I am getting the CATS system fault light in the speedometer display. I have replaced the ADCM, repaired the pigtail connector to it and am still getting the message. There must have been water in the trunk before I bought the car, judging from the condition of the original ADCM and the green mold found in the connector. The car has registered this message since I bought it a couple of years ago now.
I am considering taking it to an authorized Jaguar dealer to get the codes read. But another source tells me that the ABS wheel speed sensors are a prime source of culpability for this problem after the ADCM and connectors have been cleared.
But, the wheel speed sensors appear to be very expensive from the limited search I have made to date. I would just replace them on spec if they weren’t so expensive.
I’d appreciate any information on what to do next.
When posting to the forum it’s helpful if you state the model and year of your car as they changed a lot through the production run.
You really do need to read the fault codes before doing anything else but if you intend to do most of the work on your car yourself it will be cheaper in the long run to buy your own reader - Autel or similar - than keep paying a dealer. I don’t know which country you are in but in the UK authorised dealers charge around GBP100 to read the codes and for less than GBP 200 you can buy a very good code reader. There are also much cheaper ones but it’s advisable to check what they will do before buying.
Regarding the ABS wheel sensors, I changed a rear one last year and it cost about GBP30. However, I would have thought that if you have a faulty wheel sensor the system would also indicate an ABS and Traction Control fault as well.
Really difficult to offer any further thoughts without knowing what fault codes are present. If you are convinced the fault is an ABS sensor you can check them with a multimeter. If you unplug them in turn and one has a different resistance reading to the others that might lead you to a conclusion but it’s a lot easier to read the codes.
A final thought is that you might already have cleared the fault by changing the module and cleaning up the plug but because the fault code is still resident in the memory you’re still getting the fault indication. If this is the case, clearing the fault codes will remove the message.
I thought it was automatically posted but in any case it is a 2000 S Type with the 4.0 litre V8 engine. The car is in Parksville, BC, Canada.
I do have a code reader but other posters have said that it will not read Jaguar’s proprietary codes. I am going to give it a try anyways and your feedback has encouraged me to do just that. I will get back to you when
I get some results.
How do I go about clearing the codes? I had thought that the computer might have to be re-booted to clear the message but I am very unsure when it comes to computer issues. I do think that most of the problems come
from a physical breakdown rather than a computer issue.
My code reader has what appears to be a panda bear’s face on its disc but nothing else to identify it. I suspect I bought it from a Chinese supplier on Ali Baba or some place like that. But it has been a long time since
I was first trying to deal with this issue. Perhaps I should look for an Autel reader.
You have exactly the same model and year as me and I also have adaptive suspension which in this country was an option.
Good news that you have a code reader. Even if it will only give you P codes (no text description, just a P followed by a four digit number) these can be interpreted by reference to the internet. However, as you say, it may only be able to read OBD/OBD2 codes from the ECU and not the other codes that relate to the rest of the vehicle’s systems. I’m not particularly recommending the Autel, it’s just one of a number of cheapish scanners that interrogate all the car systems. A bit of research on the web will bring up others that do the same thing.
Despite the error message, does it feel if the suspension is working correctly ie softish normally but stiffens up if you corner hard?
I would like to say definitively that I know the answer to your question about the suspension but I havent driven the car seriously since last summer--its my summer driver and I plan to put it on the road in May, probably.
I would guess that it feels a little rough most of the time but I have never driven another Jaguar that does not have the error message. I could get somebody in the local Jaguar club to give it a drive and see if they can feel whether the system is actually
functioning despite the message.
Friend of mine suggested unhooking the battery so as to reset the codes. I am about to do that now. Must be getting late in Shropshire so I won`t expect to hear from you tonight but will send an email as to the result.
Yes, disconnecting the battery for half an hour might work but I’m not certain that it will erase all the fault codes. Some are permanent and a need a definite action from the reader software to clear them. I did get hold of a copy of the Jaguar IDS system which runs on my laptop which is supposed to have the same functionality as the dealers have but although my car would communicate with it, it recognised the build date of the car and told me I need the legacy version which I’ve never found. Basically the car is too old for the software.
It’s a pity because with this system you can code keys and re-programme the ECUs which would have been interesting to play with.
What I can tell you is that I would describe the suspension on as being quite soft. It rides the bumps well and I really like it. If you start to use its handling capability you can feel the suspension stiffen up and for a big car, it handles really well. Once while we were working on we got the front damper connections crossed over somehow and the whole suspension ran very hard indeed. You couldn’t have not noticed it.
I only disconnected for about ten minutes. I will give it a longer try today and get back to you. I was talking to a chap about a year ago and he was recommending a program emanating from something called Mongoose [probably
a pirate program] but I didn’t follow through because I decided to spend my time repairing the wiring pigtail and getting a new ADCM module [which came from UK, by the way].
I did buy a used computer that I want to set up as the car code reader computer and which I will use today.
A friend of mine, who works for the local Ford dealership, hooked up his code reader [which costs about fifteen thousand dollars, apparently] and was able to declare that all of the modules are okay and that the problem
is a wiring issue. How accurate this conclusion is I don’t know.
I have a Mongoose. It is the physical interface between the OBD socket and a computer, usually a laptop. It came with the IDS software I mentioned which was too new for my car. As I said, if you can find a version that works it should give the same access to the car systems that the authorised dealers have.
I didn’t realize the Mongoose was a physical item. I thought it was just software. I downloaded some Mongoose stuff onto this computer. I will revisit the discussions I was having a year or so back with this chap who
lives in Germany and who was very helpful.
I tried using the setup I have yesterday but as per usual I ran into blocking issues and could not get it working. I am interested in fixing cars, not computers, and I get fed up after a couple of hours trying to make
these programs function and being presented with a series of questions I cannot answer.
I am running a PC with Windows 7. I could try ordering your Mongoose setup to see if it would function. Do you have an address for them still?
Jaguars On The Island [JOTI]is having a get together tomorrow in Victoria [ about two hours from here] and I am hoping to chat up some of the members to see if I can get some help resolving this snag. I will get back
to you then.
