???

 

Folks I don't own an XK yet, but as a 2 time XJ owner and owner of BMW's, Lotus, Alfa Romeo etc I can tell you these are some recurring themes in the industry as a whole.

First TPMS sensors. They respond to, usually a 5lb change from when they were set and the temp when they were set as temp affect pressure!
Example. If tires were set at 60 degrees and TPMS sensors were reset , if it drops to below 10 degrees or above 110 you'll get a warning. Logical. However if you reset sensors, say when it was 20 outside and you're cruising on a nice trip south at 80, the sensors will react. My Ascender pulled this on me last week when it was real hot going to Maine. Car is setup for winter with ideal pressures at ~10 degrees. It was ~68 outside and alert light came on. I pulled over thinking I was getting a flat even though I felt nothing. Checked all pressures and they were 42-44 hot when set for 32-35 cold. That's why the piece of tape went back over that warning light! STUPID FEDERAL MANDATE THAT IS FLAWED!

Touch screens. No different than trying to get your home computer to do too many things at a time. Screen freezes up. Patience is a virtue with all computer interfaces. Jag touch screen is not a strength of the car as reported in virtually all testing. Hard drives in 2010-2011 models are improved, so I'm told.

If a battery tests good, its good. The reason new batteries seem to correct electronic problems usually is not the new battery, but the fact that you completely disconnected A battery for an extended time frame. That is why to reprogram and ECU back to stock, it is usually recommended to disconnect battery at least 10 minutes to an hour to overnight! I haven't had a battery die an early death in 20 years on 20+ cars! My 2004 XJ still has original battery (7yrs old but I'll replace this spring!)

Adaptive cruise. To me , a stupid feature, might be just as easy to disable the adaptive element entirely and just use "normal Cruise" It has flaws in several vehicles. (Might use same supplier??) I use cruise as much as anybody, and if you can't pay that limited amount of attention to surrounding conditions, you shouldn't use cruise anyway IMHO.


NEXT ISSUE
""3. "Check Fuel Filler Cap". Happened twice...2008 and this year. Went away after a few cycles.

4. Sometime at the first initial crank it would fire up and then die (something like starving of fuel then the 2nd crank it would always start up. Dealer couldn't find what's wrong. Mostly happened in 2008/2009. Seemed to go away this past year." EVER THINK THESE TWO ITEMS WERE RELATED TO EACH OTHER? If a gasket doesn't seat properly, newer systems can tell the fuel system is not sealed. Gas caps live a tough life esp if not handled well in the winter, or they are ever forgotten to be put back on!!


Ipods: I've done it and had it freeze in my X5 several times. Ipods get confused when unplugged but still on and music is recommenced in your hand. They love to freeze up. In contrast, if it was playing or on when you plugged in USB port of vehicle, Ipod can get stuck and you think cause car to freeze up, it is actually the ipod most of the time. Solution. Always connect or disconnect Ipod when shut off or not actually playing material. Just yesterday, was playing music in my X5 on way to work. Unplugged it before I shut X5 off. When I took it inside to plug into dock to listen at office, it froze till I went thru the reset procedure. DOH!!

Hope these real life experiences with electronics help some of you out there. Screens are a Jag shortcoming. The radar cruise and TPMS sensors are an industry wide PIA. IPODS aren't perfect at all!

 

There are two warnings that come from the XKR related to tire pressure.

The first is the warning that pressure is low, it also shows which tire is low. This has occurred three times now in four years.

The second (Which is the problem) is the 'Tire Pressure System Fault' warning. This warning is to advise that the system is faulty not that the tyre pressure/s are low.

Any advice on how to fix this is welcome.

 

I appreciate all the info, thanks. The only thing you said that I potentially disagree with is your comments about changing out the battery. Like other people here, my electrical gremlins seem to have disappeared since the battery was replaced with a new one. Add to that the fact that the dealer attaches a power unit to the car during battery change out that effectively tricks the car into believing the battery was never taken out of line. This unit keeps power running to the accessories while the new battery is being installed and keeps the owner from having to reprogram all the electrical stuff (like radio pre-sets, the clock, garage door opener, etc). Therefore, since the car was never "rebooted", as you imply, the Gremlins should have still been very much present.

Anyway, my thoughts....

 

I don't believe the 9V battery in the cig lighter to keep radios etc programmed has ability to keep an ECU powered up?? Good point and I'd love a tech to answer that one!

 

My 07 XK had a new battery and the touchscreen used to come up immediately after the engine started and the CD started playing at the same time. If my 08 XKR has been sitting for 6-7 hours, the screen sits on the leaper logo for up to 10 seconds after starting the engine. As I've said, I believe the voltage drop caused by the starter motor is enough to upset the electronics.

