Any help/constructive comments would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Scenario: Wife and I are on a road trip with our new-to-us 2005 XK8. Have had the car 2 weeks. Car has <50,000 miles and is, by all appearances, in VG to excellent condition. There were no flags in the vehicle condition report. I spent a couple hours going over the car and could find no problems before I bought it.

About 6 hours into our trip, while at highway/freeway speeds, there was a huge jolt/BANG! from the car. My initial reaction was we got hit/hit something (we didn't/did not) or the engine or trans blew. However the car continued to run but was decelerating. The ABS light was on, and the message center said the cruise and DSC were not functioning and the cruise control would not re-engage. We pulled off the highway. I shut the car down, checked for any leaking fluids (none). and plugged in my OBD II reader. There are no codes except something about emissions test not complete. I restarted the car, As we pulled away, the ABS light cleared, as did the DSC message. When I got up to speed, and tried to set the cruise, the car 'stumbled' and the ABS/DSC faults reappeared. This repeated two more times.

The car is running fine as far as I can tell. The problem is: no cruise control - when I turn it on, the car stumbles, and I get the ABS trouble light/DSC message. If I stop, shut the car off, and restart, the faults clear.

Additional info: The battery is new, and, as I am running at speed I doubt a low voltage problem (how would that cause a 'bang'?). Car has no problem starting. Another thing I've noticed but not sure if it's related. There is a fluid leak in the passenger compartment, by the hood release/OBD port. As the brake fluid/master cylinder is right above that point, I suspect that's the source, but I don't seem to be losing fluid, and I don't see how that would cause the cruise control issue.

Any ideas?

Signed: 700 miles from home and my garage...

 

Welcome to the forums garyfdl,

As you are far from home and this is clearly urgent, I've copied the question from your Intro to XK8/XKR forum for advice from members with the same model.

Graham

 

Shooting in the dark, but posibly something adrift with one of the hubs? An ABS fault can cause cruise to fail as road speed comes from each via the ABS unit. Unfortunately, a basic code reader is unlikely to catch ABS DTCs.

I understand that some places in the US will read diagnostics for free, so perhaps one of them could help.

 

Another possible cause was object flying from roadway (BANG) and cut one of the Sensor wires to 1 of the 4 ABS speed sensors. Not likely the Brake Light Switch at this low mileage but?? Maybe a " WIGGLE Test" on each ABS harness and probably should R&R the sensors and clean them to eliminate them as a cause. Simple and lo-no cost PM.

 

The bang makes me think of a time I had a worn rear wheel bearing, though the "Bang" bump feeling occurred at low speed. Yes a bad bearing can cause ABS / Stability yellow warning.

This may help us help you: when does CC fail? When you turn it on, or when it tries to increase throttle (as in cc on, you approach and start to climb a hill - at this point cc tells a 1997's throttle to increase via a vacuum signal).

That bang you mentioned sure is the mystery here.

John

 

Garyfdl,

Sorry to hear about your woes on a long tour with your new car. Hope it doesn’t put you off the X100.

+1 to michaelh where he suspects a wheel hub has let go. The ABS sensor on each wheel tells the computers the wheel speed so if it’s not reading right the cruise control is disabled. If you’re on the road, head to any tyre shop to jack up the car, and check for wheel play on any corner plus do a a quick check of the wires to the sensors.

As for the leaking fluid, is it clear or oily? It’s probably unrelated to the ABS problem. Are you running the AC? I suspect it’s AC water drain - if it’s inside the cabin footwell, the AC’s evaporator drain has blocked.

 

Greetings all, and again, many thanks for the feedback!

First, an update: Sorry for no post yesterday, but we were still enroute. Good new is that it was uneventful. Made our destination (Outer Banks, NC) w/o incident. (Still have to make it 1200 miles back.)

I seem to have joined the 'intermittent electrical issue' club; the cruise seems to be working again (I thought the Brits stopped using Lucas electrical systems, silly me ) I did drive a lot with the cruise off, but in part due to rain (I don't like using cruise when it rains). When the rain stopped and the road cleared a bit, I shut off the DSC and engaged the cruise, and it works fine. I also ran with the cruise and DSC engaged for a while, where I know I could easily get help/a tow, and it also worked, but I switched back (turned off the DSC) because I got paranoid.

