Dash Wiring Problems of Jaguar XJ8

Was driving my 2000 Jaguar xk8 on interstate 55 in illinois when there was a "pop" that sounded like a speaker going out. Smoke rushed out of the dashboard vents. A fire occurred within the dashboard. Flaming pieces of plastic and parts dropped to the floormat and set fire to the carpet. The vehicle cabin quickly filled with heavy smoke. It all happened so fast - I was able to pull the vehicle to the side of the interstate and barely cleared the car before the entire passenger cabin burst into flames. I called 911 - by the time firefighters arrived, the entire vehicle was engulfed in flames. It was a total loss. The police, firefighter and others surmised a problem with the wiring harness or one of the onboard computer/fuse/relay systems in the vehicle. This car has been well maintained - all the records exist to prove it. To be driving down the road and have your dashboard burst into flames should be of concern. I am not sure if there are other reports of incidents like this but one is too many. I nearly lost control of the vehicle at 65 mph and could have killed myself and others due to the build up of smoke in the cabin - I could barely see out of the windshield. A few concerns here - not the least of which is the cause of the fire. Beyond that, the fact that the mats and interior carpet caught fire so quickly is also an issue. Had I not been alert enough to recognize what was happening so quickly and able to take corrective action as soon as I did, the death box below might have been filled in by someone else.

See all problems of the 2000 Jaguar XJ8 🔎.

1998 Jaguar Xj8l car would stall while driving, windshield wipers would stop and start,head lights would go off,intermittently. This made the car unsafe top drive. I bought the car used and I didn't know about the problem. When the problem started I thought it was a computer boot problem so I turned the car off and the problems seemed to disappear. I found that the problem would come and go and was so intermittent it could not be picked up while at the car shop, downtown Jaguar in minneapolis, mn. I am a controls engineer and thought that I would trouble shoot the problem. I purchased from the internet the electrical schematics for this car. I found that all of the systems had a common source. This source was a computer located under the dash behind the glove compartmented was called body processor module or bpm. It was sealed and knot opened. It was manufactured in south America by Ford motor company. I found on the under side of the circuit board, solder flashing which is supposed to be blown off at the end of its solder bath. This board should have been cleaned as well but it still had large amounts of solder flux which acted like glue and kept the solder balls in a semi stable condition. I cleaned the circuit board with a approved circuit board cleaner, then used a soft brush to remove any additional solder balls. I had found an estimated five hundred to a thousand small solder balls some so small that they were . 005 inches in size to . 125 inches. When I removed these solder balls I had know further occurrences of similar problems. I reported this to Jaguar over the internet and they replied with an answer that it was knot their problem do to the fact the warranty had expired. I found that other people were experiencing this same problem when I did a search on the internet. I think this is a serious problem and it is a manufactureã‚??s defect. If you find this to be the case for other Jaguars. Please let everyone know so they don't have a dangerous accident.

See all problems of the 1998 Jaguar XJ8 🔎.