Today I got the wheel speed sensor which I ordered Sunday night. I installed it and test drove with no apparent change. I unhooked battery cables and touched them together for about 30 seconds (a trick I learned in the xj40 area), reattached and drove again still to no avail. Dismayed, I made a short stop and upon starting again (3rd time) the abs and dsc unavailable callouts were both gone. Yay!!! I was then left with the check engine light and 2 codes for it- P1111 and P1165. Well! Once I researched those I hooked up my code reader, erased them and I seem to have No Problem Lights. I am, dare I say, happy with the outcome.

 

The best S Fl interior shop (Dixie top shop) got the kitty and stripped.

Let's get it in

All pillars removed

Pass seat and headliner removed

 

The best S Fl interior shop (Dixie top shop) got the kitty and stripped.

Let's get it in

All pillars removed

Pass seat and headliner removed

 

1. Spent half a day installed headliner.
2, Super detail the interior interior while the rear seat was removed for headliner installation. . Mr. Clean magic eraser is amazing pad for cleaning.

 

FORGET...the maintenance :-) (this is what we live in our Jags for)

A rare weekend away with the local Jaguar Drivers Club. (Mt Ruapehu, central North Is, New Zealand)

I had in the boot, Jump Starter, Spare Coolant, Tyre Inflator, Spare Petrol...none of which I needed.
Jeez, in the company of XK150, E-Type, XJS, XK8, F-Type, X308, XF, XE, X-Type, what more could I ask with my "lil ol' X358"?
(camera poked out of my window at the top hotel "Chateau". How they even let me in with dirty jeans, I've no idea, arrff arrff)



I've recently spent $750 on coolant hoses/tank, that's a professional installation. Hence my joke "Forget... maintenance". A single trip like this makes all the expense worthwhile. An E-Type in my rear-view mirror and worrying if I'm holding it up, what more do you want?

 

Traded my SuperV8 for an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio!!

 

On my way to work this morning I passed a pretty ratty looking E type. It was going well below highway speed and the guy driving it didn't look very happy! I can't imagine what it takes to bring one of those back to good condition (other than a large checking account and a Jag resto specialist)!

Anyway, a couple of weekends ago I went to do the air compressor rebuild on my '05 VDP. Turns out the first owner of the car here in Buffalo must have driven it some in the winter. Snow tends to get packed into all kinds of places, including up under front bumper covers so the entire unit was in bad shape. The clutch and clutch spring were all rusted out and I sheared off one of the bolts to get to the piston. So off to eBay! Apologies to the purists, but I went with the $250 Chinese compressor unit, but bought a 12 month guarantee from a US based company for $30. It finally came yesterday, so I did the replacement. The "cheap" unit looked good and all the fittings were identical, etc. Before I replaced the inner fender I reconnected the battery and the compressor ran. I checked the outlet hose with soapy water and it didn't appear to be leaking, so I buttoned her up. Test drive last night was good and she went 35 miles this morning with no air suspension system warning. So fingers crossed, but so far so good! The suspension felt a little bit stiffer, but that could easily be my imagination.

Now on to a transmission fluid job (new ZF pan, sleeve and new bolts; Mercon SP ATF) and differential. The brake fluid looks like crap so I've got the lower viscosity fluid coming and will replace the old stuff soon.

 

Much of the more expensive Chinese stuff, is made quite well.

Chinese coils in both my Jaguars, work fine, at great price

Harbors best, hand tools, wrenches, etc, are quite good for their price.

Some of their tools are over twenty years old, & still in the tool box.

 

Thanks Wingrider - I thought I might get some grief for the Chinese part :-) Dealer wanted $1,900 to replace the compressor and my private shop wanted $1,500 with a rebuilt compressor, so I figured I would give it a shot this way. Agree on Harbor Freight - I picked up two pretty nice floor jacks for $89 each so I have identical jacks on both sides when I lift the car. This is my first Jaguar (or aluminum frame) car - so I'm learning!

 

I finally finished my rear carpet removal so I can get on with finding/fixing the water-in-rear-footwell syndrome. I thought the problem was only on the right side, but I can now see that the left side was also wet. I went through a quick and heavy rainstorm, had a bit of water in both footwells, but no time to get out my Sherlock Holmes outfit on to see if I can find the actual source of the ingress. I'd like to know the answer before I slather all the suspect places pointed out in the TSB.

By the way, my 75 mile trip to Indianapolis and back showed an amazing fact I had never noticed before: the automobile is a tin can on hard rubber tires until the carpets go in. I was surprised by the thickness of the foam pad under the carpet when I took it out to clean and dry, but the sound in the car without it is astonishing. I now see why the hot rod programs on Dish Network show a step of Dynamat installation when finishing the interior of the nicer builds. It's expensive, but I can see (and hear) why it's done.

 

Today my xj8 took me to the parts store for trans fluid to go into the 66. No suspension fail light, no problems, Need to change trans fluid and flush brake fluid in the xj8.

 

Trying to remove the lower radiator hose connection that has a shark bite fitting so it won't come off. Suggestions?

 

I've been working on the dreaded P0171 (fuel mix lean passenger side) for almost a month. Had a garage replace the intake manifold gaskets and replace a bunch of hoses, no joy. PCV valve today, strike two. Fuel pressure sensor is on order, due to arrive next week. After that, things get a bit more interesting.

Oddly, there is absolutely no change in acceleration, driving characteristics, performance, nothing. But the CEL pops and I get the standard "Reduced Performance" warning. Hopefully, it's just the sensor.

 

I've had that problem on several occasions, and every time it's been a vacuum leak . Usually the air cleaner outlet pipe was disconnected. Had you been working on your car before this problem started?

 

Assuming that you have moved the spring hose clip away from the joint, try easing a small right angled screwdriver gently between the hose and the stub to break the seal, once it starts to give, it should be fairly easy to wriggle about until it gives up entirely.

 

Changed alternator for another with new brushes and way less miles.
Also a starter that is in much better shape than the old one.
Drained and refilled the transmission oil.
Installed a new pan, with oil, & filter a few thousand miles ago.
So fluid should be fine for a few years, or 60,000 miles.
No change in the way it runs, just trying to stay ahead of things.
Hoping to be about caught up on things that might strand us.
Just drive and enjoy the ride now, i hope.

 

As we are using our XJ Super V8 as a daily car and familycar, we were out camping 3 weeks in France. I can assure you: Driving up a campsite with this beauty and a trailer behind does give you lots of thumbs up and nice conversations. Here a collection of pictures to proof this is very comfortable camping gear:












Little bit annoying I had to return to the Jaguar specialist this morning to get something with the Air Suspension fixed. It was all high in the front, without any error messages. Had to leave the car at the specialist. Luckily they could send me some with a spare Ford Fiesta.:

 

JappieRocks - Really like the wheels on your XJ. Very classy!

 

The whole car looks classy.
Update us all about the suspension when it's fixed; I have seen this before, but years ago and can't remember the cause.

 

I finally got our CNC catch cans in, and I installed mine last night, tonight I'll finish when I get 1/2 hose. Looks awesome. $55 plus the ride if anyone is interested.