I wanted to start a post about my car and the modifications that I make on it. Hopefully, you'll enjoy my experiences and maybe like (or dislike) the changes I make. One of the things i have really enjoyed about my car is that I can piddle with it and tweak this or that, making it just a little customized.

I grew up a typical car nut. I would check magazines out at the library as a kid, cut out pictures of cool cars (Trans Ams, TR-7/8, X1/9, 928, etc.), and tape them to my wall. I remember seeing classified ads for Shelby Cobras with asking prices of $5k. Ah, those were the days, eh?

I've had a lot of fun cars over the years (Datsun 240/260/280Z's, Porsche 928, various BMW's, and Nissans). My most recent car was a 2002 Mercedes E320 with Sport package. I really liked the car: it was an excellent all-around vehicle with good room, well made, solid, drove nicely, looked good, but after a year I wanted something more fun. I think what pushed me over the edge was driving my neighbor's Pontiac G8 GXP. After that the wheels didn't stop turning on getting something else.

I played with the idea of a M5, but my wife won't drive a manual, and my car has to be something she can drive, too. I thought about a Mercedes E55, but that would be too much like my current car. I thought long and hard about a Mercedes 500E (W124), trolling the 500E Board for over a year. Really liked those, but felt it would be a little too old and it had 4 seats (gotta fit the whole family of 5!).

One day I was driving down the street and a fabulous navy XJR comes up from behind and passes me. "That's the one", I thought. I joined the Jaguar Forum that day and began researching. I considered the X350, but it was more than I wanted to spend. Narrowed my focus to the X308, specifically the XJR. Read (repeatedly) old magazine tests of the XJR vs. E55, etc. Read all the posts I could on the Forum to try to get a feel for the pros and cons, what people liked and didn't like, trying to decide if this would be a car I would be happy with. Decided I would be (and I am!)

I narrowly missed out on a black 2002 XJR in Dallas that had the R1 package. I eventually found a platinum with warm charcoal 2000 XJR with 84k miles located about 500 miles away between Memphis and Nashville. Negotiated the price down to $7350, made arrangements to have it shipped to my house, and waited.

And waited. And waited some more. The shipping terms were that the car would be picked up within 7 business days. By day 5 I was sending emails and making calls by day 6. "What's going on?" Turns out the car was kind of out of the way and nobody wanted to get it. Oh, it was #4 on the list of cars in Tennessee to be picked up, but I wanted my car NOW. This was a Tuesday. Thursdays are usually slow for me at work, so I thought, "I know, I'll catch a bus on Wednesday night, arrive Thursday around noon, and drive the car home. You know, a nice time to get to know her!" (Airline tickets were too much. Besides, I had nothing better to do for 24 hours!)

I caught the bus at 12:30 am and found out how all the people from the state fair travel: they were on the bus, too! I arrived in Memphis the next morning and needed to catch a connecting bus to my destination. The bus people kindly informed me that the bus had already departed (we were running late - surprise!), and they would happily get me on the next bus... the next day! I asked where there was a rental agency and proceeded to rent a car one-way. I HAVE BEEN WAITING TOO LONG FOR MY CAR! D**N ALL OF YOU!

I arrived and got to take my first in-person look at her: so pretty, soft leather, sounded so good. Goose bumps all over. This was the one. After a quick bite to eat, I saw I had 1/4 tank of gas and pulled in to fill it up. Put the nozzle in, pulled the handle and... nothing. Barely a trickle. "Huh? Maybe something is wrong with the pump?" Removed the pump, put it back in, and... nothing. Barely a trickle. Ok, now I am remembering something I had read on the forum about this being a common problem on X308's. Cool. I'll just hit the road and... research my problem while I drive. Did I mention I HAVE BEEN WAITING TOO LONG FOR MY CAR! A search indicated that the problem was likely a valve attached to the charcoal canister underneath the passenger side of the car was not operating. I pulled over at a McDonald's, crawled under the car and pulled the hose from the gas tank to the canister loose. And was able to fill up - yay! The remainder of the drive home was uneventful, but kind of fun: hmmm, wonder what that is? If I push that and stomp on this, what happens? You know, "getting to know you"

I really like the car. she looks terrific, goes like stink, handles/rides nicely. Sure, not perfect, some quirks, etc., but I can see owning this one for some time.

Below is a picture of the car when I picked it up. That was in August. She looks (and goes) a little different now

 

Superb write up, thanks for sharing your adventure.

Now all we need is more detail of what you've done to her and of course more pics to accompany it!

Happy motoring....

 

Thank you, JimC64. More updates (and pics) to come. Watch this space!

 

were the first words uttered by my 9-year old when she opened the garage door the next day and gazed upon the sleek, silver beauty. "Oh, cool, it has a lion on the hood!", she said. No, honey, that is a Jag-u-ar, and it is called a Leaper, I say. "Jag-u-ar?", her face all twisted. Yes, that is how it is pronounced. "Daddy is funny, hon, he also says 'Porsha'", quips my wife. "That is how it is pronounced", but I decide to let it go. Sigh, the un-cultured masses.

My first order of business was to replace the valve attached to the charcoal box at end of the vent hose from the fuel filler neck. It is located just inward of the jack point on the passenger (USA) side. My understanding is that gas vapors are vented through this hose to the charcoal box, which is connected to the engine as part of the vapor recovery system (someone more knowledgeable than I can correct me if I am wrong). At the end of the hose is a valve that opens to allow vapors into the box when filling, and closes when vapors are not present. The problem is that if the valve malfunctions and remains in the closed position it will not allow vapors to pass into the box when filling. With no where else to go, the vapors travel back up the gas line when filling and trigger the automatic fuel shut-off on the gas pump. You put the nozzle in, pull the trigger, and get virtually nothing.

It is an $85 part at the dealer and a simple part to replace. After doing so, I took it to the gas station and filled her up. Worked perfectly! However...

"Your car still smells like gas", says my 12-year old. "I know, I am working on it", I hiss. Dang it, I still had a gas smell! I crawled under the car to double check my connections to the charcoal box. Nope, they're good. While making loud sniffing noises like a hound, I moved to the backseat area and found that the odor was stronger on the driver's side. I then moved to the trunk area: strongest odor was coming from the corner ahead of the CD changer. I started removing trunk panels and found... a rubber hose coming off the gas tank that some clown forgot to reconnect. Idiot, I muttered (amongst other profanities), as I reconnected it. Bam! No more gas smell!

"OK, girls, you don't have to be embarrassed to have your friends ride in Dad's car now!"

Next up: "Why would you do that?"