Hi All:

I bought my 2004 VDP with 38500 miles on her 3 years ago. It now has 76500 miles. I have had to do the following repairs twice since owning it:

1 - at about 42000 miles the knock sensors needed replacing. I am getting the same code again (P0333) for bank 2 knock sensor now again at 75600 miles

2 - Upper control arms replaced at 70000 and replaced again at 75000 due to bad upper ball joints

3 - Sway bar end links replaced twice in the last 2 years.

The sway bar links and control arms are relatively easy but the knock sensors are a pita due to being under the intake manifold. I am just curious if anyone else here has had to do these repairs twice in such a short time frame.
Any insight is welcomed. Thank you in advance.

Blake

 

Were the repairs for the control arms and end-links performed by reputable place using high quality parts?

Extremely unusual to have end links and control arms / ball joints fail in such a short period of time.

 

All repairs done by myself. End links from SNG Barratt, control arms off ebay. I am mostly concerned about the knock sensor going bad again. Thanks again for any input.

 

Do you happen to know if the end links and control arms were made by Lemforder or were they aftermarket parts? It would be helpful knowledge to know the brands to see if any patterns of failure emerge.

Sorry that I can't help you on the knock sensors - ours are still going strong at 111K.

Cheers,

Don

 

The knock sensors are unusual. They rarely fail so I wonder why multiple failures for you?
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Assuming this is the front suspension, it is unusual for the upper arm ball-joints to fail at such a low mileage, as also the sway-bar links. Mine are the originals at 102k miles. Of course if the boots on the ball joint get damaged letting in water and salt, then deterioration will be rapid. All ball joint boots need inspection at regular intervals, at least every service. Early failure of the replacements does suggest they were not OEM parts, but I am sure SNG Barratt don't sell junk stuff, but you might have had a choice between after-market and OEM, I don't know.

 

We typically sell Lemforder balljoints for this model, which is what i assume you recieved. We do offer an aftermarket but they are only a few dollars cheaper so sales numbers are near 0 on those.

Never the less both products should last far longer than the above.. I'll happily look into this for you if you wish to return them or send me further details.

Kind Regards

William@SngBarratt.com

 

I have yet to have a knock sensor go out...on any car! I would suspect a bad connector for that, or a chaffed wire.

As far as the suspension, that is indeed too frequent, but it does depend on where and how you drive the car. My wife took out a control arm by running over a chunk of truck tire. The point being, they can be taken out instantly, and regardless of mileage. By the way...she drove it with the bad control arm long enough that the front tires wore to the belts without mentioning to me that the car felt weird.

 

I think we all should note the very gracious reply from SNG Barratt on this matter.

 

These guys at SNG Barratt are simply the best

 

Unquestionably. I bought a bunch on stuff for my 85 Sovereign engine rebuild. True professionals.

 

I only need a lid for the Airbox and dash speaker grilles at the moment. But will order my next parts from Barrett. It is great to see service providers that provide service.

 

Bravo to SNG Barratt !!!!!!!!

 

HI all - I in no way was trying to through SNG under the bus. I stated that only the end links came from them not the upper control arms. Also, would agree the service at SNG is excellent they replaced one of the links under warranty within the warranty period, no complaints there. The control arms came off ebay. The knock sensors came from Rockauto and were AIRTEX brand. The knock sensors were replaced originally two years ago when they gave me the same type of failure. Again, recently gave me two instances of failure via check engine light, restricted performance and misfire/rough running. I don't know whether to change them again or not as I have had no reoccurance in the last two weeks.

Hope all had a Merry Christmas!
Blake

 

Thanks. We had a lovely Christmas lunch yesterday with my mother in attendance. She is 97 and all compus mentis but needs a stick to walk. Today, the Feast of Steven, or Boxing Day, we had a trip out in the Jaguar.

As regards these upper front control arms, earlier this year, or it may have been last year, somebody posted up a supplier these arms at very, very, low prices. These seemed too good to be true, but we have had no posts concerning their suitability, but maybe yours were these very cheap arms. Jaguar don't make these arms themselves they are a Lemforder product, and widely available on the internet, but one has to be careful one is not buying a Joe Noname part from the hinterland of the Far East. There is a huge and illegal trade in counterfeit parts now, even infecting aerospace components !!