First off this is my first post. I’ll try to follow etiquette and keep it short but it might be difficult on this one.

I previously owned a S Type and loved the car. I sold the car a while back and missed it ever since so recently I decided I would have a look at other jags and fell in love with the XJL.

I searched around for a XJL for a while through various nationwide online offerings and had to keep my search limited to around $17k as I was buying the car with cash and that’s what I had to spend.

bluebook values were super low for every XJL I looked at and quickly found out that I would be paying much higher than blue book value for anything I was interested in.

Where I settled was a 2011 XJL LWB with the V8 5.0 with 110k on the odo that bluebook valued really low in the $8k to $12k range and I purchased it for $15k which I flew to Michigan to pick up.

to be fair, I knew the car had a front end clunk when I test drove it but figured it would be a no big deal kinda fix.

since I got the car back to Minnesota I’ve been chasing the front end clunks and trying to refine the ride.

so far I’ve spent $5,200 in front suspension repairs and I fear that I still have a few more suspension parts to replace.

I know that the amount of money I’ll have into this vehicle isn’t justified compared to bluebook values but I really love this car and I do want it to drive as perfect as possible so I’m going to keep going.

In addition to the almost most completely sorted out front suspension issues I now have a check engine light to look at because of a fuel leak detection pump (or something like that) which I’ll of course get fixed (when I get more $ to throw at the car) and I have a tire pressure sensor issue that only arises after about 15 minutes into my drive but still it’s every drive.

Obviously I won’t be selling this car any time soon and I intend to do whatever it takes to get the vehicle right so I can stop nit picking and enjoy it more but I have a feeling it’s going to be a long road until I’m fully satisfied (I’m already satisfied but I mean really really satisfied - like damn near perfect satisfied)

I know, it’s an old car, it’ll always have problems, but.. no, actually it won’t have problems, I’ll sort problems out, I’ll spend money to get work done on the car/ fix things myself and it will be exactly to my liking.

this is just a summer fun car for me where I can arrive in style but anyways I just wanted to reach out and share where I’m at about 2 months into owning my XJL.

I’ll post more specific threads pertaining to my exact problems and questions over the next few weeks of course.

have a great day.

 

Welcome to the forum. As for you front end clunk over the years I have had 3 things done that resolved the issue at that time.
1, swaybar bushings (cheap and easy)
2, Front control arm fluid filled bushing.
3. just now
"Just had my upper mounts and isolators replaced as I had a harsh ride and rattle in the dash over choppy roads. Feels like new and was replaced under my Assurant Extended Warranty that i bought in 2015.
Part #s
2 Mounts C2D51875
2 Nuts C2Z8011
2 Bolts C2P5886
2 Isolators C2D16903
2 Nuts and Washers TA4N3680"

hope this can resolve your issue.

 

For your tire pressure warning, you probably need new TPMS sensors. Yours are pretty old and the battery is only supposed to last ~7 years. My 2010 had the exact same intermittent warning that went away when I got new ones. If you can wait, change them out when you buy new tires.

Buy the ones from Rock Auto (part #SE52029) in advance and bring them in when you get your tires replaced.

 

Also have a tire shop check your wheel balance. Lots of these rims get slightly bent, and then people pay big bucks on suspension parts that don’t fix the problem.

 

Thanks for the responses.
I’ve replaced:
lower control arms, sway bar bushings, sway bar links, shocks, both motor mounts and transmission mount.
my noise was described perfectly by another member here in another thread as sounding like a softball clunking around in a wooden box inside the dash and since doing the repairs above the severity of the noise went from a solid 10 down to a 1.5
not quite perfect but almost there.

the next parts I’m most likely looking at would be the front springs and shock mounts as this is the only thing left that I can think of. I know there’s a way to tell if shock mounts are bad from what I’ve read here but when pressing down on the front of the vehicle I don’t see the center post in the middle of the shock mount move side to side. I’ll write about that in a related thread if I can find it.

yes, I had the vehicle at the shop today and we were discussing the possibility of old TPMS sensor batteries. I’ll look into the rock auto ones before doing to purchase through my regular shop.

they also re-trained the wheel sensors today and immediately after I drove the vehicle around 25 miles without the light popping back on. I did get my destination and cycle the engine off then back on and drove back to the shop where at around the 15 mile mark the light did come back on. After my talking with the shop I headed to the same place 25 miles away with no warnings. I guess I’ll have to see how it goes tomorrow on my way to work but these were the first two drives I’ve ever had without the warning.

 

Just FYI, the “training” of the TPMS sensor in our cars is automatic. When they put in the new ones, don’t let them do anything to train them. Just drive the car ~3 miles and the light will go off on its own.

 

thank you.
So just have them install and drive away... I wonder why their tool had them follow a procedure.

well looks like I’ll be changing out sensors. Someone needs to come out with wireless charging for the batteries.

 

I like your approach. Too many of these older beauties go neglected because the Blue Book says it's worth this or that. If the car body is in good shape as well as interior then putting money into it to have it in like new mechanical shape makes sense. Think of it this way, you already saved $60k compared to what the car cost new. You're driving an $80k full size saloon that most can't tell from the 2019 model for less than what a new Camry costs.

 

If you haven't done so already, check the coolant level and inspect the front of the engine for coolant leaks. The AJ133 Gen III has a known history of water pump failures that can result in catastrophic engine damage.

