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After refitting an inner tierod boot, attempting to get the outside temp sensor to behave, and wiping up a ton of oily grime from underhood, I took a nice trip to Cascade Locks and over Bridge of the Gods. Trip computer suggests I got 15.3 mpg, the exterior temp did not read correctly, but there are no overnight drips under the engine.
I replaced both my boot/trunk support struts as they had grown old and tired after 350,000+ kms and nearly 30 years. One strut I popped straight off the pegs and the other I couldn't get to release so I put my thinking cap on and thought I'd try to unscrew one of the end fittings from the old strut, well it came straight off, and see whether the fittings on the new strut had the same thread. They both had the same thread so I just unscrewed the rod out of the errant stuck inner fitting and screwed the new strut into it.
New swaybar bushings in. PS hose u-pipe p-clip replaced.
Attempted a strings-on-jackstands alignment, took out about 1/8" of apparent excess toe in. If it doesn't pass my road test, well, it's going into the shop next week and a real alignment can be added to the services requested.
My 1996 X300 6-cylinder is the same colour as John's light blue V12 car.944play
On an excursion a month ago about 80 ks (50 miles) from home I pulled into a roadside park for my wife's toilet stop.
I noticed a burnt oil smell and looking behind the parked Jag I could see a fine oil trail. It was coming from the left side of the engine. The rear end boot (trunk) was covered in oil which had been misting from drops at high speed.
Checked the dipstick and there was just a trace on the bottom. I had checked oil levels prior to departure from home and it was full.
By sheer coincidence another Jaguar driver pulled into the park area and offered assistance, So I asked him to run me to the service (gas)station about 2 Ks away where I grabbed a 5 litre (1 and 1/4 US gallon) container of oil.
I dumped that in the engine which brought it back to full on the dipstick and then drove the car to the centre of this tiny town where there was one hotel, one servo and one post office. At least we were not going to go hungry and thirsty.
Eventually towing was arranged (at vast expense) and the car made it home.
Up on ramps and the culprit leak turned out to be the oil pressure switch. I originally thought it would be the oil bypass housing.
No replacement switches were available locally, but Jagdaim in Melbourne were able to supply overnight. Ordered 2PM arrived 10AM next day.
Three points
I was bloody lucky that the problem was found before running completely out of oil as our destination was another 20 ks further on and it would not have made it .
Jaguar drivers do stick together and help one another.
This is the second time I have run across oil leaks in late model Jag. oil pressure gauges/transmitters.
MY previous XJ 40 was sold to me cheaply because of an unidentified oil leak which turned out to be the transmitter.
Parker thankyou
This 1996 car already has that TSB modification.
I previously had a 1994 X300 without the mod. and yeah, that gauge really showed low on a hot idle.
Cheers 1994 turquoise X300
You got the Oh Baby , Oh Baby color I hope to repaint M' Lady Penelope in if I can't salvage the current color that went bad during final stage kidney failure task to recover
The color shows her curves and I have the chrome window trim , chrome mirrors , and hood leaper so other will keep their eye on it as it passes ( or graces the road ) out of veiw
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeea
If you look from the rear she has slight hips as a nod to the series 3 XJ6
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeea
Scuba diving out of Port Douglas was cool , the rain forest was noisy at night
My 1996 X300 6-cylinder is the same colour as John's light blue V12 car.944play
On an excursion a month ago about 80 ks (50 miles) from home I pulled into a roadside park for my wife's toilet stop.
I noticed a burnt oil smell and looking behind the parked Jag I could see a fine oil trail. It was coming from the left side of the engine. The rear end boot (trunk) was covered in oil which had been misting from drops at high speed.
Checked the dipstick and there was just a trace on the bottom. I had checked oil levels prior to departure from home and it was full.
By sheer coincidence another Jaguar driver pulled into the park area and offered assistance, So I asked him to run me to the service (gas)station about 2 Ks away where I grabbed a 5 litre (1 and 1/4 US gallon) container of oil.
I dumped that in the engine which brought it back to full on the dipstick and then drove the car to the centre of this tiny town where there was one hotel, one servo and one post office. At least we were not going to go hungry and thirsty.
Eventually towing was arranged (at vast expense) and the car made it home.
Up on ramps and the culprit leak turned out to be the oil pressure switch. I originally thought it would be the oil bypass housing.
No replacement switches were available locally, but Jagdaim in Melbourne were able to supply overnight. Ordered 2PM arrived 10AM next day.
