Had a issue with over-idling on the XJ6 and it after a bit of head scratching , we decided to look at the throttle body and this was sticking , so dismantle clean and re-fit and all is well now at around 900rpm but thinking of replacing all six ignition coils next ... Pauljag ...

 

Did the Spark Plugs for the 1st time since getting her. Found two plug wells with oil. Got replacements seals and gaskets ordered.

Also replaced all the bulbs for Tail Light Assemblies. Much improved, but the Reverse Lamp seems anemic.

Anyone with a suggestion for a better/brighter reverse lamp bulb?

 

Have been rebuilding front end suspension, couldnt get upper control arm ball joints apart in the wishbone. Everything else done, not doing frame bushings, just the ride and steering components; ball joints, shocks, sway bar and linkage bushings, wheel bearings, new tires, turned rotors, and then alignment. Had to take it to a shop and have them remove the uppers. Turns out one of the connecting bolts was busted in there, yikes! Glad I chose to do this now.

 

I recently replaced a set of plugs, coil gaskets, rocker cover and rocker cover gaskets as well. The old rocker cover had the same problem with oil in the plug wells. I was amazed at the smooth ride after I had it all installed.
As a cure for the anemic tail lights, I've replaced both of mine with a set out of an XJ8. They are a lot brighter and I think look a lot nicer with the chrome surrounds. They are also an exact fit and change over with just a hole needed in the rear for an extra bulb apparently the XJ8s don't use.

 

Redex seems to be working it's magic. Was getting 20mpg now getting 25+
Steering working better with a fluid top up. Just ordered the Andy bracket.

 

I checked my coils and plugs today. Some cracks on the tip of coil 6. Plugs are all a nice tan colour. No oil in the wells. About 168,000 miles.
Are the gaps important? I think the gaps may have got bigger over time.

 

Wow, that's pretty impressive. I get low to mid teens around town, and lower 20s on the highway, with a reliable average 17.5-18.5 MPG combined.

That's really a surprise that you have no oil ingress considering age and mileage, so definitely good news there.

The AJ16 does seem to be sensitive to plugs, and thus gap would be important, but I'm not sure by how much. I change my plugs every year regardless. They are dirt cheap at $2.50 each (Champion RC12YC) and takes minutes to change, so I don't really worry about checking gap over the year.

.

 

UK gallons are bigger = 4.54 litres
US gallons are smaller = 3.78 liters
Lets say I get 40 km per gallon or 8.8 km per litre
You get 32 km per 3.78 liters or 8.4 km per liter.

Notice your car uses liters and mine uses litres ;-)
Your's is Supercharged so you're doing OK.

My fuel costs is if you paid $5.78 per US gallon.

As for the oil in the plug wells two of them did leave a smear of oil on the outside of the socket when I removed the plug but there was no liquid in there. Does that count as oil in the wells?

It has NGK plugs. Yeah easy to change them.

 

Did you take out the entire unit off the car or just the hoses/ducts to clean the TB. Just curious.

 

What did I do to my x300 today?
Some driving and some planning
I drove it like it was stolen when possible, flew under the radar the rest of the time
I like goading other cars and showing up some newer cars. I enjoyed trumping a new 335 German car at the lights. And he was trying.
I have ordered a new Bosch intercooler pump ( -02 suffix model) with the appropriate wiring plug, from the States. I have noticed improved performance as the cooler Autumn weather kicks in, and I think my old Hella pump is very tired. The car seems to be suffering from intercooler heatsink

I am trying to find someone in NZ who will port my spare Eaton M90 supercharger , without success, so I may have to post it to UK or USA
I am toying with getting a spare head and having this ported/polished, then getting some decent exhaust manifolds/extractors fabricated. There is a local guy who is experienced at fabricating mild steel extractors but won't do stainless steel. I have bought Andy's dimension plans for this.
Does anyone have any views/experience of the Eurotoys intercooler radiator? It is much thicker than the standard one, but I have read that you need to keep them thin for best heat transfer, and the thicker ones may not do much more. What is a reasonably economical way of improving intercooler radiator performance?

 

Replaced Rochester valve, and later discovered that didn't need to. During course of 1st oil change when removing the oil filter I discovered someone previous had plugged one of the vacuum hoses and tied it to the oil dipstick tube. This hose of course happened to be the one that provides control vacuum to the Rochester valve. 1st oil change for this new to me XJR6. 1st round of transmission fluid and filter change, round two today. Amazing what a difference sorting the Rochester valve and fluid changes made to the car.

 

What did I do to my x300 today?

I replaced my thermostat.

It fixed the over cooling problem, most of the rough idle, low heat output from the AC and what I assume was terrible gas consumption.

Pretty stoked, it worked mint!

Going to clean the throttle body later (carefully) and hopefully that will sort the rest of my poor idle

 

I reckon I drive faster than the previous owner. Better MPG now than was on the tip computer 19mpg now 24. Also since I have been driving the car has become much more responsive. Andy Bracket at the weekend if it's not raining.
I love BMWs they are usually up for an acceleration challenge. They drive up close behind as if you are hindering their progress. Once you prove you can accelerate they back off.

 

So how much oil? Just a little smear on the side of the socket tool or actually filled up with oil?

 

Resprayed the engine bay

 

Fitted new head unit into our 1996 XJ Executive , quite an upgrade , looks like it's meant to be there and gives me all the mod con's such as mp3 / phone connectivity etc and one piece facia that goes all black when ignition is off , very happy with the finish .. pauljag..

 

Wash and quik wax...

the big bruiser Bentley is jealous - his grille is only chromey plastic!

 

Yeah, amazing that so many hyper-expensive cars, even current Jags, now have nothing but chrome plated plastic grilles. Sad.

 

Received a replacement Cam Cover from a UK Breaker. High Temp paint after cleaning up the spark plug wells. (minor corrosion visible).

While I was at it swapped out the plugs (NGK) for the recommended Champions (cleared out the local WalMart Lawn for those.)




Original Cam Cover with replacement Coil Cover




Replacement Cam and Coil Covers installed.

miserable rainy Sunday here. Hope spring arrives soon.

 

Great work, Alan!
I did an oil & filter change on the '95. Renewed the oil cooler bypass O-rings while I was at it...noted with chagrin my steering rack is now leaking......