mine was the fresh air door right behind the ac filter and one in the distribution chamber, it was a job not for the faint of heart, throttle body and blower inlet also have to be removed. not fun but worth it in the end

 

I had a pulley puller and still had to cut the old pulley off. You have to be very precise about how you cut the pulley down so you don't damage the shaft the pulley sits on. Since mine is the 3# pulley, I had to machine the snout as well, which also took very precise cuts and is difficult to get the bottom with the supercharger on the car. Plus the metal shavings go everywhere, so you must make sure you plug all the coolant and air passages first. Then I went to install the new pulley and the installing tool broke and it just turned into a nightmare. If I did it again, I would pull the whole supercharger off and then do it or just send it out to get ported at the same time and let someone else have the headache.

 

"I feel your pain" (Clinton).

 

There is a green STR, appears to be an 03 or 04, for sale not far from me. I pass it every day on the way to work. I can stop by and get the details for you if you want. I know it's a long way from CA to Pittsburgh, but it looks pretty nice. Just let me know and I'll stop by and have a look.

 

I do not know, but will ask the shop next time I take the STR in. If the the CLE continues to return after that, I will be purchasing a code reader and post more in depth about it here. Thanks for inquiring

 

Hi, few more questions for you knowledgeable folks,

Is the wood trim in my 03 str's interior REAL wood? Felt plasticky...

What does the 'sport' button by the shifter do exactly? Does 'sport' setting apply ONLY to the transmissions behaviour?
Generally, do you guys drive with sport on, or off, majority of the time? Any increase in wear or heat by running sport all the time?
Does anyone actually manually flip through gears via the 2-3-4-5 on the J-gate? This transmission seems to be work great left in drive and allowing the TCM to do it's thing.

Are 03's rated at 390hp, or 400hp? Did the STR's see incremental power gains over the years/updates?

Do 03's have any sort of variable valve timing control? Or did this only appear in one of the later years?

The STR has both traction and stability control. Any brief details on how they work? I've heard the Traction Control will manipulate the rear brakes to prevent wheel spin (no limited slip), so does the stability control system manipulate brakes at all four corners to assist in 'steering' the car?

 

Real wood, coated.

Sport is complex. Parts of jag tech guides have been posted by e.g. xjrguy if you really want to read this stuff (use Search). Roughly, shifts sooner and hangs on to revs longer but it's way more complex than that. Affects powertrain, so PCM+TCM at least.

I hardly use the J-Gate but others may do.

All appear to be 390 or 400 HP, depends which version of "HP" you use (SAE changed).

VVT not in 03. Supposedly changed torque. I'm unconvinced, never having seen even jag-official torque curves of non-VVT & VVT cars. I believe it may have been to help get through emissions. (SAI was.) Looks like VVT needed higher performance PCM (Denso PanPag / 1.6).

TC etc just seem OK to me so despite reading various stuff I leave well alone. I make sure to cause ABS at least to cut in from time to time so I know it gets a bit of exercise as mechanical things generally need to be used at least occasionally.

 

A thought: if really interested in arcane stuff, join jag's TOPIx and grab as many tech guides etc as you fancy. Quite cheap and days/weeks of reading await LOL

 

Great feedback, thanks!

Last question (for now)

Would a 2005 gauge cluster bolt right in and plug right in to a 2003? I'm going to guess not, but worth asking...

 

Not a chance. Different computer bus, plugs, cables, software, etc.

 

So it looks like you bought an STR eh?

I vaguely remember this question being discussed before, might turn up in a search or in the "things you hate about your Jag" thread. I'd love to bolt in a 2005+ if they were plug and play. I am not sure if they are...EDIT - JagV8 cleared that up.

Your prior post: the wood feels plastic-ish due to the clear coat protective coating, but it's real wood under there.

Sport: I usually have it on around town during my normal commute - lots of hills and start/stop, and i like the quicker throttle response to kick down a gear when needed. I do actively manage it though, I'll get in and out of Sport a few times on most drives. From what I understand/observe car adaptively/actively learns your driving style, I don't want Sport to learn any lazy behaviors when I'm just cruising.

I use the J-gate daily, often to control RPM downhill in preparation of ripping right back up a hill. It's just fun, not necessary. I wish it was a manual to be honest, though not because the ZF is bad per say, just personal preference. The J-gate is a bit sluggish to respond to shifts but can still provide some entertainment.

DSC will activate to squash rear wheelspin, even when turned off it will still intervene at some point. I turn it off on dry days sometimes. Wet days, it stays on at all times.

 

Boy, ain't that the truth. I have so much putting around driving where I live that it totally screws up my adaptive computer. A week of driving here and it thinks you're 85 years old.

Disconnect the battery. I've had way too much practice at that lately for other reasons ...

The kick-down is a bit too violent for the close quarters cut swerve and dodge style driving practiced here so often so I end up just letting people cut in . If I'm in a particularly combative mood I put the car in 3rd and wind the hell out of it. This, is not great for your mileage though. I also don't want my car damaged and letting the Aholes go on by is usually my preferred option.

The J gate is OK though. The new paddle shifting on the latest models is very, very nice.

 

I use sport mode and the J-gate every time I drive; I guess I just prefer driving that way. You can turn the traction control "off," but as mentioned it never turns completely off. I tend to leave it on in case I want to stomp on it while changing lanes without fishtailing.

 

ok, I bought my 2003 new from the dealer, put about 70K miles on it after 8 years or use, the biggest problem I ran into was Right side fuel pump went out(60K).

power steering pump went out, but was completely my fault by doing donuts..

other than that never had a problem. Got the lurch fixed two months after buying it. was a great car to me.

 

Did the 03 str's have any headlight options, or were they all equipped with xenon/hid, standard?

Is xenon and hid the same thing? If not, which one does the str actually have? Does anyone know what "bulb type" the low beam and high beam are?

Where are you guys going for your healight low and high beam replacement bulbs? Jag? rockauto? ebay?

thanks guys,