Damn.......last time I filled the tank with shell v-power it cost the equivalent of $130 USD! Very happy with fuel economy though, long 400 mile cruise to cornwall sticking to legal speeds - my cat gave me avg 42mpg!
Pretty good for a 4.2 V8, why would anyone want to own anything else?

 

42 MPG ?

 

According to the onboard computer, yes 42mpg :-) Reset the trip at the start of the journey, steady cruise down the M6/M5/A30 at 55-65mph, 386 miles later average fuel consumption was 42.
Don't get me wrong, urban/city driving I'll average around 17mpg, but on balance I find my car has seriously good fuel economy.

 

Just remember... 42 UK MPG is only 35 US MPG. Either way, that's amazing for a V8.

I only ever get a max of 24-25 mpg on long drives. Round town its more like 19.

 

Imperial to US gallon's?
Was wondering if that was how the math worked.
At 55-60 m p h mine are in the 30+ m p g range.
Only way that can happen is using the cruse.
These big cats do love to run, so upper 20's-30 on the highway.
My motorcycles only do slightly better in the mileage dept.
If ran hard, no better, or even worse.

 

Just looked it up, a UK gallon is 4.54 litres - a US gallon is 3.78 litres (didn't know that!) Our gas is more than double the price though :-(
I should add, I have a very gentle right foot (mostly) and of course, no supercharger.
A combination of brilliant engines and aluminium bodies gives our cars fantastic performance & economy - I've had cars with engines half the size that drink more fuel than my XJ.
I've found they cost far less to buy, run & maintain than most people would believe - no reason to change!

 

Best used cars i ever purchased.
People are terrified of them, what's going to break, when, & how much to repair???????????????????
Previous owner of a Jaguar i no longer own, said as much.
He LOVED the car, but was always worried, listening for something, to make sure all was well.
Has no idea how to fix any car, let alone one of these, so where to go, to fix it???????????
Not just anywhere to service these cars, or your going to have some broken plastic underneath.
After than taking it to the dealer a time or two, he just sold it to me.
Said if he knew someone like me to work on it he would love to own another.
Anymore i have a hard time trying to stay on top of things.

 

I have had a couple of low coolant messages recently, prompting me to keep half a gallon in the boot as a precaution. There was no obvious leak until a couple of days ago when the warning lamp failed to extinguish and there was a puddle at the front of the car when I stopped to top up.
Pinholes and bowing of the radiator turned out to be the cause. After several hours, cheating a little by cutting off one bracket and the bottom hose stub, the radiator is out, a new one ordrered (not too expensive; £117). Rain and the need to do other stuff intervened at this point.
The plan is to clean and check everything which is more readily accessible with so much out of the way, and work out how to fit the new one. If anyone has done this before, and found a way to avoid disconnecting the a/c condenser, I would appreciate their wisdom.

 

If the water pump is old I would fit a new one plus a belt

 

I too am interested as how to replace the radiator without disconnecting the A C.
As well as replacing the water pump, and belt.
I would replace a few other parts while in there with the room to work.
Thermostat with housing, tensioner with idler pulley, any suspect coolant hoses.
As well as the alternator, if it were me.

 

Best fitting tip I could find

Basic intake look

I'll be using dual white/amber switchback halos.
After hearing how good that V8 sounds with flowmasters I just couldn't resist. So I finally got all the parts in, now I just need the time to do the work. It's surprisingly straight forward though. I honestly think picking exhaust tips was more difficult than this install is going to be. My final decision on tips came down to shear numbers. I just measured the height & width of the bumper cover opening and then divided the height/width to give me a ratio to work with. The best fit I found was a set of Porsche style tips. There was only a 3% variance where most tips were 6 to 30% off from the bumper cover contour.