My biggest concern (and the paranoia) stems from the initial event and the jolt/bang/ It was, to say the least, severe. I did look over the car a bit before we headed out yesterday and couldn't see any obvious damage, but it was raining so it wasn't a thorough check.

So, current game plan:

• First, am going to go over the car again, and see if I can find any indication that I did hit something.
• Will do a battery check.
• Will check sensors, if possible. (No way to raise the car here).
• Duck tape fingers in crossed position, until I get home and can properly investigate the issue.

Gary

 

DavidYau

Re; Fluid leak. The fluid is oily/clear - definitely not water. When I first noticed, I thought it was excess interior cleaner/treatment (i.e. Armorall etc) I wiped it up but a day or so later I noticed it again. I now have a piece of paper towel stuffed into the area around the OBD port to 'collect' it before it drips. Will also be checking the brake fluid level again to see if it has dropped. Am wondering if it could be that the brake fluid reservoir was over filled, but would be surprised if the excess/spilled fluid could find it's way into the passenger compartment.

Edit: Also this has not put me 'off' the X100 (XK8). This is literally my dream car. I've wanted a BRG Jag since I was 10 (that was a year or two after the 'E' type was intro'd). While other boys had posters of girls in their room, I had ones of the E convertible and 2+2... in British Racing Green. While an E is no longer within my financial reach, the X100/XK8 most certainly was, and, (IMO) is the second prettiest Jag after the E. I've also been hooked on 'British iron' since I was 'but a wee lad'. I had an older cousin, a beat-nik, who lived with us for a while and was a 'wrench' for the Jag/Triumph dealer a short distance from our house. He would come home for lunch, in the likes of XK 120's, 140's and TR 2's. After he ate, he would put me in the passenger seat and take me for a short ride through the local park. I've been addicted ever since.

 

This may be totally irrelevant, but I had a harrowing experience driving through NC also (coincidentally), when a tire retread came off a truck and smacked my Jag (XJ8) in the teeth. It was quite obvious in this case though, what had happened. The truck went on it's merry way, while my grille and radiator were toast. Long story short, me, wifey and son spent a couple of days in a flea bag waiting for Goober to get a radiator from Raleigh and install it so we could get home.

 

No need to shut the DSC off. If the ABS fault shows the DSC will be off as a result, not a cause of the problem.

The fluid near the OBD port could be from a damaged top latch hose. Brake fluid has a distinctive odor but the hydraulic fluid does not. Have you been lowering and raising the top?

 

DING! DING! DING! DING!

I think we have a winner!

Thought it was odd there is no odor, but the fluid in the brake reservoir is clean so figured that it might not have degraded enough?

But... I just went down and checked. Looking (with a flashlight) in the cavity behind the fuse box panel, I can see 'wet' from oil. Looking closer, I can see a hydraulic hose and more importantly? A fitting! So I will put my money on that's the leak. Naturally, it appears the fuse box will have to be moved to access the fitting to tighten, and I wouldn't be surprised if the dash has to come out to get to the fuse box (ugh! ).

 

That's a repaired hose. It was probably done by disconnecting from the top latch and pulling it out through the fuse box, or maybe to the inside of the car. I haven't worked on a top latch hose in a few years and my car is not in my garage so I can't look at the routing. I hope you don't have to replace the hoses.

 

Latest update (for anyone interested): No news is good news! The car has 'behaved' since we arrived - no issues. Fingers crossed that it remains that way when we head home in a couple days.

 

Thanks for the input.

Looking on-line it appears that the latch hose is a single long hose that runs all the way back to the pump? Would that be a safe assumption? I was a 'hydraulics guy' for most of my career, seems odd that someone would use two hoses if one would suffice, but...

As the leak is 'manageable' (for now) and the car will be put into 'stasis' in a few weeks for winter. I will put the investigation/fix down as 'Pri 1' job for this winter.

 

Greetings All

Just wanted to post a final trip update. We are back home, and the return trip was (thankfully) uneventful.

I want to again express my thanks to all who responded and for their input. It was greatly appreciated.

Gary