 

Now that makes sense. And, just as in my x5, it takes 10-15seconds for the computer to fully boot up. 10-15 seconds is quite normal in my x5. It will let you do a thing or 2 then make you wait till its ready to actually perform the task you required, change albumin IPOD etc. If you go trying a bunch of stuff you only wait longer!!

 

Has anyone had problems trying to recline the drivers seat. I just bought a 2007 XK8 and traded in a 1999 XK8. I am pretty tall so I usually need to move the seat back as far as possible to drive comfortably, the problem I'm having with the new car is that once I move the seat all the way back and then try to recline it, it starts moving forward again (like you can't have both). Is this normal or does it sound like a malfunction.

Love the new car, but cramped for now...
Thanks,

 

"My 07 XK had a new battery and the touchscreen used to come up immediately after the engine started and the CD started playing at the same time. If my 08 XKR has been sitting for 6-7 hours, the screen sits on the leaper logo for up to 10 seconds after starting the engine. As I've said, I believe the voltage drop caused by the starter motor is enough to upset the electronics. "

On all my newer, electronic intensive vehicles, if you just drive the car locally, or haven't driven it in a few weeks, you probably have a partially discharged battery not a bad battery. Unless my X5 is taking a 375mile trip to Maine in winter, I charge battery ~1x/month. Never cease to be amazed how long it takes to charge. This, too makes a lot of sense. Why they replace batteries that just need a proper charge?????????????????Getting to a point where new cars need a built in trickle charger and instructions to plug in if vehicle is left for more than a week or driven less than 25miles daily for a week. Its what we gearheads have been doing for years!

 

This is normal.

 

After Jag warrantied my battery, I installed a CTEK Smart Charger in hopes that this new battery will stay healthier longer. (it's not a daily driver) This model appears to be identical to the one offered at the dealer (but with a Porsche emblem attached) for a lot more $$.

 

I've stayed away from Lotus and BMW but I've owned two Jags and two Alfa Romeos ... that STILL doesn't make me an expert on ANY of them.

Yesterday for the first time my XK started and stalled, then started without issue the second time. Later that day an amber "engine systems failure" message came on the dash and lasted for about 90 seconds. I brought the car into the shop this morning but no codes were found when hooked up to a hand-held diagnostic tool. Frustrated and surprised, I set out for home when, after starting, the amber warning returned. My service rep ran into the shop and the technician immediately took the car back inside and hooked it up to a more sophisticated machine.

Result: all four oxygen sensors failed. Funny thing is, according to the service department, that's not possible. lol

So Tuesday when I drop off the car for door realignment, free repaint around the doors and winter/summer wheel/tire swap, she's also going to get a computer reset and more tests.

Thank goodness my service department takes good care of its customers. The sales department, knowing my car is paid off and has low miles, even offered me a 2011 XK as a loaner while my car's in the shop, in the hopes that I'll consider trading in/up. HA!!

 

I know everyone knows this but you can not leave the key fab in,near or close to the car it will drain your battery

 

We opted to do a "hard reset" of the computer and monitor. Hasn't happened since.

 

Have had my 07Coupe since April...replaced drivers side door module and the battery and that's it!

I only have 18K miles on it. I hope it continues to be the good car it is as it ages in miles. I do have a 100K warranty though.

 

OK, it seems as if battery replacement and/or trickle charging seems to help a lot of these electrical problems. I've experienced a few myself.
Question is: do all of you have the dealer replace the battery or do you do it yourself. If you do it yourself, which one did you buy. Are all Jag sized batteries non maintenance free. I haven't needed to add water to a battery in years, do I need to do so now?

 

I have replaced the battery twice in my 08 XK. The first time I paid the dealer to install an aftermarker AutoZone battery ($65.00 in labor). Within a month, the new battery turned out to be faulty. Autozone replaced it, but I didn't feel like paying out $65.00 in installation again, so I did it myself. Turned out to be much easier then I thought it would be. See the instructions I published back then:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...acement-54583/

PS, these are sealed batteries, so you should not be having to add any water.

 

Did you hook up a spare battery of some kind to avoid losing your settings, etc?

 

My 08 started exhibiting odd electrical glitches about 3 months ago, when the battery finally died stranding me I replaced it and all but one of my electrical glitches have been cured.

The LCD still freezes on me from time to time which is annoying as hell considering all that it controls. After sitting a few hours it comes back to life. During my warranty period the dealer reflashed my car 3 times to "unlock" it. It's very frustrating on an almost $90K car.

Tom

PS I bought a Sears DieHard, they charged me $9.95 for installation.