader to clear the codes - a generic one will do, you don't need the full Jag system to clear codes.