Battery

[RichardSEL]

After selling my beautiful 1959 Mk IX (much missed, much admired) and having been seduced by a Citroen DS23 (Bertoni styled, well you've got to have had one in your classic car life) I'm back with a surprisingly good for the money (sub- £3k) XJ8 '01MY with 120k on.

Drove it back from Powys on Thursday, and it was a bit skittish and the pot holes sounded with more of a clunk rather than a normal softer thrump. Found that the tyre pressures were all wrong -- 19psi in the rears and 22 - 24 in the fronts. Adjusted that on Friday to 34psi all round and immediate benefits!

Took it down to Brighton/Hove/Worthing/Storrington and back to SE London on Saturday and I must say, most of the clunks have gone. Just the occasional minor tramlining feel to contend with in the steering, a very slight tendency to brake steer in the direction of road camber. Oh, and a very slight speed wobble that starts at 55mph then goes, only to return at 75mph (indicated)

Course, someone previous has been playing: it's got XKR wheels on fitted with 255/40 ZR18 XLs all round but with 6mm of tread and no cuts as far as I can see. Someone's stuck a "Sport" badge on the boot instead of the "Executive" that should be there. V5C counterfoil says Executive and it's got the vertical bars for front grill. Is there any other way of determining this as the entry level XJ8 for 2001?

With the duff tyre pressures returned 27mpg down from Powys. And 26mpg on the Sussex run around the country lanes overall. Am giving it a course of V-Power as I believe its cleaning agent does actually work (used it on my daily a 2.0L tFSI Passat with 88k with excellent results over 900L) It's also 100RON. Of course, that's incidental...

Questions: Don't have a stack of invoices to check what's been done and what hasn't, and no owners' handbook either (said it was cheap But all in all car's very clean, excellent cabin. Dealer service book stamped up to 4/16 and full set of MOTs with any Advisories, or Failures being fixed within a few days before re-test. Last at April '16

Battery's a Varta Blue Dimension 88AHC with yellow colour code spot for March 2010, so that's got to be changed as the usual (what I've learned in the forums) dash error message coming up only on starter motor turn "TRAC NOT AVAILABLE" which goes away at firing.
Passats gain a steering warning light and a ESP warning light that go out within a few hundred yards of driving / turning steering when you disconnect then re-connect battery on one of those. Anything to watch for before I make a fool of myself by changing over the old battery for a new Bosch?

Used to having a full diagnostic tool for the Passat (VAg-Com aka VCDS) but dunno whether there's a similar detailed OBDII tool for this car? Or is it just use a generic "p" code reader?

And finally, if you've reach this far in this post, what else should I now check? I'd like to minimise any clunks and check why the slight tramlining. Is the occasional camber / brake steer indicative of severe wear somewheres?

Before deciding on this one went to see three higher mileage XKRs and they weren't as good as this XJ8 and had been used as a 4.0L supercharged should. You'd have to go to £7k and above for a high mileage decent one that hadn't been ragged. Which is out of my budget (as her indoors told me)

The bottom RHS of the dash has an upholstered aperture that I took to be a cubby hole but it has a long lead in it with a small three way connector on the end. What's that for? Head unit is the Premium Sound System with 6 CD (only plain audio format) changer in the boot. No connector for 'phone in the armrest. And I read that its got some form of Optical Fibre Ring for any peripherals that can be connected. Does that mean no Navi, no Bluetooth, no Aux in, no USB, no DVD, no DAB?

Tried to check what fluids I could in engine bay but the two turn fluid fillers either side of the bay won't turn. Didn't want to put a wrench on them in case there's a secret release mechanism on them I don't know about. Engine oil's a light brown and after the two trips is on the second of the three XXX on dipstick.

All comments, and pointers for this X308 newbie very welcome.

[J44EAG]

Varta and Bosch batteries are classed as Premium grade which these large engined cars need. Look out for 100ah capacity in the same sized case as a 90ah. The extra 10ah is very useful.

I suspect that you will find some of the electronic gremlins disappear with a new battery fitted. Many of us are used to seeing fault messages appear when a battery goes duff. Replacement of a battery can work wonders especially during the winter.

