I'm new round here - I managed to buy and total (not my fault) a flawless black-on-black 2002 XJR a few months back in just six short days. Fast forward a few months, and I managed to find a replacement. 2002 XJR, 57k miles, quartz on tan. So far, so good, I've owned it two days and if I make it 4 more I'll break my XJR ownership record (knock on wood).

So anyway, a few questions to the forum that I didn't see readily or easily answered:

1: Looks like my VIN says I've got metal tensioners. I'm WELL into the vin range that is past the second gen tensioners. Should I still worry enough to crack a cover and double-check it?

2: The rear window taillight is unsurprisingly fallen. What I don't seem to understand is the best method of sticking it back up to the window. It appears to be intact, and looks like the previous owner tried to glue the two little legs at the top to the glass, and use some kind of double-sided sticky tape to hold the base flush. Is there a "best practice" for putting this thing back up properly?

3: The car was pretty much flawless when I bought it, not a hint of headliner droop or any other apparent issues I was expecting. Of course, on the way home a few hours later I decided to open a few windows, and all that changed. The turbulence introduced to the car almost instantly dragged a significant portion of the headliner down. Now that I look at it, the previous owner did a weird attempt at a fix on it - it looks like he shot some kind of glue into the rear seat area headliner, and the glue discolored the headliner. Didn't notice it at the time, but, as always caveat emptor. Still, I'm clearly going to need to do something about this. How should I go about getting a new headliner done up? Does anyone have a suggestion on a good way to go about getting this one without spending an arm, a leg, and another arm?

I'm pretty handy with a wrench, but I doubt I'd want to tackle a headliner if for no other reasons than it would take time I could better spend writing (I'm an author). Should I contact some upholstery shops? Any suggestions?

4: The idle feels SLIGHTLY off (like, occasionally it gives a hint of a vibration that doesn't feel 100% right). It almost feels like spark plugs that have JUST started to go. Should I be replacing these things at this point?

5: Anything else I need to worry about coming into this thing? I've done as much research as I can but really there's no replacing experience. I'm noticing the car runs about halfway up the temp gauge for example - is this normal operating range? Oil/filters etc seem beautiful. Are there any obvious maintenance "do now" projects I should undertake before turning this thing into my daily driver? Should I consider flushing out the transmission at this point?

Sorry for the pile of questions, hope you don't mind! I look forward to being part of the group. Feels great to have a cat again. Thanks everyone.

 

Great car, like I said. I can't help with most of your questions, but I'd really recommend you look into buying a Realgauge from WhiteXKR. I have installed them in both my Jags, and it gives real piece of mind, since the factory guage sits at the midway point right up to the point of no return.
Check out this thread- https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...erience-83325/

 

Hah! I thought something was weird about the temp gauge. I had no idea that it was a design feature. It was really strange to watch the gauge sit at the mid-point whether I was doing 65 or 95. It just never moved.

I'll have to give this some thought. Thanks.

 

If you have an OBDII reader you can see the real water temp versus the displayed temp.

 

If your engine is in the post August 2001 date range, quit sweating the tensioners. The headliner replacement should cost between $350 to $400 dollars at a shop or you can do it yourself for about $50.00, but if you do not have a "touch" you can easily eat up the saving in broken trim parts.

 

Rear window high-mount stop lamp is attached properly with some rear-view mirror glue.

The odd idle could be plugs and/or coil packs, an OBDII reader can help with this slightly, but generally it might just be a slight issue that isn't significant enough to trip the fault code.

 

Yeah, there's no codes popped. It's REALLY slight. It really does feel like one spark plug just not firing quite in time with the others, and even then it's a bit intermittent. When you sit idling long enough you notice it.

I can't think of a good way to deal with it outside of swapping the whole set of plugs... And if it's a coil pack, well, that would suck .

 

More likely a coil than plug but may be neither. Why not check fuel trims and see if it's a slight air leak? Same tool will check for codes in case any are pending.

 

Forgive me for asking, but how exactly would I go about checking fuel trims?

I'm handy with a wrench, but I don't think I've ever done that .

 

Beautiful car.

I would still check out the tensioners (note well: Sparkenzap gave you a post engine build date, not car build date) and change the plugs. Same time look for oil in the plug well. Probably need to clean the MAF sensor and the throttle bore (careful with this), and tighten up the connections from the air filter to the throttle. Just for grins, change the fuel filter and snug up the intake manifold. I would also run a bottle of Gumout's BEST or Lucas through a tank of gas. I am sure others will weigh in on special issues with the blower.

I found epoxy was the best way to put the upper brake light back on: others have used the glue for holding rear view mirrors, but that only works if you take off the tabs and glue them to the window, then reattach the light unit (this is a bitch to get aligned if those tabs are just a little off, which is why I used epoxy and held the whole unit in place until it set). The plastic is really, and I mean really, fragile and brittle.

for a really quick fix for the headliner, try quarter inch staples from a staple gun. Hardly noticeable and holds really well. Put them in longitudinally. Only need them in a couple places where you have sagging.

 

Most code readers above really base models will display fuel trims.

Something like this will connect to an Android phone and there are models available for iPhones and laptops. Pretty capable device for $10.

obdii bluetooth android | eBay

 

I did my headliner myself, and it was very easy. My first one ever, and it turned out great for about $70 and ~5 hours invested. After doing it once, I could now do it in an hour, not counting dry time. But an upholstery shop can do it for about $400 usually, as this one does have a lot of interior removal and gymnastics to get it out. And you CAN get it out without removing the rear window. The shell is made of a flexible mat material, and you just have to roll the edge a little to get it out of the rear door opening. If you do it yourself, be sure to leave some extra material around the sunroof opening, as you have to roll it over the edge of the sunroof frame and glue it down to hold it up in the middle.

