LairdScooby

Spouse

I've had a hectic few day Dominic - been intending to respond but life has got in the way! Glad to hear your car is now functioning as it should again and vast improvements have been made. Hopefully it should yield a few more mpg and maybe even mph for you now but the fact it's once again driving as a Jag should is a good sign! Looking forward to your report from tomorrows journey on a longer run! 😉 😄

Vegetable

Squared

That all sounds good Dominic - from experience with V6 Lambda sensors (Rover with the Honda engine, not Jag) i would be very tempted to get the sensors on the other bank done too. Because of the age/mileage thing, they do tend to fail close to each other so it's preventing a future breakdown, not to mention it should make the engine livelier and hopefully more fuel efficient. Will be interested to learn your first impressions of driving it with the work done! Little anecdote for your from my Rover 827 Coupe - V6 with one Lambda per bank. During the MoT test, the CO reading suddenly started climbing from 0.1% (easy pass) to way past 9% (definitely a fail!) and the test was failed and i took the car home to investigate the cause. Halfway home (it was about 40 minutes drive home so ~45 minutes after the CO climbed on the emissions tester) the EML came on which meant i then had a code to read. Nice and easy on that car, look under the drivers seat and count the long and short flashes of the red LED on the ECU and look up the meaning. Turned out to be the rear bank Lambda sensor so i ordered a pair and renewed both front and rear bank sensors. Removed the caat and soaked it overnight in hot water and half a dozen or so dishwasher tablets. Rinsed it with water the next day, blew it dry with the airline and gave the outside a squirt from a satin black rattle can and refitted it. On the re-test, the CO came up at 0.00% so was a pass but the tester was wandering around muttering "Why can i smell lemons?" - if only he knew but it cleaned the cat out nicely! 😛

I'm glad to hear the garage want to replace the plugs, assuming their diagnosis of a dead cat is correct, the most common cause is overheating, usually due to unburned fuel entering the cat - this usually comes from defective plugs not firing the mixture correctly. With this in mind i would strongly advise an oil/filter change while it's in there, i know this will cost a bit more but will help keep the VVT mechs functioning as they should, a sticky solenoid on the bank where the cat has died could also be a possible cause as the valves would be opening more on the other bank to admit more fuel/air but if the valves didn't open as they should, the extra fuel would be wasted and sent out into the cat. Also the much more basic reason of possible fuel contamination of the oil. Given the misfires and the fact one cat is dead, i would suggest new sensors, both banks, pre and post cat so 4 sensors in all. I know this is going to hit you in the wallet area quite painfully but this is where the old adage of "A stitch in time saves nine" really applies to modern day stuff. In other words, if the problem had been investigated and fixed back then, the chances are that there wouldn't be a collection of compounded problems now. As far as the Lambda sensors go, they have a working life of ~100k miles or 10 years, in practice they normally reach 120k miles without problems but their performance drops considerably as a result. In some parts of the USA, notably California (and some other states but can't remember which) a mandatory fitment at build is an "Emissions Timer". This runs for 10 years or 100k miles and then puts a fault onto the engine management system. It can only be removed by fitting new Lambda sensors and emissions timer and then resetting the EML. Fingers crossed they can find a cost effective way of doing this all for you!

Barbeque

Scout

Bear

HI Dominic, been a bit of a hectic few days for me, hopefully you'll have some answers on the Cat EML codes etc later. Shame your headlamp washers packed up, it sounds as if you entrust all your car jobs to garages, am i right? If so that could become an expensive hobby getting them to fix things like the headlamp washers. We've had a few light dustings of snow but nothing that's even laid for a short while.

Cap (Dunces)

Ice-cream

Spear

Fling

Kilt

Saucer

Competition

Hokey-Cokey

Welcome aboard Tommy! I'm on my 3rd Jag (1st S Type though) that i've had just under 2 years now, always puts a big grin on my face driving it!

Over

Suspicion

Hi Dominic - i was a bit unsure if you'd tested it both ways, by rights you should be able to see the headlamp washers operate from the drivers seat, i certainly can on my Honda and even on the Volvo before it where it was wash/wipe (so lower water pressure) i could tell if they were working. Fingers crossed for tuesday/wednesday then, hopefully it's only the pre and post cat sensors at fault. Not seen any snow as yet round here, seems to be Ipswich area which is almost as far east in Suffolk as i am west. Hopefully it will miss me!

I obviously misunderstood Dominic when you said ignition on position 2 - normally to me that means engine not running. If the engine was running and nothing happened when it should have done then it's fair to say your headlamp washers don't work at all. Could be a fuse, relay or something more complicated. I do like to have AC working on cars that are meant to have it, my Volvo (predecessor to the Honda) had AC but the previous owner had the evaporator removed thanks to incorrect diagnosis on why there was no air coming out of any of the outlets from the heater! Turned out that fault was 3 dry solder joints on a vacuum control module which i fixed. I also sourced a replacement evaporator but never got round to recommissioning the AC on the Volvo. I do however fully intend to source a replacement pipe for the AC on the Jag and get it up and running as it should be, only trouble is that for mine, the pipe in question is either NLA or the sharp end of £500, the jury is out on which pipe exactly it is! However, i suspect i could get a replacement made by Pirtek or a similar firm for considerably less. Any news on the diagnosis of the EML so far?

Hmmmm, not quite Dominic ......... I'm not 100% sure on this but many cars i've known with headlamp power washers will only operate the headlamp wash pump if the engine is running and alternator charging as the pumps take a lot of power. You'll hear the headlamp wash pump if it works over the engine if it is going to work, if not could be a fuse or relay that's dead. I understand not bothering to get a weak system up and running, i'm just a fussy article and if it's fitted i like it working - that said the AC doesn't work in my Jag at present thanks to a leaky pipe. I do plan on getting it working though as it really needs the AC to help demist the screen, especially in the current weather! I'm currently suspecting my coolant level is a little low as it tends to blow cold from the heater while pootling around town so i must get out there and check that soon!

Unlucky