Hello;

I have been busy draining and refilling my transmission as preventive maintenance, my car does not jerk or slip but feels a little "heavy" when I feather the accelerator in heavy traffic, specially in low gear. the idle seems too noisy almost like a truck. My fuel consumption is horrible as well. No check engine light is on...I have noticed that there is a vacuum type noise coming from those big black lids on the right side of the manifold. After searching the forum it seems the IMT gaskets in my car are leaking, but again I have no codes.

Could these IMT gaskets be causing poor mpg and a bit of a lack of power?

 

Spike, take the car out for a drive (5-10 miles) and then park the car. Put your hands near the rear wheels. Are you feeling a lot of heat coming off of the rear wheels (especially more than what you are feeling off of the front wheels)? If so, your problem is not the tranny but the e-brake not releasing and what is happening is the rear brakes are dragging on you. You can prove this by lifting up on the e-brake handle and you should feel the first bit of the handle being very easy to move and then you will feel it get much stiffer. Or you can remove a rear wheel and look at the e-brake lever. The lever sits on a bolt when not engaged. You can even pull on the lever (pulling the top of it towards the front bumper) and it will move. If you are getting this, this is proof that the e-brake is freezing up on you.

 

Thermo thanks.

Just did the test you suggested. No heat from the wheels and the lever comes up and down just fine.

I should also mention that the car always seems light as a feather when I turn it on. Even if its turning it of and on after a long drive, it starts of very light, so I don't think it's temperature related

What could this mean ?

 

Do all the brakes feel about the same temp? It could be a caliper locking up. Did it always feel like this or did it just start.

 

Spike, the only other test to try and figure stuff out with is to do what I call the push test. Get the car on a level surface, have 1 person behind the steering wheel as a second person pushes the car (e-brake released, tranny in Neutral, motor off). The car should roll without too much effort. If you are finding that it is taking a lot to get it rolling, that is pointing back to either the e-brake not releasing or you have some major drag in the drivetrain (between the transfer case and the wheels). As for what could be causing that, too many possibilities to just start saying "replace this".

 

It seems to come and go. For example, this morning on my way to Mass the car felt heavier and slow to up shift, but on the way back home
It was extremely smooth. It is always definately smooth when the car is turned on and I can just litely tap on the accelator and it just goes without me even feeling it. As I drive more she seems to have to work harder at it.

 

Spike, what you are talking about sounds a lot like either a bearing that is starting to go (gets warm and the clearances close up and you end up with more friction) or one of your calipers is freezing up on you and as you drive it, the one wheel is not releasing and dragging a lot. May be one of those things that you will need to do a longer driver, get it to act up, and then do a once over of the car quickly to see if you can spot something hot or abnormal.

 

Thanks so much for your reply Thermo

I looked under the car and I do have a blown CV boot, which seems to be causing a clunking noise at stops and turns, but to me the problem seems like electrical or vacuum. Even from one stop light to the next the car will either effortless take of at one and then it takes slightly more effort at the next one (slightly higher RPM's)

Two transmission shop guys and my Jaguar specialist have driven this car (3 people) and claim its fine, but owning an E type and XJS already, I know how extraordinarily eccentric and capricious these cars can be. Something is a little of, but what I don't know what yet.

 

Here are a couple of videos of my car shifting:



Here it's a little more normal IMO


I just drove my friends 08 Hyundai Sonnata and the car effortlessly shifts without hardly any reving. Wish my X type did that.

The problem seems to be fuel related since it gets worse right after filling up the tank. I have filled up the tank twice and that's when it takes more effort. If there a fuel pressure valve I need to be looking at ?

The IMT gaskets made no difference.

Other problem I have is clunking/popping at stops and take of, I imagine its that busÿed CV boot. I don't think it's causing the car to rev so high to change gears.

Please help! I bought this car thinking it would make a nice daily driver and addition to my other Jags at only 62k miles. So far I can't drive it because I am paranoid the tranny or transfer case will go out. This lame shifting is not helping.

 

If anyone can check out those videos of the car shifting out of stops and tell me if it seems normal please do so. Like I mentioned earlier, I have happened to be driving my friends Sonata the other day and that car hardly revs or goes above 1k to change gears from dead stops.

Sports mode is of in my car

 

that sounds and looks fairly normal ( to me anyway). For an x type, i hate to sound lie and old F@rt, but your first.video looks a bit "racy" to me - when you start to think "transfer case" whenever the accelarator is caressed, then you will know i mean..........

I'd try and line up a few test drives with local dealers and others selling x types and see how those cars compare. This car is very individualistic and it took me a while to stop worrying. I think you have a good 'un - certainly it looks that way. a " for example" - put your x in reverse ona downward slope and watch how the car goes nowhere after you release the footbrake - on a well maintaned S, the car will run away at speed if you do the same thing.

 

and the real test - just to check everything is in order, once in a very rare blue moon, place the accelarator as close to the floor as you can mash it - see what reaction you get from the wife. If she fails to speak for 5 mins, your car is good!!!

 

Buy one of . (A Non-contact Infrared Temp Gun)

I purchased one specifically to look for problems with my cars and truck. You just aim the laser pointer at the part, and read out the temp.

For under $17 USD, this one is a steal. My experience is that it is exceptionally accurate.

