I hope someone here can help me. I have a 1998 XK8 convertible. I love my car but have the problem, that I see often, with the engine lights coming on and it says "stability control fail" "ail safe engine mode" I know it happens often I've had this car for about 5 years. The last three I have fought this problem.. I know it's hard to find. I've had my car to numerous shops, had the throttle body replaceed,, had the computer replaced, had the computer reprogramed, had the wheel sensors replaced and the wiring traced it continues. I can drive it with the lights on but I'm afraid it might quit on the freeway. It's in great condition otherwise. I would like to get it fixed. My last mechanic told me Jaguar told him that cars of this series were not fixable and should just bed scrapped!! If this is true and I can't get this car fixed, can someone suggest a model year XK that should not have that problem. If I can't fix it, I want to replace it. .I am female with no mechanical knowledge and have read more about this problem that I care to admit.. I don't have the ability to tinker with it myself. Any advice would be appreciated. I live in the Dallas area if someone might suggest another mechanic.

 

Welcome to the forums Jeanne,

The first thing that needs scrapping is that mechanic. As members in this forum will tell you, the XK8 is a great car and there is little short of a blown engine that cannot be fixed. Also, Jaguar Dealerships are aimed at current models and, unless they have older technicians who worked on these vehicles when they were current, will not have the expertise to do much more than servicing so their view is hardly informed!

As I'm sure you will know after that list of replacements, throwing parts at a Jaguar soon gets very expensive. It is also NOT the best way to troubleshoot the MIL/CEL (check engine light) or fault messages.

Step 1:
get a code reader on it. Preferably dealer level diagnostics (known as SDD - Symptom Driven Diagnostics) or equivalent. If none of the members here know of an Independent Jaguar specialist in the Dallas area who can do this, post in our US - Southwest Region forum for recommendations.

Step 2: post the codes back here. The actual CODES - not the descriptions anyone may give you. Members will be able to help with possible causes.

Graham

 

@motorcarman is in Decatur just outside of Dallas - maybe he can take a look?

 

Like another member said - motorcar man is an expert and DEFINITELY check with him. I’ve followed many of his suggestions for issues I’ve had. He’s “the man”.

 

Jeanne, I have the same car yr.

Do you lose cruise control when this happens?

John

 

Hi Jeanne,

I know first-hand it can be frustrating and a bit uneasy worrying if things are going to go wrong. But hang in there and big yes to what the veteran members have said; a new mechanic who has a passion or interest for these cars is the way to go.

​​​​​​When I picked up the xk8, it had been neglected and sitting for a while. I started assessment of problems and decided to swap the engine and take care of all the things that the check engine light was alerting me to.

ABS was frequent, fail-safe mode, restricted performance...all were issues.

I kept fixing things and was still getting codes...until I finally bought a new battery ! ! !It was amazing how many issues disappeared, all the ABS and transmission faults -- GONE!

​​​​​​Funny thing is, the old battery was within range and tested ok, and I even had it charged... so I thought nothing of it. It wasn't until I started reading posts on this forum that I decided to replace the old battery.

And the battery was only a few years old, but previous owner didn't drive the car much and had put the cheapest battery on the market for that size needed. So maybe this could be causing some of your issues as well ?

Hope that helps, AJ
99xk8



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Jeanne, I have a 2001 XK8 and have seen these same messages. Our cars are famous for bogus warnings. What you need is an OBD reader, a gadget that plugs into a connector under the dash. It will display error codes. And then you can erase the codes with the OBD reader. Yes, it is annoying but it works. I keep my reader in the glove box. And I also keep a wrench in the boot in case I need to disconnect the battery; some codes are stubborn and unhooking the battery for a minute will usually clear all bogus codes. If a warning does not clear with the OBD or battery disconnect then it is time to go to the garage.

I've had my car for 2 years and none of the warnings lasted after I cleared them.

Also our cars are very touchy about voltage. I replaced the ordinary flooded battery with an AGM ($200 at Costco) and that reduced the number of bogus warnings a lot. These days I see a warning maybe once a month and I drive every day.

Why we get these codes is a mystery. Maybe it is because of all the digital circuitry, which is highly susceptible to electrical noise (like the ignition makes). Someday I want to experiment with ways to fix this.

 

On this subject, my '01 XK8 is very new to me. I have not had any check engine lights yet, but I would like to have a code reader in the car as suggested. Do members with more experience know of any particular OBD readers or features that are desirable for these particular cars?
Thanks, Nick

 

Hey Nick, here's the one I use: I haven't done any comparison with other units, but this one does what I need and it's only $15!

I also have this , which uses Bluetooth and an app on your smartphone. It's a lot of fun with much info on your car. I use it on my other cars.

 

Wow! I thought I'd have to spend $100 to $150! And these do enough for just about any diagnostics?
I am really ignorant on this subject, Have owned Hondas for 40 years, never had problems, and older British cars without OBD of course, up unitl now.
Thanks.

 

Those scanners will read P codes for the engine and emission but not codes for the ABS, Transmission or chassis codes.

 

I fought this issue recently with my 99 xk8. As it was an intermittent problem it was difficult. After replacing wheel speed sensors and the battery I finally solved the problem by replacing the relay in the box under the hood associated with the ECU. It is the third in from the fender. It would only fail in very hot weather. Later after the car was cooled down operation returned to normal. I hope this can help you.