I started to take apart my 97 xj6 today to replace the head gasket, and while underneath the car disconnecting the downpipes from the manifolds, I found what's in the attached picture. Now I've been working on machines pretty much all of my life, but this is the first Jaguar. Would one of you with more experience let me know if this is "normal"? If you look closely, the rear tab isn't attached either.

(I hope my sarcasm comes across in print)

 

You'll have to be more specific.
I can see a bit of road grime and what appears to be a leaf blower attachment.
That might have been optional for the US market.

 

Should be a bolt at the black ear

Not a standard strength bolt but a high strength bolt being suspension

Use a toothpic to see if completely missing or sheared off

will probably have to roll the car back and forth to unload any turning load pushing the holes apart

https://www.jaguarclassicparts.com/u...ack-and-pinion

 

Oh, they are quite entirely missing! The faces where the bolt head and nut/washer live are shiny, not rusty, so they haven't been gone for too long. The car is very new to me and I'm finding out some things that will cause me to look a bit deeper! And I thought the clunk from the right front was a bad shock or bushing! My ability to recognize things appears to be slipping as I age!

 

Both bolts on one side ?

You can pull one bolt from the other side of the car to see it;s size

not the same side as the missing bolt as it's twin on that side is keeping the assembly located in position as a locator

The replacement bolt should be a 8 or 10 strength rating

Is the tail end of the missing bolt still in the hole ?

In theory you can still leave the rack assembly in place and extract the tail with a easy out

This would take some skill in seeing the hole is centered up to each other and not offset

if you bush out the drill bit you may hit the center of the broken bolt tail

Probably should replace the bolts on the other side as their probably over stressed

 

Is that one of the bolts that holds the steering rack in place? I have read on here that those are bolts that you need to check occasionally.

 

Yes, that's correct, haven't had the car long, and I will check them regularly from now on!

 

Buy new bolts from jaguar. Theyre supposed to be 1 use only as they have blue locktight on them from the factory and a serrated base. Bolts dont loosen with time, they loosen and fall out because they were never tightened EDIT: or put in

 

And locktite is only good with a cleaned of grease hole before installation

 

Who knows? I'm getting to the point where I'm not surprised by much, the more things that I look at, the more I see.
I bought it from the second owner, who seems to have thought a Jaguar could be treated like a Toyota! The first owner had everything taken care of by a well-versed mechanic friend of mine who recommended that I buy the car, which was very inexpensive, fully knowing that I would have some work ahead of me! One can only treat it as an adventure!

 

Loose bolts on the steering rack is not uncommon on the x300. It's one of its little foibles and can cause steering issues, unsurprisingly! Regular checks and/ or Loctite or similar.