I believe the VW/VAG programs are completely different to the OBD systems on a Jaguar. I can recommend the iCarsoft 930i unit diagnostic tool which is JLR dedicated and programmed. It will deal with most issues that you might encounter including an easy fault code clearance facility which is useful after you have fixed an issue which has thrown up diagnostic codes. See my recent "The 19 day glitch" article in the X350 pages which shows the 930i in use.

Mike K

[RichardSEL]

Thanks for the reply, Mike. Haven't yet got an engine bay plan, let alone a Drivers' Handbook -- tried going to the JEC's shop site for one as suggested on this site but there was nothing listed. I've seen a CD on eBay but would rather have a legit version, if that's still around, as a workshop manual.
Don't do as much of my own servicing as I used to on my Rover P5 and P6 -- the years get in the way as well as the waistband

Soft clunking coming from the front underside somewhere's quietens down after about ½ hour of driving, so guess it's some bush/s in top or bottom or both ball joints? But not even knowing the suspension architecture even that's a guess. The occasional "tramline" and brake steer according to road camber (doesn't do it at all on totally horizontal road) is still there, but again less pronounced than on startup from cold.

The last five years' MOTs show:
11 April 16 - Nearside rear tie bar/rod has excessive play in a pin/bush (passed 15 April 16)
13 August 15 - Nearside front suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive - Offside front suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive (Advisories)
Straight MOT passes going back until:
13 July 09 - Nearside rear suspension arm has slight play in a pin/bush. Offside rear suspension arm has slight play in a pin/bush.
Straight MOT passes going back to start of available history 19 August 2006

Have had good so far experience with a Bosch S5008 as a replacement for the OEM battery on the Passat (Danish made Moll that lasted six years) So will probably buy Bosch again. And, as you suggest, get the larger AHC as there's space for it, subject to dimensions

[RichardSEL]

Replaced olde battery with Bosch S3008 yesterday, the quick flash of error message at engine startup "TRAC NOT AVAILABLE" gone

There's probably error messages stored needing to be cleared due to previous duff battery

Only one minor glitch: Premium Sound System (was it really made by Alpine?) needed security code

Not the higher AHC battery I would've gone for but as it's an unknown car at 120k and not knowing yet what's been done in history figured it'll take me thru winter at least if the Passat sells

[J44EAG]

The clock and radio code always need a reset after a battery has been disconnected.

Leaving the battery disconnected for twenty minute is a "poor mans" answer to historical code clearance. This is known as a "hard dump" and is a good way to clear a build up of fault codes which may be belligerently lodged in computer memory. Before I bought a scanner, this was the method I used to avoid a trip to a garage for clearance. Even using a scanner such as the iCarsoft 930i or an ELM327 blue tooth chip with an Android phone "Torque "app, well lodged fault codes will usually clear most effectively by hard dumping. If faulting is still present after attempts at code clearing by scanner, or by hard dumping, then it is almost guaranteed that a fault is still present on the car.

Mike K

[BrianG]

Only one minor glitch: Premium Sound System (was it really made by Alpine?) needed security code

You should be able to get the security code from your Main Dealer Spares Dept. if you tell them the VIN. Take your V5 as proof of ownership, and if they don't know you well they may charge you a fee.

For a copy of the owner's handbook you can get this free online at the Jaguar TOPix web site. For workshop manuals etc. these are also available on line, but not officially from Jaguar, although they have issued the electrical wiring diagrams on CD for a reasonable price.

[RichardSEL]

Found the radio code scribbled on inside front cover of "Service Portfolio" That worked. Couldn't go to dealer for code as not yet got my new V5C. It's only been three weeks to the day that I bought, don't know how long DVLA are taking nowadays

Tried using the mechanical key on the boot lock as the key fob button for boot doesn't do anything. And immediately got the car's burglar / intruder alarm. Unlock button switched it off.

