Hey guys, I’ve been going back and forth on whether to write something in here for some time now. I found this site while combing the internet for as much information about Jag X Types as I possibly could. I have used this forum extensively for reference information, new education, and hints as to what certain problems may be. I’m referring to a 2002 X Type that essentially “fell into my lap”.
Now I must admit, I’ve always found Jaguars to be sexy cars my entire life but I never thought I’d own one. I drove one one time 20-something years ago but that’s it. They were just always something I admired from afar. And with that I also heard of many different “issues” that many claim are specific to Jaguar. Around the circles I frequent, I’ve heard Jags are more hassle than they are worth.
Fast forward to recently, a friend of mine practically gave me this Jag of mine. It was his father who passed away a few months back and he just didn’t want to look at it in his driveway anymore because of the memories. He was very upfront with telling me it needed work so I had an idea what I was facing… an IDEA lol. I’ve worked on cars my entire life. I’m pretty much self taught. I have one of those minds that just absorbs and remembers minute details about things. I have always LOVED learning absolutely everything I could about certain cars, down to the most minute details that most people would overlook. I learned how to take them apart, I learn how to put them together. It’s a hobby, or more of a passion for that matter.
Long story short, this X-TYPE I have, has 126k on it. When seeing it for the first time, I expected to see oil, leaks, or puddles from some other fluid underneath it. This car does not leak at all. I’ve had it for a few months now and it’s never left any spots on my driveway. I checked the oil frequently and it doesn’t go down. The issues with this car is everything else. Lol. It was an Ohio car most of its life (I bought it in Florida) and I’m sure many of you know what the winters are like in the northern United States. A lot of salt. So there’s a lot of rust underneath.
My friend told me that he thought it needed brakes. When I drove it home, the ABS light was indeed on. And it still is on. But the brakes are fine. Car stops perfr perfectly. That first day driving it home. I also had a DSC fault and random Gearbox faults. I quickly fixed all of those but the DSC fault with a brand new battery.
In chasing the DSC fault, I will change the rear wheel speed sensors to see if that helps… and I think I should probably test the yaw control sensor as well. I forgot to add there’s an ABS warning as well. I know that sometimes Jag yaw control sensors can delaminate, causing issues with the ABS system. I started exploring this avenue because the car stops fine. Fine. I checked all the brake pads and they are damn near brand new. Plenty of life left on them. There’s no brake fluid leaks anywhere. I am thinking a bad caliper? Maybe a bad abs control module? I have 2 rebuilt Bosch calipers for the front and I’ll get rear ones as well.
The car had a snapped sway bar link in the front, and one in the back as well. I put brand new links in the front, along with 2 new wheel speed sensors also. At the time of writing this, I have two new swaybar links for the rear, and two new wheel speed sensors for the rear, I just have not installed them yet. Yesterday I put a new serpentine belt in.
When driving it, the motor is strong and the transmission shifts like butter… I was getting a clicking sound, indicative usually, of a bad cv axle. At first I thought it was coming from the front passenger side. I had not had a chance to hear it from the outside. Once I did, I found that all the noises I was hearing and thinking we’re coming from the front, we’re actually coming from the rear passenger side tire area. Before I knew this, I ordered a wheel bearing and new cv axle for the front passenger side but once I had time to get underneath the car and really check it out, I don’t see any visible issues with the front right CV axle. The boots are intact. There’s no signs of grease or anything. Same with the passenger side rear. On the outside I can’t see any issues. But I definitely have the sound. You usually get when you have a bad CV axle. All in all, I believe most of the suspension aspect of the car needs to be replaced and I aim to do that. Just yesterday, the shock in the front driver side damn near came out of the assembly completely. So that definitely needs replacing. And while I’m at it, I’ll do the other ones as well.
It seems that the previous owners of this car were very meticulous with the maintenance of the drivetrain but neglected everything else while driving it through countless northern US winters and never cleaning ir maintaining the parts that rust easily. As I said before there are no leaks anywhere on this car in the motor and transmission drive perfectly fine. It’s for this reason, along with the fact I got it for practically nothing, I feel the car is worth fixing. With all these little annoying issues the car has, all the seemingly endless new problems that keep popping up, I absolutely fell in love with this car while driving it. I almost can’t explain how much I like this car. It takes up most of my free time. If I’m not working my regular job. I’m either working on this jaguar, or trying to track down parts, or reading in educating myself on all the particulars as much as possible. It’s certainly been a learning experience and even though I’ve had moments of extreme frustration and anger, I’ve enjoyed all of it immensely.
Anyhow, I guess I wanted to introduce myself in this forum as I’ve been actively reading posts for sometime without writing myself.. I’ve gained a lot of valuable information and experience from the various posts from different members, and I hope to gain much more. So before I rambled the whole point of this was to let everyone know what I’ve done so far and what I intend to do… and also to get some more valuable insight from anyone willing to help. I’ll recap the things I’m currently working on and any help. Anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.
1. DSC fault, Cruise control unavailable, gearbox fault. ABS light and check engine light (I put a brand new battery in) now all that remains is the DSC fault and ABS light.
2. I put 2 new front wheel speed sensors in and have the 2 for the rear (just have to put them in) I still want to test the yaw control sensor (Possible cause of ABS issues?)
3. I installed new front sway bar links and have the rear ones (will install soon)
4. The clicking noise!!! Thought it was front passenger side but it’s rear passenger side. Neither cv axles show visible signs of damage (boots are intact) What else can cause similar sounds? What do you all suggest I check? (I have an OBD scanner coming, my old one died..so I’ll be able to give you guys the codes once it arrives) but in the meantime…
Anyhow, sorry if I rambled. There’s just so much going on with the car and I really want to bring her back to life fully. Thanks in advance for your help

 

Welcome here, my friend.

Just like people in Ohio who like to retire in Florida so do our cars. Thank you for saving this Cat and giving her a new life to age in paradise.

 

Yeah, Kudos to Larry's words. Jaguar I THINK, has always represented "Luxury car for the affluent driver who's a road enthusiast". We can argue over the years about whether that is true... but I, like you admired Jaguar from a distance (partly due to my lack of fitting into that "affluent culture"), and never thought I'd OWN A JAGUAR (thank God for the 'affordable' XE in 2016)....and, er, um, sadly I sense that in many Jag owners, the "affluent driver who's a road enthusiast" really just lurches down to "rich person who treats his expensive machine like a lazy status toy". Yes, I know that's unkind to many owners... but like you observed, often the best you can find in a used Jaguar is that the owner "cared for X, but disrespsected D, K, J, and W until the pitiful thing was about to drop all its belts and rotor blades like in an Abbott and Costello movie.

I really admire these Jaguars, of almost every year and model, but their "small-company, innovative, forward-thriving engineering", also means "Owner, please use your wealth to respect and honor me as much as you can, cuz I'm not a just-drive-n-forget car like eternal Toyotas and Hondas".
I don't know how you Used-Jaguar purchasers can do it. I'd have ulcers having to deal with the surprises you find from cars that belonged to previous Jaguar owners.