Don't know 'nuffin 'bout no 'R' but why not tie a pull cord to the end coming out and use it to pull the new one in.

 

Tom:
Someone got the bright idea to stick this big ol block of foam under the SC, and the part load tube runs between the foal amd the bottom of the SC or maybe between the foam and the top of the block. I don't recall which. It does not look nearly as good, but you can run the factory tube on top of the SC, behind the intercoolers and get it connected where it needs to go. Strangely, it has not seemed to hurt performance nor destroy the engine run that way!

 

I couldn't live with that, but then I'm ocd ;-)

Is that nappy purely for sound deadening? Next time the S/C gets work I'm going to bin it (soon).

 

One of the Jag Techs on here told me that it was there to prevent heat soak- I am not sure I buy that since the supercharger gets hot in its own right, but I decided to put mine back in in case that was accurate.

 

I have an extra part loa breather that I can sell at cost I you need one. Also, be VERY careful with the full load breather, as I've been unable to find a new one of those from Jaguar. According to my local parts guy, Jag had production problems and is currently trying to resource them. I've been waiting for a few months. Also, I use the MAF Sensor Cleaner on plastic hoses, as I've heard that Carb cleaner is super harsh on plastic, leading to premature brittleness. YMMV.

To the original post, I assume you are talking about a serviceable K&N filter to clean. I use thi as well on all my vehicles. If you are unfamiliar with them, just keep in mind to wash them from clean side to dirty so as not to force dirt INTO the filter. Then let it dry dry dry. Dont do it on a cold humid day, a the cotton can take a while (on warm days I let mine dry for 24 hours). Then when reoiling, use the spray sparingly and just on the ridges. It will wick to the rest of the filter within 20min when appropriately dry. You want the filter to be uniform, not dripping red. Some folks here don't like the K&N as they've experienced MAF sensor issues with excess oil from the filter. One of the reasons to make sure you don't reoil excessively.

 

Crispy - I've found full load breathers on ebay for my xj8, for about 25 bucks and they are new. Just search ebay for jaguar breather, I broke mine. How much is your part load breather, will it fit my xj8?

I think I solved the problem with lots of oil getting into my air cleaner by cleaning the plugged part load breather. At first I had the dreaded Nik cylinder problem, but since I cleaned the part load breather (it was completely plugged) and put another clean air filter in I haven't seen it leak into the air filter again.

 

Does any know how to remove the factory hose clamp properly. It's on the end of the part load breather that attaches to EVAP Purge Valve.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the tip, but there aren't any on ebay for my engine (2004 xkr SC).

The part I have is AJ87233. It's genuine Jag. There's a second sticker that says "full load breather"- but I believe this is really the part load breather. On my car, it goes from the left hand crankcase (near the oil dipstick) to the plastic air intake, right above the throttle body. The "real" full load breather on mine goes from the PCV valve on the right hand crankcase to the underside of the throttle body (I think to the EGC valve? I haven't crawled in there yet to see exactly where it snakes to). On earlier models (2002 xkr, I think) the full load breather tube was much shorter, and went from the PCV to the air filter intake- just like you describe in yours. Honestly I've been a little confused on the part load vs full load, which is why I have the xtra part. PM me if you think this will work and I'll send you a pic and look up what I paid to set a price.

~Chris

 

OK, this part load vs full load confusion was driving me nuts. So I looked up online and found this generic blurb. Maybe my confusion is just left hand/right hand or differences with my SC version? I call the right hand side the same side of the engine as RHD drive cars in the US. That side is indeed the full load breather according to the info below. The PCV valve (and part load breather tube) is on the LHD side. The PCV is open when vacuum is at it's highest, or at low RPM. The full load is then taking in air on the left side, and the carbon emissions are expelled through the PCV and part load breather tube on the right side to the bottom of the throttle body. Under TWO and full load, the PCV is mostly closed and gasses escape from the full load breather into the top of the throttle body on the right. At least in my Supercharged system. Makes more sense.