Went down to Newhaven (A102, M25, M23, A27) and return yesterday. First long run since collecting from Powys with the wrong tyre pressures. Have now 34psi all round. I bought a set of books (bar the Premium Sound System one). Should have either the 16" rims, or Celtic 17" rims fitted, not the 18" Asteroids I bought with. This is the Sport Pack fitted (confirmed from DDW). Could this account for the odd occasional tramline, and the soft suspension clunks? Have now got a set of proper Celtic rims to fit covers on.

Mechanic suggested that as his firm in April this year had "changed near side rear lower arm outer bearings and pin" (MOT failure) this should be done to the offside too. Was surprised that both sides weren't done at the same time.
Mechanic also suggested change of front shocks and top plates, this would also mean the rubbers would be changed as they come in the kit. Are Bilsten equivalents alright for this? Who makes the OEM shocks? Are they available aftermarket for the 2001 XJ8 Sport Pack?
And a Laser track. I'm not feeling any wander on streight flat roads

Back on the battery topic, having changed battery day before and done a run around in the heat and stop go traffic of rush hour the previous evening. So wasn't expecting any errors to come up on the display. But five miles down the A102 an EML came up with engine icon. 'Phoned both Sidcup and Sevenoaks service departments but neither could take in, even just for a diagnostics (one hour at £115 +VAT) until the following week. As there was no limp mode, between EML on and off, or any other changes, decided to go onto Newhaven with EML on.
Once there, a scan showed:
P0420 Cayalyst system efficiency below threshold (bank 1),
P1260 Security input./Theft detected, vehicle immobilized./Theft detected - engine disabled
P1111 System check complete
Had them cleared (£30) and they didn't return on the return journey except still the boot lid lock gives alarm wails if operated by key.
Had I known of the leaving "battery disconnected for 20 mins to cause a hard reset" (thanks, Mike, there was only five minutes of disconnect between batteries) could've saved myself worries and £30 VWs have a specific leaving the IGN on procedure for battery change. But didn't use that as didn't know whether that could upset Jag modules' coding. Read that there's a warning logged of the Security input type if battery's disconnected?

If it's left for 20 mins with battery disconnected, are default codes stored in module's loaded at battery re-connect. Or "last known state" codings loaded? Obviously some settings somewhere have changed by my changing battery. Are there settings (codings) that can be changed by user input by way of a scanner?
For example, on the '06MY Passat you're able to have low level indicators on all the time as a continuous DRL -- these can be switched on (and intensity) via either the dealer tool VAS or VAG-Com, aka VCDS.

[Zennan101]

Disconnecting the battery for 20mins should clear all codes from the car's memory systems. They will not reload on reconnection. Just like your PC at home. If you do a 'restart' information stored in memory may be retained but if you power 'off' the memory will be cleared. The time of 20 minutes ensures all residual memory items resets as there is no power (even residual) to sustain them.

[RichardSEL]

The display has not shown any faults attributable to olde battery, or my change out, since.
Startup is "on the button". Just waiting on supplying and first six years' of servicing main dealer's reply to my request for service information before plunging in with ATF/filter change, and all the rest.
Oil is turning from a light brown to a darker brown slowly, level not dropping. So far, so good...

[RichardSEL]

Drats. Despite the new battery and driving around including 22 mile trips the quick flash of error message at engine startup "TRAC NOT AVAILABLE" was seen just the once today. Happened when I started up without waiting for the diagnostics to display and icons to go out.

Since there's no effect on vehicle performance, will have to assume this is just a "feature". There was a lot of startups (four or five?) done moving car around today.

And after a visit to my favourite Albanian car wash. Though they do get a bit enthusiastic with their power washers

[RichardSEL]

"Battery" bit of thread transferred to "Electrical"

[RichardSEL]

Yes, "TRAC NOT AVAILABLE" flashing up momentarily on the MFD when turning engine over is indeed a "feature". Have seen it once on a XJ '01MY 4L Sovereign with a Halfords three year old 110AHC battery.

Seems this particular module is more sensitive to battery volts which lower after been left standing for a week or so

Thus doesn't require immediate battery change out to mitigate any possible faults being stored. Traction control isn't disabled either