I've finally got my 1996 xj12 set up in place ready to drop the front end and do all the shocks, joints, bushings, brake discs etc but was looking through the manuals last night and didn't find a sequential 'official' way to do it anywhere, just info on the brakes, steering, suspension etc which is all useful.

Has anyone sen a sequential run through in any of the books?

 

Hi Oliver ,

There are many people other then myself that have dropped the suspension and am sure people can walk you through it

As an outsider the front engine can be held in place with a bracket and the suspension dropped out from underneath

This would be different then barrowing a engine lift for some period of time

One thing I have read from Motercarman ( Bob ) is to use the official Jaguar part for the front shock lower attach bushing as he stated the aftermarket''s don't hold up

Your V12 in factory bushing setup are for the firmer density like on the supercharged inline 6 XJR

Rear suspension X308 cross member upgrade ?

Andy links for the front end ?

Lithium ( or other more suitable ) grease on the bushings ?

Measure the thickness of the front sway bar as the bushings are different sizes , Yours my guess would be the larger based on the Mass of your V12

I look at the suspension overhaul in 3 levels of thoughoness A, B , and C . C being everything like the engine mounts or V mounts

Rear differential casting breather hole clearing after grease flush and replacing

This prevents grease from being expelled out of the differential output shaft bearing seals and the failure of the output bearings ( common on the X300s )

With a clogged breather the heated up air inside the casting pushes the grease out

 

Hi there Parker,

I've solicited a lot of advice here on this previously and have the car 'staged' with a gantry crane and a harbor freight engine support ready to hold the engine in place, and the car on wooden wheel stands at rear and various axle stands and supports to hold the front of the body for when I'm getting the subframe out.

I'm just reading up everything I can again before pulling the trigger. Finally getting to this project as I blew an oil cooler line, premium gas prices in California are currently insane and winter is approaching. (Jaguar provide a convenient exterior alert when you blow the oil line to the oil cooler - a large plume of black smoke as the hot oil hits the hot downpipe cat, prompting other motorists to point and honk. Nothing on the dashboard alerts you, unless you happen to notice your oil pressure going to zero. I've always thought on any vehicle an audio alert and a big red flashing light when you loose oil pressure would be a logical way to avoid killing your engine).

Top tip: after you blow an oil line don't refill the engine with oil to the fill line in case you damaged it. I started my 12 and drove it a few yards onto my trailer. I've never seen so much oil on the road in such a short space of time! Spent a great deal of time cleaning it up despite cardboard etc, an NHRA oil down crew would have been useful after that fiasco. Engine sounds very happy though.

When I got to my workspace I drove it a few yards and far less oil came out so I think safe to say you can run for very short periods a good few quarts short.

 

See the bottom 2 lines of my edited post

Reading your last reply

Your biggest concern is the small margin of error in the engine cooling as designed so a audio temp overheat would be prudent

There is a STC2000 like device relay to a buzzer with a self set trigger point if you can power it with 12 volts DC

They use these in the wine industry or home brewer

 

Then there was a take off from the airport in San Jose to Tokyo when lost oil pressure and engine seized rolling down the runway but too late in take off roll

Boeing 777 performed well with a full load of fuel and passengers as the story was told to me by the pilot as I was going tp Tokyo some time later

Running Chores

 

Ding............

 

Item # 13

Genuine Wishbone-upper And Lower For Jaguar Xj 1995 - 1997 (from 720125 To 812255) Classic | Jaguar Land Rover Classic Parts

 

Good idea in any vehicle!

 

 

Sorry you had to experience the oil slick. It happens without warning, even after it happens! The engine will pump the oil out in a hurry even through a small hole. This could be dangerous to rear wheel traction while trying to stop. I would suggest fabricating a heat shield sleeve over the new rubber hose near the manifold/engine mount. That seems to be the point of greatest heat and stress on the hose. The factory could have done that, but we can't complain if the hose lasted twenty plus years!

I am at "step A" suspension work. Shock absorbers, sway bar bushings and drop links so far. I added the monostrut in back too and recommend it.

DON'T use any URO parts rubber if you can help it.

 

Get a Haynes for XJ40 if you'd like to get a guide, both cars are pretty much the same underneath. Dropping subframe is relatively easy, its simple spannering, just going to take time. Three things come to mind,
1. Don't remove the ABS sensors, always unplug them instead under bonnet.
2. ALWAYS secure springs with straps or what not when dropping subframe, there is enough force in them to kill you instantly if a ball joint decide to pop. I've heard enough gruesome stories about these. You'll obviously need a Jag tool to get the springs off and back on. You can build one yourself or get the original one.
3. Get polybushes for upper wishbones AND lower shock absorber mount only. Use genuine Jag metalastic lower wishbones, genuine Jag vee mounts, same for subframe rear big bushes. Rest can be whatever you can get, including uro.

 

Jaguar XJ6, XJ6R - X300 - X306 (1994-1997) Replacement Suspension Bushings (powerflexusa.com)

 

I'm using these, going to measure thickness before buying. They doo a package deal if you buy them all at once

 

You can mold your own from scratch and plaster molds

 

I was looking at used haynes xj40 books on ebay last night, think I'll get, ten bucks might have something useful in there apart from the dark, inky photos!

Regarding springs I might get an otc 7045b, hard to find the genuine Jag Churchill tool JD. 6.D ones. I was planning on heavy strapping the springs to the car so they are captured if they get loose (something I'm pretty scared of for obvious reasons!). I was also contemplating fabbing up a tool, I bought some threaded rod but it occurred to me using the threaded rod from a scissor jack would be a lot stronger. Still chin stroking on this aspect. Regarding URO I try to avoid as they are very hard and just don't last.
Appreciate the input!

 

The auto parts stores have customer tool barrowing kits that may have the compression tool needed

The Autozone chain in the Midwest have 2 types of spring compression tools in the kit

I used them before on a different car and was a heavy constructed professional tool

AutoZone Loan-A-Tool Program - Tool Rental Near Me

 

The springs are v dangerous as they bulge outwards when compressed and need a special, unique tool to compress and enable loosening of the bottom plate, I've been warned not to use anything else. I also don't trust loaner tools if they are old and worn

 

the first time i did it u just unbolted the pan and put it back together with zip ties

don’t do that. if you’re too poor to buy the tool just use 4 rods