I'm getting an intermittent Check Engine warning.

I pulled open the service manuals and they say I need to trip computer in order to read the codes, which is of course wrong since my car never had a trip computer.

Does anyone know where the diagnostic connector is located on this car? I can't seem to find it.

Submitted by morebewon@hotm… on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 14:52

It's a 14 year old "luxury" (meaning they don't plan service for more than 3 years) car.

http://www.jag-lovers.org/interchange/index.php shows some parts substitutions
and the Kirby Palm book is full of them. I've read of Delco cased by Bosch and
rebranded by Lucas parts so don't be afraid of Radio Shack (my local professional
technician's supply is even broader) when it comes to replacement electrical bits
like relays.

Incidentally, the wife's new Pontiac is waiting for the dealer to get alignment shims,
so MRP and JIT afflict even the mass production main line.

Rick

Rick

Submitted by sodium@captain… on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 19:16

I think the problem I'm having is more fundamental or the OBD implementation in my '95 wasn't built to catch this. The check engine light is stobing. I put the details in the other thread on this topic. I picked up an OBDII code reader from PepBoys that claims to speak Jaguar for $150. It seems to work pretty well and gives me real time status on some of the sensors, displays frame data for engine temp, rpm, speed, throttle and has a code lookup table that's updatable. Not bad for $150. Considering the cost of parts on this car that's chump change.

Don't get me wrong though. I love my jag. It's a wonderful car. This is the learning curve that comes with all complex machines. I find the poor quality and indexing of the service docs inexplicable and my only complaint about jaguar.

Submitted by morebewon@hotm… on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 14:45

The Kirby Palm "book" is excellent but it doesn't get into OBD
because only some of the 95 Forduars XJSs (and 96) had it.

The ISO 9141 pin out in the XJS may be different than the
VW even if the digital codes are identical.

www.obdii.com gives good info.

Rick

Submitted by sodium@captain… on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 14:33

Thanks for that. It's right there. This was making me crazy.

I've used the VAG-COM software for our volkswagon TDIs. It's very specifically VW in some respects but it's OBDII compliant and should read the codes off the Jag. If not I'll root around and see what's out there. I'll let you know what I find out.

Also along the path of the quest I came across a free book. It's 700+ pages devoted entirely to the XJS. I've been poking around in it and it seems like a very good reference.

http://www.nettally.com/palmk/jaguar.html

Submitted by morebewon@hotm… on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 14:32

I forgot.

The coolant filler/reservoir has a sensor and it's sensitive
to tilt. Top up your coolant and see if the red light goes away.
If so, it's not an "intermittent," it's a "not enough."

If you top it up with WaterWetter, you'll reduce the annoyance
factor of the intermittent light and keep your cool better, too.

Rick