The second project is a 3 filter headlight ram air install. I have all the 3" sanitary pipe I could ever need at my disposal so that will be the material used. The plan is to replace the fogged old lights with a set of 7" hi/lo/dvr/ts lights in the original low beam position and then replace both hi beams with intake funnels hydro dipped in red carbon with switchback halos. It'll look very similar to the Challenger kit. I'm going to go one step further and also and a 3rd filter just below the old air box location. This way I can plug the funnels during wet weather and at low speed I'll still have CAI. I spend 90% of my drive time at 78mph... So far I've got the basic under the hood section fabbed & installed, now I just have to decide which lights to go with so I can finish it up.

 

Thanks gents.
Most of the cooling system including all the pumps had been replaced before I bought the car in 2017, but given the difficult access, I will double check everything which is now exposed, or nearly so. I took photos of how I dismantled it (with hindsight, not the most efficient way), will do likewise with the rest of the job, in the meantime, a link (which I will update as I make progress), to help others:

http://jagchat.net/thread/2048/radiator-change-x358-xjr

 

Nice work, wonder how many professional Jaguar mechanics do it like this.
The plastic will hide it, & with a dab of paint it will likely never be seen by the owner, if plastic is ever removed.
If their AC worked well when brought in, they make even more money.
Everyone knows recharging the AC isn't going to be cheap.

 

Thanks, but I think that you may have slightly misunderstood the link:
"Where I cheated: To clear the a/c pipework which fits closely around the radiator, I carefully cut off the upper left hand mounting bracket, and the bottom hose stub from the radiator, enabling me to wriggle the radiator out.".
The bracket was cut from the scrap radiator, not the car, which merely allowed me to extract the radiator, but not to fit the new one. My hope is that removal of some hoses on the right of the engine bay, for cleaning and checking purposes will allow me to fit the replacement, but I won't be certain of that until next week. My reluctance to disconnect the a/c is more about hassle than cost; I still have motor trade contacts from pre-retirement life, so can get it recharged for about £40, it just has nuisance value, and of course if it can be done without, the shared experience could help others.

 

Hmm, looks like the AC piping must have change in the later model years. The 04 XJRs do not have the AC lines in the way, the N/A one did.
Here's my thread on my replacement below if it helps. I remember that I needed to use a small baby wrench to access a rear bolt on the radiator.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...estion-104471/

 

Thanks, I had read your thread prior to tackling the job. It quickly became clear that there are numerous detail differences between the cars, even in coolant hose runs. Improvements over the years are understandable, and welcome, but I can't see any good reason for the a/c pipes being routed as they are.

 

Having been interrupted for a few days by birthday, wedding anniversary and general lack of motivation, I arose early to fit the new radiator.
Updated details and photos:

Radiator change X358 XJR. JagChat - Jaguar Forum & Help

 

Half of its 142,000 mile service, plus changed the coolant, rustproofed the front subframe and fuel tank straps, which have been known to corrode through on X350s, the plan is to finish the service, and rust proof the rear subframe tomorrow.

 

Well I had my higher mileage '08 XJ listed in the Marketplace and marked it as sold after a guy bugged me in person for days to make a deal. I finally relented, got the car ready, and then the guy never shows...ugh!!. While this was happening I counted my chickens before they hatched and purchased a low mileage '05 XJR which is now sitting at my place of work until I sell the other car (my driveway looks like a used car lot). To that end I decided to keep working on the "08 as I drive her daily. So I put new plugs in last week along with changing the serpentine belt. My arm is still bruised from that job. (man is it tight down in front). This week I decided to install a new PCV, detail the engine bay, inspect the rotors and pads, clean and paint the backing plates while they were off, and install the new rear toe links I had sitting on the shelf. I did not think the others were that bad but boy did they make a noticeable difference in the ride quality. So whoever buys the silver kitty is getting some new love for the same price. Hopefully I can find her a new home soon. I am looking forward to loving on a supercharger!!

 

Your XJ sounds a well maintained peach, a shame that you're not this side of the Atlantic; I could find you any number of customers for it.
The XJR will hook you for life, not just about what it does, nor even what it can be made to do at minimal cost, but the serenity of how it does it.