NHTSA Complaint #10418468 — 2000 JAGUAR XJ

I HAVE FILED THIS COMPLIANT A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, BUT IT DOESN'T APPEAR IN THE SEARCH, SO I'M FILING IT AGAIN. I BELIEVE JAGUAR HAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM THAT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED BY A MANDATORY RECALL. MY 2000 XJ8 HAS BEEN HAVING SURGING PROBLEMS FOR YEARS AND HAS GONE INTO LIMP MODE ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS...USUALLY ON THE INTERSTATE...WHERE I HAVE NARROWLY MISSED CAUSING SERIOUS ACCIDENTS. THE LOCAL JAGUAR DEALER HAD THE CAR TWICE, EACH TIME FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE YEAR. EACH TIME THEY SAID IT NEEDED A THROTTLE BODY. AFTER THE THIRD THROTTLE BODY, I CALLED JAGUAR IN NEW JERSEY AND THEY CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP AND WALKED THEM THROUGH BENCH TESTING THE THROTTLE BODY OFF THE CAR. TURNS OUT THERE WAS NEVER A THROTTLE BODY PROBLEM. SO AFTER THREE THROTTLE BODIES, THE REPLACEMENTS AT $2400 EACH, THE JAGUAR DEALER SAID THEY COULDN'T FIX THE CAR. I THEN SENT IT TO FOUR OTHER MECHANIC SHOPS. MOST HAD IT FOR AT LEAST SIX MONTHS. EACH ADMITTED THE PROBLEM EXISTED, BUT NONE COULD FIX IT. THE ECM AND TCMS WERE CHANGED, SPARK PLUG WIRES, SPARK PLUGS, AC COMPONENT, ALL GROUNDS CHECKED, HARNESS CHECKED, ETC., ETC., ETC. KEEP IN MIND THE CAR ONLY HAS 37000 MILES. FINALLY, WHILE ANOTHER MECHANIC WAS TRYING TO FIND THE PROBLEM, THE ENGINE LOCKED. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO ANOTHER MECHANIC, WHO OPENED THE ENGINE AND FOUND THE TIMING CHAIN TENSIONERS HAD ALLOWED THE CHAIN TO JUMP TWO TEETH. APPARENTLY, THE TENSIONER PROBLEM IS WELL KNOW TO JAGUAR AND ITS DEALERSHIPS. EVEN TECH BULLETINS HAVE BEEN SENT, BUT OWNERS WERE NEVER NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM DIRECTLY. NOW THAT I HAVE SEARCHED THE FORUMS, IT IS APPARENT THE PROBLEM IS PREVALENT. I'M LUCKY I WAS NOT KILLED IN THE CAR. I NOW HAVE TO INSTALL A NEW ENGINE DUE TO THIS KNOWN PROBLEM. MAYBE IF ENOUGH PEOPLE ARE KILLED OR MAIMED, WE WILL FINALLY SEE SOME ACTION TO FORCE JAGUAR TO FIX THEIR OBVIOUS DESIGN PROBLEM RESULTING FROM THEIR EFFORT TO INCREASE THEIR PROFITS. *TR