'01 Jag XJ8 bought new, with only about 55K miles on it. When I took it in for the 40K service, everything was OK. A few days later, after a hard drive in hot weather, the ABS warning light came on. I drove a few more miles and parked. Later when i came out and restarted, no light.
This happened a couple more times, so took it to the dealer. I suspected the mechanic may have done something to cause this. This was just after the warranty ran out. They told me there was a bad brake module, and it would run about $1200 to fix it! Phooey on that. I wrote Jaguar USA pointing out that if it failed just a few miles after the warranty, it must have been defective for a while, and they should cover it. Naturally, they refused.
I’ve gone about a year since then. It only came out about 5 or 6 times during that period, and every time it did, I stopped as soon as possible, turned it off, then back on, and no light again for months. I even did this once when the traffic light just turned red. Every time it was after a fast (about 70 mph on freeway) long drive in hot weather, but obviously not every time.
I am not that concerned, as for some 40 years I drove every kind of vehicle in Vermont and upstate New York in deep snow, ice, slush and rain. If it skidded a bit, I rapidly pumped the brakes, steered into the skid, and never had a bit of trouble. As I now live in the AZ desert, not worried that in the very rare possibility that in the rain it might skid a bit, and there is never snow. And in heavy rain, I slow down to avoid hydroplaning. So, even if the ABS is not working, I don’t worry about it.
I kind of think it is a glitch in the computer or the modules reporting system, rather than the system actually being faulty. Otherwise, why would the light come on so seldom, instead of all the time?
What do y’all think?