Engine management light

[ianoliver57]

Driving home today, the dreaded engine management light came on. Checked water and oil, all ok. Car stops, starts, idles and runs perfectly normally. There are no error codes or warning messages in the message centre below the speedo. Any ideas? Should it be ok to drive approx 95 miles to the Jag Specialist on Wednesday?
X358 4.2 V8 with 36000 miles.

Regards

Ian.

[andypryce]

Should be fine to drive if it is behaving yes. Needs an OBD reader plugging in to get fault codes.

[ianoliver57]

Thanks Andy. I’ve ordered a reader, due to arrive Tuesday. Never had the EML on before in any car I have owned so was just a bit concerned.

Regards

Ian.

[BrianG]

Ian,
The simplest things can cause the EML to come on. The first time it happened to me just after I'd filled up with petrol and restarted perfectly OK (why?). Back home I found that the dipstick was not fully seated and the o-ring on the handle was a bit iffy anyway. Re-seating it with a new o-ring caused it to go away. Many of the EML reasons are the result of something being flagged more than twice; single events are usually ignored if they not show-stoppers and only happen once, so you may find when you get your code reader that there a lot of codes set for things which are no longer relevant. The plan then is to clear them and see which ones - if any - come back, before you start getting to involved and expensive.
Good luck!

[ianoliver57]

Good advice Brian. The code reader is due to arrive Tuesday and I have to phone Douglas at Prestige Jaguar then anyway to make sure he can take the car on Wednesday To fit yet another two front struts. I’ll tell him what the reader says and he can sort things out.
I’ll post an update when I get the reader.

Regards

Ian.

[ianoliver57]

OBD arrived today. Only one code noted. PO171 System too lean bank 1. What now? I have cleared the code and the EML.

Regards

Ian.

[ptjs1]

Ian,

I would just drive the car and see what happens. These cars are very sensitive to minor signal fluctuation, voltage integrity etc. If the light suddenly comes back on, then try and remember exactly what the driving conditions were at the point of illumination eg accelerating, decelerating, going uphill etc etc. On my x350 many years ago, it sometimes threw a fault on exactly the same stretch of motorway going uphill. Never happened anywhere else. I became paranoid that it might even be the large radio mast at the side of the road that was causing it! In the end, I just gave up and lived with it, as all the vacuum hoses were fine, no air leaks etc etc.

Fingers crossed, it might never return!

Paul

[ianoliver57]

95 mile trip tomorrow leaving at 5.30 am to Prestige Jaguar in Paisley. Another two front air struts to be fitted . I’ll keep an eye on the EML. Last time it came on was after a ‘spirited’ overtake….. :roll……fingers crossed.

Regards

Ian.

[Thixendale]

Don't overtake anyone then

Tony

[ianoliver57]

Sorry Tony…it had to be done. However, no EML and Prestige happy it was a one off glitch. Back home (another 95 miles) and all good. New air struts on the front.

[andypryce]

Yes, people dread the EML but most of the time it is nothing major. Having said that on my previous X350 eventually had to have 2 new cats at huge expense! Fingers crossed..