Sorted my high beam and parking lamp replacement. Thanks Jaguar for all that room to work with...ugh!

Also sorted through the side markers. 2 of 4 lens had cracks in them, not working and water/moisture ingress into both connectors rendering them useless and harness corrosiom for 1 - spade terminal stuck rotted in there...

Found a rear bumper harness for $25 & scored new factory lenses w/ bulb & socket for $50 all in!

When moisture gets into these side markers... Oh boy!

 

Changed the SC fluid in my XJR at 100k miles. Removed 7oz of old dark brown fluid (not black fluid). The new GM fluid was as clear as grey goose.

Mina Gallery 1.7lb pulley and new SC belt hopefully being installed next week

 

Sorted my side marker issue from the donor harness. I even have a spare connector and bulb socket in case the other two side markers develop issues.

Now onto bolting on the new water pump and SC and drive belts...

 

Eased my troubled mind today; Put the XJ8 up on the drivers front corner enough, to crawl under to gave the two bolts on the trans linkage, a bit of a turn. Was happy to see you did not need to remove the belly pan to reach them, as well as they were not loose enough to feel ANY difference after very LITTLE tightening. The linkage appears to be set up a little different, no need to brake. After reading about the issues some have had with the S Types. Had to stop working on the new to me (the wife's) Jag, to make sure the XJ was not in need of attention there.

 

Cleaned the horizontal surfaces with a clay bar. Not much lifted off. Car has been in a garage for much of its life.
Clay bar did take off more grime from my wife's 2013 S80 with 80k mi.

 

I prepared the VDP for winter storage. The first job after storing was refurbishing the Air Suspension compressor with Bagpipe Andy's kit. This went well, although I was surprised by the level of corrosion on the joint between the cylinder and the crankcase, even in the O-ring groove. One bolt broke but was easy to drill out. After re-installation I ran the compressor in the car using my Mazda VCM and IDS 118.5 ( courtesy of Cambo).

 

Fitted new battery. Car is wonderful again.

 

Had my Mina Gallery 1.7lb SC pulley & new SC belt installed today, only $130 at the indie.

So far in a few hours I've noticed the following in changes to my XJR:
Exhaust is a louder & more aggressive.
The power comes on sooner and seems more smoother through the full rpm range.
SC whine comes on earlier and is louder.
Car pulls harder/smoother at lower & mid rpms.
Front end lifts more when mashing the gas off the mark.

 

Almost finished installing a Snow water/meth Stage 2 kit. Only thing left to do is connect power and test/adjust.

That will have to wait until I have sorted an alternator problem and at the moment I am waiting for parts which is what I seem to do a lot of these days.

 

Well, not today, but the other week I changed the 19" Polaris wheels for a set of 17" Elegant wheels, incl the spare. I was not happy with the jiggly ride of the 19" with their 255/40 profiles. The replacement wheels take a 235/55 tyre and I have to say the difference in ride is quite marked so I am happy I made the swap. In addition, the tyre side walls bulge out more, so kerbing damage is now less likely.

Of the tyres that came with the wheels, two were very recent Kumhos, so those went on the back. The tyres on the other two were over 10 years old with one a Pirelli of 2003, which was, looking at the state of the wheel, the spare from when the car was new. I put a new pair of Toyos on these.

I have managed to sell-on the 19" wheels, a chap with another X350 on 18" wheels took them.

 

Well, I took my baby over to Bellevue, WA yesterday and had the headliner and sunroof shade recovered with new fabric at SunMark Upholstery. It was the last part of the insurance claim from my paint job earlier this year.

On the way, I saw another XJR (this one an x358) in silver and with plate EXE PAT. I think that it is another member on the forum, as the car looked familiar.

 

After deleting the two resonators and installing an x-pipe I did not like the obnoxiously loud sound.

I did view a YouTube video where someone had done the same thing to same MY XJR and it sounded ok. However I have 200 cel cats and he probably did not.

So today I added the stock rear resonator. So everything is stock except the 200 cel cats and the x-pipe in place of the front resonator and I like the sound. Much more acceptable but nowhere near as quite as stock.

I have not driven the car as I have a dead alternator and am waiting parts.

So no idea whether there will be drone at cruising speed.

 

Changed out my cabin filter and made sure the drain next to it was clear. I have a bunch of water in the front passenger footwell which I suspect is from the a/c.

 

Changed out the air compressor for the suspension.....nice smooth ride now.

Changed out the air flow meter......still have a check engine light....needs further investigation!

Used IDS to change some dealer options.....Disabled automatic parking brake.....Disabled auto door locking.....Disabled seat belt warning.

The snag list is getting shorter!

 

A few incidents happened last month that changed my affection for my White Cat (VDP). 1st, the tach started to work intermittently, 2nd, the J-Gate manual shift side stopped working, 3rd, the odometer turned over to 162,000 miles, 4th, the left caliper started squealing, 5th, the front suspension noises became louder, 6th, engine oil is leaking from? 7th, HIDs started blinking, 8th, the rear suspension stated making noises, and on and on.... Then to top all that, my wife's X-Type was totaled......but still drivable. We started looking for an AWD XF but could not located any clean vehicles within 100 miles of our location. 2 weeks later we found an SUV that we are both happy with and on the 31st, I traded my VDP and we took the new kitten to its new home. I will miss driving the VDP but I wont miss the estimated $7,000 of repairs it needs (minus the engine rebuild/replacement).
Aloha...

I now have a stash of extra parts that need to go.....
Gold platted grill
Tie rod ends still in the shipping box -Rock Auto will not let me return it...
Right fog light assy...
Engine cover, chevy red/orange
Front and rear rotors - used
2 front air shocks from Arnott
2 rear shocks, Jaguar - still held air when removed.

 

Changed front and rear break pads with Akenobo and pressure bleed the system. The rear pads were completely worn out. The fronts looked good. The annoying front brake , low speed grinding is gone. Hooray!

The pedal is still a little soft, but 100% better than before.

 

Took off the front cover above the radiator and applied anti-corrosion gloop to all three earthing points. They all looked OK so hopefully I've caught them in time. Measured up the rather rusty screw that secures the fuse box and ordered a titanium replacement. It is a shouldered screw M6x20mmThis will be compatible with the aluminium it screws into unlike the steel one.

At the same time, inspected the brake line that runs across the car underneath the cover. It was OK and not corroded at all, thank goodness !

Noted the corrosion on the cross-brace behind the radiator grill and resolved to de-rust and paint some time.

Checked oil - OK
Topped-up the screen wash

 

Replaced both front lower control arms, 98K miles, found evidence of excessive movement. Next, alignment.

 

Took my new alternator out, much quicker this time, ready to ship back to Ebay seller.

Will take my original to be repaired/tested locally.

Autozone tested the original and said it "passed" however could not tell me voltage output or anything useful. So returned the Autozone refurbished one there and then.

 

At midnight, I took the XJ out for a kebab.
I wasn't hungry, I just needed an excuse to cruise.....
This happens quite frequently ;-)