XK8 ABS warning and

[edward.kellow805]

Took my XK8 to have a spare key programmed at a Jaguar Dealer in Edinburgh. When I got the car back the ABS warning light was on, and also 2 messages, TRAC not Available and ASC not available. The garage did not say anything to me, which made me very suspicious. Could this be an intermittent fault? Am I right in thinking that I should not drive very far? Ironically was all ready to go to the Hebrides.

[davidr]

As the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy says on the front cover in large friendly letters - Don't Panic!!
These cars are very sensitive to low battery voltages.
I think the most likely thing is that the dealer has left the ignition in whilst reprogramming your fobs and run the battery down. It may well have enough juice to start the car but the voltage will drop too much as it does it and upset the check routines for the various electronic modules. ABS is one of the first to show itself usually. TRAC and ASC not available are related messages from the same module and caused by the same "fault".
The first question is how good is your battery? How old is it? Have you had it drop tested to see if it holds up its voltage under heavy discharge?
The place to start would be to give it a good charge and see if the lights go away on your next start up - which is quite likely.
If your battery is good and charging it does the trick then I think some pointed questions to your Dealer about why they carried out this operation without putting a stabilised power source across the battery first to stop it draining are in order!
Hope that helps

[edward.kellow805]

Dear David,

I'm enormously re-assured by your kind words. What you say makes sense. I had a very bad feeling about the garage. I do think they were economical with the truth. They knew something was wrong but they did not tell me.

Thank you again, I am extremely grateful and permitting myself to feel optimistic about the future! Also, very glad that I joined the JEC!

Very best wishes,
Edward

[davidr]

Edward - you're very welcome! That's the point of joining the Club and in particular this Forum. If we can spread our knowledge and help others then that's the ticket!
What's best is if we can reassure a fellow member and give a zero cost solution to what looks like a really worrying problem then we've hit the jackpot!
Please let us know if the battery recharge (or possibly replacement) does the trick. At this point we're only guessing what the issue is!

[edward.kellow805]

David,

You were absolutely right. I drove the car home and the following day all the warning lights had gone off.

The lights did come on again one more time, but I drove the car up to Harris from Edinburgh and back down again, and everything was absolutely fine.

So, for me, as a new owner of an XK8, your positive words saved the day. I'll never go near that JLR dealership again! Interestingly, they didn't ask me for feedback on the service provided (which they had said they were going to do!).

Thank you so much, Edward

[davidr]

Edward - very pleased to hear that all is well again. Happy motoring!