John Holman

2002 XG 350 - 150,000 Km.

First the fuel gauge started acting up, then the speedomoter quit and
the Brakes, ABS and TCS warning lights came on.

I cleaned up the battery terminals and topped up the battery with
water (it was pretty dry) and the gas gauge now works fine but the
other problem won't go away. It only happens after driving for a bit.
When the car is started it behaves fine for a while before the speedo
quits and the warning lights come on.

I was afraid that the battery might have given up since it was so dry
but it is fine - 12.9V a few days after a full charge.

Any ideas?

B Crawford

Hi John,
I have an XG300, year older & about 115,000 km. I too have had an abnormal
number of electronic malfunctions but not any of the ones you're had. I was
also wondering if my battery/charging system was at the root of it but all
that has checked out well within specs. So far I've replaced the MAS air
flow sensor, a month later my day running light module (Canadian eh?) failed
& would leave the dash lights on when parked. Next the speed control for the
heater failed & I was darned if I was going to pay the outrageous price to
replace the whole damn module! Now I have a 3 speed blower controlled by a
toggle switch on the dash -just like my old Ford truck - actually used
ballast resistors from an old truck . Works just fine --so far. But like
you, I'm afraid I' 'waiting for the next shoe to drop'. These electronic
problems aren't easy for the driveway mechanic even if you have a background
in electronics & none of the parts are cheap to say the least. At least the
dealer I bought the car from doesn't hesitate to give me good advice over
the phone some 2000 km away.
BCinBC
"John Holman" <jholman@netscape-dot-ca.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:h7adneT2iIQ_KWLbnZ2dnUVZ_r6rnZ2d@giganews.com ...
> 2002 XG 350 - 150,000 Km.
>
> First the fuel gauge started acting up, then the speedomoter quit and
> the Brakes, ABS and TCS warning lights came on.
>
> I cleaned up the battery terminals and topped up the battery with
> water (it was pretty dry) and the gas gauge now works fine but the
> other problem won't go away. It only happens after driving for a bit.
> When the car is started it behaves fine for a while before the speedo
> quits and the warning lights come on.
>
> I was afraid that the battery might have given up since it was so dry
> but it is fine - 12.9V a few days after a full charge.
>
> Any ideas?
>

Dan K

"John Holman" <jholman@netscape-dot-ca.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:h7adneT2iIQ_KWLbnZ2dnUVZ_r6rnZ2d@giganews.com ...
> 2002 XG 350 - 150,000 Km.
>
> First the fuel gauge started acting up, then the speedomoter quit and
> the Brakes, ABS and TCS warning lights came on.
>
> I cleaned up the battery terminals and topped up the battery with
> water (it was pretty dry) and the gas gauge now works fine but the
> other problem won't go away. It only happens after driving for a bit.
> When the car is started it behaves fine for a while before the speedo
> quits and the warning lights come on.
>
> I was afraid that the battery might have given up since it was so dry
> but it is fine - 12.9V a few days after a full charge.
>
> Any ideas?
>

I'm wondering if it could be your alternator. My wifes 2002 XG350
alternator went out recently (67k miles = 107k km). My first hint that
something was wrong was when I found her battery real low on water. Just
figured I hadn't checked it often enough. Then a couple of headlights
failed - we run with the headlights on all the time and they fail more often
than I'd like so a couple failures is not that unusual. Then the alternator
quit and I'm pretty sure thats been a problem for a while. By the way, the
brake light is wired to go on along with the alternator light when the
alternator fails...don't know why they did it that way, but they did.

What kind of battery voltage are you seeing after the car has been running
for a while and the battery is all charged up? If you are seeing 15 v or
more you have alternator issues. This high voltage might be intermittant
too.

P.S. you don't have to remove the radiator to replace the alternator (just
the radiator fan).

Dan

John Holman

> John Holman wrote:
> 2002 XG 350 - 150,000 Km.
>
> First the fuel gauge started acting up, then the speedomoter quit
and the Brakes, ABS and TCS warning lights came on.
>
> I cleaned up the battery terminals and topped up the battery with
water (it was pretty dry) and the gas gauge now works fine but the
other problem won't go away. It only happens after driving for a bit.
When the car is started it behaves fine for a while before the speedo
quits and the warning lights come on.
>
> I was afraid that the battery might have given up since it was so
dry but it is fine - 12.9V a few days after a full charge.
>
> Any ideas?

Thanks guys,

The alternator angle intrigues me. We had a 120 Km run with the car
today which ended about 2 hrs ago. The probelem is still with us
although, oddly today, the speedometer quit independently of the
idiot lights coming on. The current battery voltage sits at 13.34
which is high but not the 15v that Dan mentions.

