Today was an amazing day! I took the Jag for a fairly long drive and did most of the emissions module setting procedure, as traffic allowed, but I didn't get thru it perfectly. I then proceeded on a leisurely drive to my MG club meeting, then drove in a convoy to a new local foreign car shop for a tech review with the club and shop. I then drove home trying a few more of the procedures as I could. I threw on my code reader after I got home, expecting more failure, but the Jag gods were happy today and I got 6 of 7 modules active. I immediately drove to the nearest inspection station and had my car tested and I PASSED!!! I can now drive legally for 2 1/2 more years. So happy about this after all this time, frustration, and wasted money.

So, 8 months, 1,300+ miles of failure to get the emissions modules to turn on. What I learned out of this: The first Jag shop probably ruined my battery and/or it was a weak battery to begin with after they had the car for about a month. The battery was working well and put out full amps before I took it to the shop, but they did recommend a new battery towards the end of their work, so who knows, but point is, all attempts at driving and getting the emissions working were null and void because of either the weak battery, not enough attempted driving cycles (I understand it is at least 5 cycles to turn on most monitors), the battery was disconnected too many times for other service and did not allow enough driving cycles, and maybe not following the "correct" procedures (I tried three different procedures I found on various forums). For the second shop, it seems to be that they probably did not even know the correct procedure for this process, and probably did not complete the 5 minimum drive cycles, even after ruining the paint on the front of my car (today I found small stone chips in the windshield that weren't there before I dropped it off). The answer mainly appeared to be a new battery combined with 5+ drive cycles of a somewhat correct driving procedure. Oh, let's add more insult to injury, forget if I mentioned this, but the last shop also got a fine mist of paint overspray all over my hood (but not on the adjacent fender, so I know the hood was up). Luckily, it came off easily with a clay bar.

I hope no one else has to go thru what I went thru, so may these lessons learned will assist someone to get their emissions in a ready state in a reasonable amount of time.

I wanted to thank everyone that commented with their ideas and encouragement to keep at it and take some steps back for a while, I think that was all very helpful and various comments and links to procedures eventually helped this thing decide to work.

Now all I have left are some fluid changes, some leaky engine gaskets, "intermittent" trunk lights, getting my door panel clips repaired (in progress), new strut bushings, getting a second key, valet key, and a key fob coded and working. After that, I think the car is finally dialed in. The next big project, probably next year, should probably be switching out the timing chain tensioners. As far as I know, they still have the plastic ones, so I'm on borrowed time, but will have to risk it for a while longer until I can afford the repair.

Cheers!

 

I'm not sure you can NOT afford to change at least the secondary tensioners. It's an easy enough DIY using the zip tye procedure and will almost entirely remove the risk of destroying engine. The chains and primaries could then be delayed.

 

Thank you for the information and warning. I looked into this a little, it looks like the recommendation is to replace everything, since this car is 20+ years old. I think I'll have to look into getting the whole thing fixed and take on some more debt.

First, can anyone recommend a really good shop that can do this somewhere within 100 miles of Washington DC? What about a Jaguar dealership? I would think they'd have all the proper tools and be able to do it correctly, although probably at a crazy hourly rate. Any suggestions?

What about parts? Are there kits out there that have everything I would need, maybe SNG Barratt? Some other place? Should I buy a kit/parts, then have someone install it, or should I have a shop/dealership order parts as part of the job? I appreciate all thoughts and ideas, since I don't know much about this and certainly can't do the job myself.

I certainly don't need a grenaded engine after all I've been through so far!

Chris

 

You can buy complete kit on EBay for couple hundred buck. I do my own work but have been told have shop do it could run $1000 to $1500. There are videos on you tube you can watch. It's not that hard! Good luck!

 

I'd appreciate the name of the shop that will do 1,000-1,500. You're up in the Chico area.

 

Just to wrap up this whole story, as bad as the two Jag shops I used in northern Virginia were, they seemed to have fixed all my major problems, although at great expense, with lots of wasted time, wasted money, non-existent communication and damage to my vehicle.

For the next round of repairs, I got a suggestion for English Auto in Odenton, MD. It's about 75 miles away from me, but turned out to be well worth it. I would highly recommend them, it was a great experience. My next repair was to get the plastic chain tensioners replaced, as the previous owner told me he was not aware of them having been replaced. Turns out, English Auto started the work for me and found the work had already been done, which was great news and saved me about $3,000. They also could have lied to me and said they did the work, while doing nothing, and charging me thousands, so that honesty will make me their new customer for the long term. They also changed fluids and replaced a defective trunk light switch. Very happy with the experience.

I think the car is finally repaired and dialed in now, for the most part, after 9 months of great expense, wasted time, and effort. I still have some minor things, like getting a second key and a valet key and getting them coded, it probably needs new front struts, since there is a little bit of popping when turning and braking, and it needs some more detailing. NOw time to relax a little, drive it, and enjoy it.

Wanted to thank everyone for their responses and suggestions, all of which were considered and decisions made based on them that ultimately saved this car from being scrapped and parted out, when it just needed some good AND honest, communicative mechanics.

Cheers!
-Chris