If you're losing a wheel or drive-shaft bearing, one the brakes are aren't releasing, or any of a myriad of things - whatever is bogging you down will likely be the result of friction - and friction causes heat.

This handy little gadget will find it.

If it doesn't, you will know you're on the right track with fuel or electrical.



It has a lighted display, so you can hop out in the evening and use it, and it really really does work as the purrfect kat toy.

Question, Spikepaga: What happens when the car is feeling "boggy" if you let go of the steering wheel?

 

Hey Danny thanks for your reply.

It just seems to me that the car revs too high to change gears. I normally don't push the accelerator too hard, but if I don't it, feels like I am driving a 4 cylinder. My 4.0 straight 6 XJS has more pick up than my X. It does not help that I just drove my friends Hyundai that hardly revs or makes any effort to change gears.

If the X type is a normally a little heavy and underpowered, I am fine with that, I am not the type that has to be first out of the light, but it would be nice to know. I did not buy this car because of performance reasons but because it is very pleasing to the eye

Just in case I have a vac problem, I have changed my IMT o rings, the PCV valve breather hose, and sealed the brake booster valve with clear expoxy. I have also cleaned the MAF and checked the TCM for signs of water ingress on the connector. I also wiped around the butterfly opening of the throttle body and it did not seem terribly dirty.

 

@ Bruce in ND

Thanks for reply. I do have a laser thermometer for my other kittens. It's a great tool to have. I will try it tomorrow on the X.

I have noticed no difference if I let go of the wheel when the car is feeling heavy. Why?

Thanks !

 

Yeah, the X-Type is a bit heavy and a bit under-powered (at least at the "bottom end" of the power curve).

At a spec weight of more than 3,500 pounds (One and Three-quarter Tons!), the kitty is more like fat "Garfield" the cartoon cat than the lean mean road machine we like to think it is, when we near splay the AWD transfer case out all over the intersection as the light changes to green.

(Stories from this forum have completely cured me of romping on the gas pedal for most any reason)

If you had noticed any pull to the right or left when the car is feeling "boggy", that would likely indicate a dragging brake or a wheel bearing failing.

When you shoot the temperatures of various parts looking for the problem, be sure to check the temps of the actual tires themselves, too.

Call it "a hunch".

Your statement "The problem seems to be fuel related since it gets worse right after filling up the tank. I have filled up the tank twice and that's when it takes more effort." makes me wonder if one or more of your tires are under-inflated, or starting to suffer some internal belt separation.

The car will weigh considerably more with a full gas tank, and any increase in rolling resistance might become more pronounced.

Best 'o luck!

 

Thanks for your reply.

I have filled up the tank from 3/4 full-so only about 3 gallons more than was already in there, so I don't think it's a weight issue.

If anyone else gets a chance at the car revving, please do so. I am just wasting gas driving the car around like an idiot trying to test it. If it seems normal to more people ill just try to forget about it and enjoy the car!

Thanks

 

Bruce,

Car started slightly pulling to the right at low speeds today. Not when stopping like a caliper pull , but just a little blip to the right at very low speeds . Is this all adding up to a bad wheel bearing? I never knew bad wheel bearings could make a car feel heavy like that! So far I know for a fact I need the right cv axle and now I guess this too.

Thoughts?

 

Spikepaga,

I'd just start shooting at parts with the infrared thermometer and looking for parts or places that are hot. Don't wait but just seconds after driving to check the temps - some things might cool off immediately when you stop to check.

Don't forget to check the temps and the pressures of the tires, too.

That pull to the right is a major clue, I betchya!

It might be something as simple as a wheel bearing that was just pre-loaded too much, and the cost will be nothing to just loosen up the nut 1/16th of a turn.

Some plain old dirt in a bearing could drag things down, too. You did mention a torn CV boot - is it on the right-hand side? Or a rock under a brake pad - look for some deep grooving in one of the rotors.

How are the mufflers? A rusted baffle inside a muffler could intermittently block off one of the mufflers, leading to excessive back-pressure that would dog ya down quite a bit. When the kitty is doggy, put your hand over each tailpipe and see if they feel like they are "exhaling" at the same rate.

A dirty or plugged air cleaner could cause problems that appear intermittent, too - the computer could "compensate" under some conditions, and not do so under others. Or something that flaps around in the air intake horn that starves you a bit for air every once in a while.

Also - are you burning an Ethanol Mix fuel? If so, try to find a station that can supply you with good old-fashion, high-octane pure catalytic-cracked gasoline. Pour a couple of bottles of high quality Injector Cleaner in a full tank of the best fuel you can find, too.

Good luck!

 

Bruce thanks for your reply.

I took the car in to the dealer since I was just too stressed. They determined that there is no bad bearing. The only problem, according to them, is the blown CV boot which is probably making the car feel like its dragging at times and making it pull to the side. The shock it not sitting all the way in either (wonder why). I told them the "heavyness" is worse when the tank is full (the tank was only 1/4 full when I took it)
No brakes dragging or bearings.


They are going to do recall J004 next week and claim that may help.

Nevertheless I remain convinced I have a problem with pick up depending on gas level. It could all be coincidental, but I don't think so.

What could cause a car to feel heavy or lack pick up with a tank full of gas if everything else checks out?