X350 Issues, dilemmas and assistance

X350 Issues, dilemmas and assistance

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Discussion

TDS86

Original Poster:

496 posts

156 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
quotequote all
Chaps,

I'm a long-time reader and first time caller. It's thanks to Pistonheads (in particular the Smoker Barge thread and reading the Jaguar Forum) that I decided, after 3.5 years of driving a Mk1 MX-5 as an everyday car,that the best possible replacement was a barge.

In my infinite wisdom, I bought a 53 plate Jag XJ8 in November 2012 for £3,600. Until the last couple of months, it's provided me with hassle-free motoring, that is until the brake pipe burst on the first day of the Easter Weekend as I was driving from Edinburgh to the folks' place in Manchester for the long weekend. (I realised on that trip that my other half didn't know the difference between the accelerator and the brake pedal, but that's a different story.)

It cost me £1,800 to put it through the MOT to solve some electrical faults with an independent Jaguar specialist garage (intermittent ABS/Traction Control light coming on, then going off) which I thought had solved the problem.

I hadn't done many miles, probably only about 300 (in four journeys) when a new fault presented itself. Driving home from Edinburgh Airport revealed a new problem. Each time I put the windscreen wipers on, the engine dies and the steering becomes very heavy. In addition, the same warning lights as before still keep flashing intermittently - regardless of what speed you're driving at, what the road surface is or what the day of the week is.

A local mechanic has suggested a new ABS pump unit at £400+VAT+Fitting as a problem solver. If that doesn't work, it's likely to need two new ABS sensors at £135/each bringing the total to about £1,500. According to the mechanic, the ABS pump is showing as the fault on the code reader - hence why he's pursuing that line of enquiry.

Essentially, I'm after a bit of help, as I'm going mad thinking about it all.

Would you:

1. Get the work done and hope it doesn't need any more bills - keep it for 12 months then move onto something new with a budget of about £8k.

2. Stick it on ebay with a reserve close to what We Buy Any Car offer, take the money and run to something new. Hope the new car doesn't have similar issues - ideally at a budget of about £4,000 - then move into something new in about 18 months time with a budget of about £8k.

FYI - If I was going to change, it'd be to something equally daft (for a 27 year old who lives in the Centre of Edinburgh and only uses his car for trips to cricket in Edinburgh, football matches in Manchester and the odd day out with the other half)

Thanks for any help at-all in advance.

jamieduff1981

8,022 posts

139 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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There is absolutely no way I'd change a pump before eliminating sensors which are a far more common failure. The sensors themselves aren't even always to blame. Sometimes it can be dirty connectors, or hairline fractures in reluctor rings which the sensors measure.

Any idea how old the battery is? I ask because weak batteries can cause all sorts of weird and wonderful "faults" in these cars.

Jaguar steve

9,232 posts

209 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
quotequote all
The X350 has numerous earth straps throughout the body. Any poor contact or high resistance there will cause precisely the random and erratic faults you describe.

Before you spend any cash on new parts or garage labour find out where they all are and dismantle and clean them. Clear any fault codes with a OBD2 code reader and start from there.

chris.mapey

4,778 posts

266 months

Wednesday 2nd July 2014
quotequote all
Battery or alternator. I'll wager that's where the problem lies...

Any voltage drops / fluctuations will trigger all sorts of issues, many of which I've had in my X308 XJR - I had the alternator rewound and serviced for £75 at a local specialist - new battery was £140.

No problems since :-)

lucasJAG

1 posts

108 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
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Hi There, Have you managed to sort the problem? What was it? mine doing exactly same thing ABS fault/DSC not available and if you touch wiper it will switch the engine off! Was it ABS pump?



"I hadn't done many miles, probably only about 300 (in four journeys) when a new fault presented itself. Driving home from Edinburgh Airport revealed a new problem. Each time I put the windscreen wipers on, the engine dies and the steering becomes very heavy. In addition, the same warning lights as before still keep flashing intermittently - regardless of what speed you're driving at, what the road surface is or what the day of the week is.

A local mechanic has suggested a new ABS pump unit at £400+VAT+Fitting as a problem solver. If that doesn't work, it's likely to need two new ABS sensors at £135/each bringing the total to about £1,500. According to the mechanic, the ABS pump is showing as the fault on the code reader - hence why he's pursuing that line of enquiry."

chasdad

276 posts

143 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
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Before I bought my xjr this week a jag specialist warned me about those. And the earthing problems. Also the wiring just falling apart.One of the reasons I bought the older one

rswift

1,179 posts

174 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
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As Jaguar Steve ( a far more informed me than me I would wager) there are Earth points, which if fail will present any amount of erratic electrical failure.

I'm sure there are others but the ones renowned for going are behind the drivers side headlight, (assuming RHD) on the inner wing, you have to remove one plastic panel to see, which is very easy. These are well known for snapping. Also these cars are sensitive to weak batteries, so have that checked properly. Does your Jaguar Independent see these cars regularly, or more used to older stuff. do they have the diagnostic computer stuff to interrogate the system properly.

Re brake pipe failure, was it the rear ? My car (2003) was subject to a free factory recall for rear brake pipes that could corrode due to contact with sound deadening material, shame if you missed it, as a far as I am aware it's a petrol tank out job to re-new, but would be covered my Jaguar at any age.

All of this is all well documented on many Jaguar forums.

Good luck, you may be the exception (hope not) but they seem basically good cars....aside from corrosion issues ! If you do get it happily running, get the gearbox each 60k onwards !

AdriaanB

163 posts

127 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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My old x308 threw a wobbly once or twice, this was simply resolved by reset of fault codes/unplugging the battery for an hour or so before reconnecting.

mr_spock

3,340 posts

214 months

Saturday 7th May 2016
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Sounds like the earth behind the front bumper. Lots of info on the jag forums, also you could look here:

http://www.jagrepair.com/images/AutoRepairPhotos/j...