"The PCV valve connects the crankcase to the intake manifold from a location more-or-less opposite the breather connection. Typical locations include the opposite valve cover that the breather tube connects to on a V engine. A typical location is the valve cover(s), although some engines place the valve in locations far from the valve cover. The valve is simple, but actually performs a complicated control function. An internal restrictor (generally a cone or ball) is held in "normal" (engine off, zero vacuum) position with a light spring, exposing the full size of the PCV opening to the intake manifold. With the engine running, the tapered end of the cone is drawn towards the opening in the PCV valve by manifold vacuum, restricting the opening proportionate to the level of engine vacuum vs. spring tension. At idle, the intake manifold vacuum is near maximum. It is at this time the least amount of blow by is actually occurring, so the PCV valve provides the largest amount of (but not complete) restriction. As engine load increases, vacuum on the valve decreases proportionally and blow by increases proportionally. With a lower level of vacuum, the spring returns the cone to the "open" position to allow more air flow. At full throttle, vacuum is much reduced, down to between 1.5 and 3" Hg. At this point the PCV valve is nearly useless, and most combustion gases escape via the "breather tube" where they are then drawn in to the engine's intake manifold anyway.
Should the intake manifold's pressure be higher than that of the crankcase (which can happen in a turbocharged engine, or under certain conditions, such as an intake backfire), the PCV valve closes to prevent reversal of the exhausted air back into the crankcase again."

 

Well, Crispy.
That all looked pretty right EXCEPT there is no PCV valve on the XJ8 engine. (I dunno about your car). In fact, the left side or part load breather needs to be reamed out from time to time per the instructions by Brutal earlier in the thread, which works because it is only an orifice and not the usual spring ball thing you describe.

 

It seems like every day I learn about a new problem with my XJ8's engine. The one in this thread needs attention every 10K miles. Then there's the timing chain wonderfullness... how has Chevy managed with no timing chain tensioners for so long and the Jag needs four?.. the rear end is problematic, the trans is a semi-lemon, the cup holder, the headliner, mediocre gas mileage, the visors... Kia would never get away with this quality!

This is my first Jag and if I may speak bluntly these are my true thoughts:

These cars are like woman's high heels. Woman put up with horrible shoes because the way it makes them feel is worth it. It seems like the Jaguar is similar. People seem to be willing to put up with stuff they never would if the car didn't look so nice.

Whoever drew the picture of this car was a genius. Everything after that was worse than most any car I've owned. Unbelievably bad and no one seems to be able to admit that over and over, aside from the looks, these cars are borderline.

The stuff that's broken on my 56K mi '99 was still fine on the other 35 cars I've had!

I am constantly dropping my jaw at the way Jaguar left things. The wiring going to the rear lights for instance with no wire loom. I keep seeing things that seem like they were done by a company in trouble playing trial and error on the buyer's dime.

I'd be interested to hear from any others here that share my view but are scared to speak up.

 

More like putting up with a high maintenance woman in high heels 'cause she looks so good, LOL!

Really, I think most have found that our Jags are no more or less reliable or prone to breakage than any other 10+ year old luxury car.

Vector

 

Thanks everyone for all the tips and photos and descriptions in this thread - now I have something else to do while bonding with my car.

I agree, these cars are no different than any other 10 year old car - they need TLC.

 

Most cars made in the last 10 years have deeply suffered from political problems. I'm comparing my Jag to cars made before that, 60's through 90's GM RWD V8's mostly, and those cars didn't fall apart like my XJ8.

My rustly ol' Caprice wagon is 20 years old and the engine runs like new (no major repairs), the seats are not ripped at all, the interior is near the condition it left the factory in. The visors are just starting to show wear. Intact visor clips And it has 215K miles on it.

Everyone says the same parts are broken on their Jags.

I just bought new side marker lights for my Jag and they are the worst quality I've ever seen. Total garbage. I never bought any for the other 35 cars I've had. At 4 per vehicle that's 140 without fail... then a Jag with 2 broken. Ditto for the visor clips.

My call is that due to "constantly failing marriages" and not ever producing high volume amounts of cars that Jaguar never ironed out the bugs that GM and Ford did in making millions and millions of vehicles for decades without interruption.