Check the battery condition and voltage after a cold soak, preferably overnight. The voltage across the battery terminals should be a minimum of 12.6 volts when measured with a voltmeter. If the voltage is less than 12.6 volts, charge the battery for eight to ten hours at 2 to 5 amps, then retest the battery voltage. If it's still less than 12.6 volts, the battery should be replaced. Many of the electrical 'gremlins' chased across these forums can be ultimately traced to a failing or weak battery.

 

On the TPMS sensors. Non jag OEM sensors don't play well with the system. Some people find them fine. Others get issues like you describe

Most likely at least one sensor is low battery, maybe more than one. But I'd advise against using non Jag sensors. They are cheaper but if they don't work well you've wasted the money plus the cost of unmounting and remounting all the wheels...

 

This place is great!
AJ16er, agreed I wouldn’t get this much style and beauty and feel as good as I do with another choice of vehicle and I’m extremely proud to be driving the jaguar.

NBCat, I’m going to do the battery test you were talking about. The car tells me it has a low battery if I have the engine off and I’m inside with a door open for even 2 minutes but I was just dismissing the warning because I could start it easily every attempt.

BritCars, oddly enough since yesterday 3 of my 5 drives have been successfully completed without the tpms warning. I’ll probably just swap the sensors out soon enough though if I can’t get a consistent good result and I’ll make sure to get the original jaguar sensors when I do.

absolutely love this forum, it’s an essential tool when trying to problem solve and I hate to say it but everyone’s way more knowledgeable and willing to advise than my mechanic shop I’ve been going to.

 

@mcmism, did you check for leaks from the water pump? They are a known failure point and can cause catastrophic engine damage.

 

i didn’t yet but I will. When I got the car I brought it to the mechanic and had them look at everything and one thing he mentioned was they might have seen a leak in the water pump but then he didn’t follow up on if he actually found something. I’m assuming he didn’t find anything because he did replace a hose near the top passenger side of the engine which was leaking coolant.

Ill take a good look tomorrow. I’ve heard people have issues with the water pumps on this car.

thanks for the reminder.

 

I read up on this a bit in the past, and it seemed to be people with problems bought the wrong sensor. You need to buy the VDO one, which is the part number I listed above. Obviously if you live outside the US, you will also need to check if you need the 315MHz or 433MHz sensor.

The Jaguar sensors are ridiculously expensive and in my experience work no better. Wheel mounting cost me $10/tire.

 

I looked at the part number you listed above and it’s described as a 315mhz
im in the US (Minnesota) I believe I have 433 from what the mechanic told me.
i think I would pay 50 maybe 60 a sensor if they were going to be a guaranteed match and 10$ per sensor mount seems like a awesome deal.

 

If it is a US car, it should be 315MHz. If it was a car intended for Europe and then got shipped to the US by a collector it could be 433 MHz. The best way to tell is call a Jaguar parts department and have them confirm for you based on VIN#. My parts department had to check with corporate and call me back. It was a US market car and therefore 315 MHz.

I think TPMS.com and perhaps others guarantee functionality of the sensor with your car. I think they sell the same part, but for slightly more money. You could buy from them if you are concerned with functionality. But I’m sure it will work if you are a US market car. There were almost no changes between your year car and mine.

 

ill have to make the call tomorrow if it’s 315 MHz then the shop I’m working with is either not to smart or if they are right about the sensors being read by their tool at 433 then I could have the wrong ones in there. I’m guessing I would get and immediate tpms warning if the car is a 315 and I have 433 installed though.

 

Did you figure out which TPMS you need? I re-read the return conditions for TPMS.com, and unfortunately they won’t take back mounted sensors. They only take unopened ones back. That’s the same as Rock Auto.Last I checked Rock Auto was cheaper.

So no real guarantee. Though they do say if you call with your VIN and Jaguar part number, they will guarantee fitment of their recommended part. I don’t know what that guarantee looks like though.

 

I haven’t found out. I’ve got a really busy week so I’m most likely going to have to deal with the warning for another week. I think the best solve for me is a call to jaguar service and verification by vin. Once verified I’ll have to make the decision to go with factory parts or another solution through rock auto or simalar.

I did however change my battery today and as of now I haven’t any more battery low warnings so, that’s nice.

On a downside: something really strange happened to me today getting on the highway. I merged onto the highway and got up to a cruising speed of around 65/70 then I suddenly get a warning in the gauge display that says “cruise control unavailable” then immediately after that message I got another that said something like restricted performance or something simalar so I’m immediately pulled off the highway as there was an exit and when I got to the light the vehicle was running a little quiet but jittery. The light turned green so I wanted to get through the intersection where I was going to pull off to the
side and see what was going on but the vehicle had
little to no acceleration. I made it through the intersection and pulled off to the side of the road where I cycled the ignition off then waited about 20 seconds then started again. Restricted performance message persisted so I shut the car down and luckily I had my scan tool so I connected it and read codes which I saved but anyways I cleared the codes and restarted the car and since Its been acting like normal again. Super odd , pretty scary actually. This is what prompted me to replace the battery as the car has been warning me when I’m not driving that it’s low and I figured maybe in the off chance a low battery caused the issue.

 

That is scary. Could you possibly start a new thread and describe the problem /post the codes you got? It helps everyone know what problems are possible and their ultimate solutions.