Hey Everyone,
I just got finished rebuilding the transmission in my X. My X has 124 k on it, the transmission fluid was black and smelt burnt (no wonder the transmission went out). So I had some questions and a theory I'd like to post to everyone.

Question 1. How many of our problems are caused by people not maintaining our cars correctly? I know that when I bought this car it had 115 k on it, the guy showed me all the receipts for oil changes from Wal-Mart, cheapest place he could find....

Question 2. How many problems with our cars is caused by "beating" on them?

I met a guy at Wal-Mart the other day, no I wasn't having my oil changed, who had a 2004 X. His X had 415 k on it. He said he had some problems with the coolant system, broken upper hose, cracked tank. He told me the secret was to change the lubes in the car at regular intervals (using good quality lubes.)
Could this be the secret to our cars? I totally agree with changing out the 3 - 3.5 quarts of transmission fluid when we change our oil, keeping fresh oil in there.

Question 3. How long is Diff fluid suppose to last? And why does it smell so bad!?!

I thought this was really interesting to hear about this man's car and how much he loves it.

What other lubes / items could we cycle to make sure we always have the freshest in there?

 

Hello Jim
my theory on your questions
I think the percent of people that don't do Preventative Maintenance is 50% to 70% of the owners.

Of that percent 50% of thous owners beat the car to death be cause of the name, they don't understand that this car was aimed at the executive employed driver not to race or out run everything on the road.

Gear lube in the 40's 50's 60's in manual trans and rear ends lasted the life of the cars you only added to to keep them full.
In this day and age preventative maintenance calls for replacing your fluids at regular intervals.

And as for the smell it always smelled like that.

I have been looking at all the x-types for sale in my area that I can to see what condition they are in to compare to mine. I have seen some poorly maintained cars and it makes me sad, but what can you do.

Follow the how to section of this forum and N'joy the Ride.

 

Howdy Jim,

I firmly believe if you don't mistreat the X and keep up with diligent maintenance, that it will last you a long time..


I posted this below in another thread but I think it applies to your question also,

I traded mine (03 X-type 3.0L) back in Aug of 2011, and it had 82,000 miles..Without any major issues.

Things I did to keep it running good over the years (in no particular order):

• Replaced all the Battery cables
• Replaced Battery once
• Replaced Water-pump
• Replace IMP regulator both upper and lower--"O" rings
• Replaced Coolant Reservoir Tank
• Replaced Fuel Tank Sending unit
• Replaced Fuel Filter
• Changed Transfer case lube (twice)
• Changed Rear Diff lube
• Greased Prop shaft center support bearing
• Replaced all the brakes; with EBC Sport Rotors and Akebono Euro Pads
• Bled Brake fluid every other year with Jag Brake fluid
• Drained and flushed Coolant every other year with Jag coolant
• Drained and refilled P/S fluid every 12,000 miles
• Changed oil and filter every 6000 miles with Castrol Edge or Syntec
• BG Transmission service (drain, conditioned, refilled) every 30,000 miles
• Replaced Intake filter every 12,000 miles
• Replace Pollen/cabin filter every 12,000 miles
• Dash Defrost vents replaced (the Rattling SOBs) Siliconed them
• Driver side sun-visor replaced
• Had the 4 wheel alignment done every year
• Replaced tires once at 40,000 miles

All in all nothing major...Never left me stranded other than when the battery failed and that was in my garage.

 

I have been "beating" on my car since I bought it last December. Although, I don't really think it is beating on it. I push it hard at times, but not that often. Most of the time I just drive it like a normal person, sometimes down shifting into a left or right turn and taking the turn a little hard when I have an open road and the light. But nothing crazy. I also have started to autocross and will be doing more of that over the next 6 months or so, then I hope to take it out on some track days. So, I'll be testing the drive train for sure. I also have changed the engine oil regularly with either Mobile 1 or Castrol and a K&N oil filter and changed out the trans fluid with Royal purple. I still need to change the transfer case and rear diff though, and I'll probably change the trans fluid again when I do those, most likely with all Royal Purple. I also have a 5 speed and from what I understand they hold up better to this kind of "abuse", that's one of the reason I got a 5 speed. Oh, and I have 176k miles on mine. I forget how much it had when I bought it. I should look at the title some time and find out.