The Chevy SB engine has been in production for over 50 years and is the most produced car engine in history. The engine in my Jag wasn't made for very long and is a soup of other engines. No wonder they went through all the design issues.

There is no way these cars are made as well as the 76-79 Sevilles I owned, not even close. The Caddy engines and transmissions were of decades old proven technology. They'd go over 300K mi easy and with no "every 10K mi do this" maintenance like in this thread.

I honestly think that these cars are so beautiful that people are willing, just like women in high heels, to put up with a lot and act like it's normal!

I am going to try to make this car work. It needs a lot of things redesigned. I would love to take out the engine and trans and sell them on Craigslist.

One of the first things to go has to be the ill-designed trunk release that everyone hits with their knee. Why can't people laugh at these cars? That is not the same as any other 10 year old car. These cars have way more than their share of mistakes. Way more.

I will post my efforts, even if there is little/no encouragement. My gut tells me that in the general population most people would agree with me but in the Jaguar community most all will disagree, and those that don't will never speak up.

Maybe some people will benefit from a different view. Please convince me I'm wrong. I love being wrong because that's when I learn new things.

 

@ Ian, nice moan mate

First European car?
First Jag?

Did your research before buying it?

Can you 'spanner'? If you can't, then it's time to go back to GM....lol!

What made you buy it?

 

Yes, first Jag. Had a 70's Mini and grew up with my brother's Wolseley's. I'm pretty familiar with tyres and such since lots of my family is from (ach! that explains it!) Glasgow.

What made me buy the Jag was that in Hawaii, because of rust there are almost no GM RWD V8's here anymore. There's no parts at the junkyard and while in the past I would be driving 10 year old cars, I found I was now driving 20 year old cars and running into crazy problems.

So it was time to switch brands. I don't like Fords much which are really the only other common RWD V8's other than Jaguar. So when I saw a 56K mi specimen with great interior and a bang on the side that brought the price down to $3300, I bought it. As much for a learning experience than anything. I've been reading like crazy about these cars, I have about 10' of car books here - what can I say, me and my brothers have been car nuts since the 60's.

What people might not get from me is that I'm not against going through a million hoops for art. I've been doing it all my life. Our society says that a tool is to function and appearance is a secondary bonus whereas nature says that beauty is essential to the function. I embrace that

Also, as a lifelong musician I know that music can be technically so-so but if it makes you feel good then it's a win.

I'm not laughing at anyone for how these cars make them feel. I'm not saying the owners are vain. It does seem though that there might be a silent group of people that might appreciate some blunt reality.

And if something is true then sarcastic scrutiny will only more prove it so.

I know there's lots of people who would frown on me replacing a Jag engine with a Chevy 350. But I wonder, if Jaguar had offered a Corvette 350/700R4 option in one of their factory cars... would the same people then embrace it?

I'm trying to learn how I can make this whole Jaguar thing work for me. The best I can come up with is to drive the '99 XJ8 as is and look into an earlier XJ6 to put a 350/700R4 in with natural gas conversion. There are so many of these cars here for almost give away prices. Cars like mine with one bad part (usually trans) that probably could be had for about $1000.

That's what's going through my head. Natural gas 350/700R4. What's excellent about Jaguars is: lots of following 'cause the cars look beautiful, lots of spare parts because they often aren't economical to fix, 350/700R4 kits, lots of people into them, and the main reason: they make you feel good when you drive them.

And I mean that: a car that is beautiful that makes you feel good... that's probably the main thing I see and I take that seriously. Without art life is boring!

 

Jags are not for people who want to get from point A to point B. Get a Chevy, Ford or better yet a Toyota ;^( for that. Do Chevys have burl walnut, lambs wool carpet and hand stitched leather ? Or Peruvian boxwood inlays and picnic trays in back (VDP). The Jag engine is a piece of art. a high-reving, light-weight, 32 valve, DOHC, aluminum alloy engine with Nikasil liners (some anyway). It is not a Chevy small block - thank God. I've had Jags for 20 years now, and I always get the reliability comments and I enjoy humoring them. A Jag is for someone who is a car enthusiast. Someone who actually knows thier car and takes care of it. Yes, the leather will start to look nasty if you just sit on it and throw stuff and dogs on it. Yes, you will have problems with the engine if you don't take care of it. But, the driving experience, the sound of the engine hitting 6800 RPMs, the smooth but sticky handling - no it's not for everyone.