This could be the problem since the car works fine when first started
and the problem shows up between 5 mins and 20 mins after start up
and only when the car is in motion.

John

John Holman

> John Holman wrote:
> 2002 XG 350 - 150,000 Km.
>
> First the fuel gauge started acting up, then the speedomoter quit
and the Brakes, ABS and TCS warning lights came on.
>
> I cleaned up the battery terminals and topped up the battery with
water (it was pretty dry) and the gas gauge now works fine but the
other problem won't go away. It only happens after driving for a bit.
When the car is started it behaves fine for a while before the speedo
quits and the warning lights come on.
>
> I was afraid that the battery might have given up since it was so
dry but it is fine - 12.9V a few days after a full charge.
>
> Any ideas?

Oh, and Dan, I too had both low beams fail it
seems at almost the same time that all this started.

John Holman

> John Holman wrote:
> 2002 XG 350 - 150,000 Km.
>
> First the fuel gauge started acting up, then the speedomoter quit
and the Brakes, ABS and TCS warning lights came on.
>
> I cleaned up the battery terminals and topped up the battery with
water (it was pretty dry) and the gas gauge now works fine but the
other problem won't go away. It only happens after driving for a bit.
When the car is started it behaves fine for a while before the speedo
quits and the warning lights come on.
>
> I was afraid that the battery might have given up since it was so
dry but it is fine - 12.9V a few days after a full charge.
>
> Any ideas?

Dan, you were right. A new alternator. I'm $700
(Cdn) poorer tonight!!

B Crawford

I find this all very interesting b/c of my electronic failures on my XG300
even though they are of a different nature. I do hope, John, that the
alternator does rectify your problems. Did you ever find out how high the
voltage was say 1/2 hour into a trip? Most vehicles do charge up to13.8
volts which could see your battery read 13. something right after shut off.
I have checked my alternator several times but I've never caught it above
the 13.8. My battery is now nearly 7 years old & hasn't gone down that I
know of, so I guess that's a pretty good indicator that your system was
really overcharging but oh my goodness $700 !!! Let the group know if this
fixes the whimsical happenings, please.
By the way what part of Canada are you in?
BCinBC
"John Holman" <jholman@netscape-dot-ca.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:rNidnfJh0MzoQ5_anZ2dnUVZ_rignZ2d@giganews.com ...
>
> > John Holman wrote:
> > 2002 XG 350 - 150,000 Km.
> >
> > First the fuel gauge started acting up, then the speedomoter quit
> and the Brakes, ABS and TCS warning lights came on.
> >
> > I cleaned up the battery terminals and topped up the battery with
> water (it was pretty dry) and the gas gauge now works fine but the
> other problem won't go away. It only happens after driving for a bit.
> When the car is started it behaves fine for a while before the speedo
> quits and the warning lights come on.
> >
> > I was afraid that the battery might have given up since it was so
> dry but it is fine - 12.9V a few days after a full charge.
> >
> > Any ideas?
>
> Dan, you were right. A new alternator. I'm $700
> (Cdn) poorer tonight!!
>

Dan K

"John Holman" <jholman@netscape-dot-ca.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:rNidnfJh0MzoQ5_anZ2dnUVZ_rignZ2d@giganews.com ...
>
> > John Holman wrote:
> > 2002 XG 350 - 150,000 Km.
> >
> > First the fuel gauge started acting up, then the speedomoter quit
> and the Brakes, ABS and TCS warning lights came on.
> >
> > I cleaned up the battery terminals and topped up the battery with
> water (it was pretty dry) and the gas gauge now works fine but the
> other problem won't go away. It only happens after driving for a bit.
> When the car is started it behaves fine for a while before the speedo
> quits and the warning lights come on.
> >
> > I was afraid that the battery might have given up since it was so
> dry but it is fine - 12.9V a few days after a full charge.
> >
> > Any ideas?
>
> Dan, you were right. A new alternator. I'm $700
> (Cdn) poorer tonight!!
>
Unfortunatly, $700 Cdn is about what it costs. My brother in law just paid
$1200 US for his XG300 but he had them do the timing belt and water pump
while they were in there. He was told it was a 6 hour labor job and the
radiator had to be removed. I bought my rebuilt alternator at an auto parts
store for $165 (dealer wanted $220 - $230) and it took me 6 hours to do the
job, first time-amature mechanic. The radiator did not have to come out,
just the fan. I'm betting I can do the next alternator in 3 hours and the
one after that in an hour and a half, so that 6 hours book is a really
inflated number.

John - Let us all know in a week or so if the alternator really fixed all
your problems.

Dan