Three points
I was bloody lucky that the problem was found before running completely out of oil as our destination was another 20 ks further on and it would not have made it .
Jaguar drivers do stick together and help one another.
This is the second time I have run across oil leaks in late model Jag. oil pressure gauges/transmitters.
MY previous XJ 40 was sold to me cheaply because of an unidentified oil leak which turned out to be the transmitter.
lucky...
i have a spare oil pressure switch here. i bought one when i was chasing my oil leak, but after replacing the bypass donut rings there was no more leak from there.
but yeah if jagdaim have the stock they are atleast very quick to ship.
Parker
I really liked the turquoise colour on the 1994 car. It was unique in this area as there was only one other X300 the same colour.
It was a "sports" model without the chrome bits and no glove box.
I did some scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef when I lived in North Queensland for 14 years and it is pretty impressive.
You do get used to nighttime noises in rainforest areas. But even when I am now living in a sub-tropical area the wildlife still seems bent on disturbing your sleep.
I sold the 1994 car after acquiring the 1996 car. Attached photo shows one arriving and other departing. Turquoise 1994 X300 departing. Blue 1996 arriving. Please ignore son's Toyota Ute in the background
Yesterday I fixed the driver side seat belt receiver. - The spring was bent in half. I guess that is why it only worked half the time. Repurposed the spring from the middle back seat receiver.
Earlier this month
Fixed the heat - replaced the thermostat, the original was stuck open.
Clean ABS sensors all around. ABS light still comes on, must need the module pins soldered. - Haven't built up the courage to remove it yet.
Oil Change
Debugged the cooling fans not turning on. - Replaced the fan relay via ebay spare parts.
Changed the spark plugs
Transmission Fluid refresh (still in progress)
Any suggestions on what to tackle next, preventative or otherwise? I picked this car up for my daughter with 90,000 on the clock she would be owner #3.
Last edited by Jcampany; Oct 24, 2023 at 08:10 AM.
Reason: fixed typeo
Stripped out all of the boot (trunk) panels to get at the SLCM locking module as centre locking was no longer working.
Replacement module is now functioning correctly.
Also needed to find out why the electric aerial is no longer functioning. It was good until a couple of weeks ago.
The aerial turns out to be OK but there is no extension signal coming to the aerial, so it looks like the problem is in the radio.
Note this does not have an original Jag radio. It is running a Pioneer brand. The radio itself is quite good.
I might consider putting the aerial control on a separate switch in the centre console stowage area.
X300 Antenna problem
Miracles of modern electronics. That Pioneer radio I mentioned has a tricky little quirk.
Unless the FM/MF receiver function is selected it does not signal the antenna to extend.
You learn something new every day!
That makes sense! It is a thoughtful design. My aftermarket Sony always puts the antenna up even though it is not usually needed. So I disconnected the antenna motor to save wear and tear after I had to replace the mast again. But now the FM reception is not so good. I guess I need that manual switch.
Finally worked up the courage to pull the anti skid controller to refresh the solder on the power pins. There wasn't a lot of play with my pump so I supported it with a socket to get my hands under it and worked blind with a right angle screwdriver to remove the two T20 torque headed screws. It took a little patience but I got them out. Cut the plastic and made the repair. Put it all back together and gave it test drive. My ABS light stayed off for the drive, it used to come on after reaching 10 or15 mph during the self check. Below are some pictures of the project.
Access hole cut with a Dremel and utility knife The bad connections Zoom in of one Zoom in of the second Not pretty but end result 1 Not pretty but end result 2 Glued the cut cover back on Sealed it up with some tape ready for install.
Well done. The reason the ABS light came on at around 15mph is that the system does a self test at that speed and also momentarily activates the ABS pump, you might hear it if you listen carefully as you drive off, so the reason you got the warning light was because the pump didn't pass the test.
Fitted replacement exhaust boxes, original Jaguar ones. Took about an hour to do both sides.
The right rear one was rotted on the seam and effectively empty inside but had good pipes, the left side had good box but rotted pipes so I've cut off the pipes of the rotten muffler and used them to fix the other one. Should be good as a spare. Replacement are original Jag ones from a 60k miles car and are in excellent condition. The mild steel ones that can be bought everywhere are absolute garbage and don't last more than a few years.
Oh and I think each old muffler had about a litre of water inside. No wonder they rot.