 

Amen Brother

 

I hear what you are saying but:

I don't understand why no one will admit that much of construction and design of these cars is shabby.

I just read a thread about the wiring that goes to the rear trunk light and I'm not surprised it fails.

I've done lots of wiring. The wiring on my Jag is like something I would have done when I was 11 but by 14 I was better than that.

This shouldn't have anything to do with being a point A-B vehicle or how great the engine sounds at 6K+ rpm. This is about any car that's roadworthy.

See the attached pic of what I found yesterday when I went to instal the rear trunk supports. That's not quality work by any standard. That wouldn't be acceptable in the cheapest car made.

These cars were not, in large, designed for or originally sold to car enthusiasts. They were, from what I can see, made primarily for rich people who wanted a good looking, dependable car. Lots of car enthusiasts end up buying used ones for a fraction of the original price and that describes, I think, most of the people here.

Those people get off on tinkering. But the afluent crowd that were the main target Jaguar buyers wanted cars that didn't require cleaning out a hole with a drill bit every 10K mi like this thread suggests you do.

Why am I alone in saying that a $75K car should be better designed than needing a procedure with a drill bit every 10K miles?

Why won't anybody admit that although they love these cars they aren't in many aspects well made or even well thought out?

I would think that it would be best to bring that out in the open and to show people what is junk and how to redo it. Like redoing the wiring with wire loom for instance.

Instead people would rather keep it original even if that means sub-standard?

I feel like I am in a church and if I dare speak up against the accepted dogma then I am a traitor!

There are likely lots of people who have visited this site and feel the way I do but are intimidated by the general air here that Jaguar is a religion and you better not speak up against it if you know what's good for you.

That's why I'm posting these comments. Not to make anyone angry or to moan. I'm trying to learn the truth about these cars. I read a lot before I bought mine but I knew I'd need to have one and take it apart a bit to see if it was any good.

My wife will be using the XJ8 for work. Frankly, it scares the #@$@! out of me when I think of her depending on wires like I saw in the attached pic. Where else did Jaguar use sub-standard wiring? Am I wrong to have concerns like that?

Like others here, I was making Heathkit's 35 years ago, wired my house and don't hesitate to use my soldering guns on tv's or printed circuit boards. I roofed my house, did all the paneling, drywall, plumbing, windows, floors and made much of the furniture I use. Like many here probably are, I'm know by friends and family as "the guy that can fix anything", which I hate because I think I'm a bozo like everyone else.

I'm not totally car-ignorant. I've had 35+ cars. I've done near everything you can think of to a car, motor swaps, windshield replacement, etc... I don't think there is much I haven't done to a car. All my own auto maintenance since the 1970's except auto trans rebuild. In 1992 I made a custom car and drove it for several years. When I got the the car registered, under manufacturer it had my name! I've made, from scratch a fiberglass reverse hinge hood for a Caddy. Big woop. Like in music, I've learned enough over the last 50+ years to realize that like all people, I know practically nothing.

That's why I'm here. Not to rant or argue, but to learn. And you don't learn by constantly patting each other on the back.

Learning requires making new paths in your brain and that's very, very hard. Actually painful. The older you get the harder it gets. I think that's why I make people angry. I'm not the same and some readers get angry when they read views that are not the same as theirs.

 

Well,

These cars are certainly not perfect, but it is generally understood that if you want to own one, you will have to work on it from time to time to keep it running right. It has 5 fuse boxes and 213 modules that can and do occasionally fail.

Sure there is lots that could have been done better, but for the $10,000 and $13,000 that I spent for my 2002 XJ8 and XJR, I'm pretty happy with my purchases.

That wiring photo isn't terribly pretty, and I'm no electrician, but I'm missing where the photo shows it will fail...

Having another person with experience on the board pointing out weak spots is valuable, so please do keep posting. Not everyone will agree with you, but you can give all of us something to think about.