A while back I also had a slight pulse at idle with my at the time ~65k mile XJR, changed the plugs, and the pulse cleared right up. These seem to be a little hard on plugs.

If you are going to do a transmission flush, now is the time. And if you do it, MAKE SURE THEY FLUSH THE TORQUE CONVERTER AS WELL. My friend works with the 722.6s all the time as a mechanic for Mercedes/Freightliner Sprinters. They had all kinds of problems when they'd flush the trans per Mercedes procedure, which said a TC flush was unnecessary. He got fed up and went ahead and flushed the TC as well on a few (even though it's a pain in the neck), and never had a problem after that. But he says you should definitely do it before 100k miles, and preferably before 60k miles. He said for sure after about 110k miles don't do it, it will only run worse. Also, Freightliner dealers are a great place to pick up a 722.6 dipstick for reasonable cost.

Also on the transmission, go ahead and replace the wiring harness connector that goes into the right side of the transmission. If it hasn't been done yet, it is only a matter of time before it fails. They ALL fail eventually as the O-rings dry up, which allows trans fluid into the connector, messing with the electrical signals and letting the fluid drain out. Mercedes released an updated one in like 2005 that had better O-rings. When I went to my local MB dealer to get the part, they instantly knew what I was talking about and literally had a stack of them within arms reach under the counter. Tells you how common the issue is. I'd go ahead and get that done ASAP unless you have documentation that it's already been done. That's another one that you can do yourself for about $100 ($30 connector, $45 for dipstick, $20 for a quart of MB fluid), but it is a serious pain to do (very tight confines to work in, right next to the catalytic converter), so that one may be worth the labor costs to have someone else do.

You may want to do your heater hoses. They are prone to failure. But that one is not fun. You have to remove the supercharger (as they run underneath it). So that may be a "wait until it fails" kind of thing.

Jag introduced an updated water pump for the 4.2s that's significantly better than the one that came on the X308s. It's fairly cheap, and installs really quickly. Another one of those you may want to do for peace of mind, although not at all strictly necessary.

 

Thanks for this Cabezagrande.

Ok, so I should look for a MB mechanic to do a flush - tranny and torque converter - and while I'm at it I should do the wiring harness connector. Seems totally reasonable.

I'll swap the plugs out. Hopefully that'll clear up the pulsing. I'll have to do a search here to see what plugs are recommended - unless you have a clear recommendation... Iridiums? Platinum?

I checked over the water pump on this thing and it's not leaking/seems intact. I'll probably put that off until I see a reason to swap it. Same goes for heater hoses - one of the first things I did on the last XJR I had was yank the supercharger and swap those hoses (they were leaking), so I'll probably leave this till it's an issue since there is no leaking present right now.

Your description of the headliner removal/R&R sounds simpler than I was thinking it would be... Maybe I will give this a shot. Suggestions as to the glue to use/where to acquire the proper fabric? Have a link to a description of the process perhaps? I'm reasonably handy, I just assumed this was a BEAR of a job (it looked like rear window removal was necessary). If it really is fairly simple I might tackle it.

 

Oh, and jhartz, thanks for the suggestion on the staples...

It's probably what I would have tried on just the rearmost sagging, BUT, the previous owner decided to try an alternate fix and took those two little square pieces of plastic off the rear back, then apparently sprayed some kind of glue inside, saturating the interior of the fabric. The glue came through, and now there's these big yellow triangles radiating out from the little plastic pieces.

In other words, it's ugly.

I'm pretty sure they did it before sale, and I certainly didn't notice it (I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have to it - I glanced back and it looked intact and I was happy, but as SOON as I drove with the windows down, BAM. Then I noticed the glue stains at the very back.

I'll just yank the whole thing down and recover it, whether myself or through an upholstery shop.

 

I just used 3M spray headliner adhesive, it was like $15 a can at the local parts store. For fabric I got black 1/8" foam backed headliner fabric from a local sewing store. Almost any fabric store and most hobby stores will have material available in a few basic colors, or you can get it online in a greater variety of colors. I think I got 3 yards of 60" wide material (way more than necessary by the way) for like $40. When removing the headliner, I started out by removing the pull handles and then the sunvisors and overhead console, as well as two stays along the rearmost edge. Then I removed the trim weatherstripping (the velvet covered stuff) from the door openings and sunroof opening. After all that was holding it up was the trim around the outside edge, I laid the front seats forward and ran them as far up the tracks as they'd go. Be very careful during this next step. The rear sail panel covers extend very far forward, and it's very easy to tear them, like I did on one. I lucked out and found a guy parting one out to get a new one from, but it SUCKED to put in. So just be cautious. I even go so far as to say have someone help you just to hold it up at the back so it doesn't happen. But then pull the a-pillar covers off (they just pull off) and disconnect the tweeters. The headliner should now be free, held up by the rear sail covers. Slide it forward and VERY carefully extricate it from the sail covers. It should now come free. Then roll it in as large a diameter as you can and take it out of one of the rear door openings. Out of the car! Now you have to strip the old fabric and foam off. The fabric on mine came off effortlessly and I used a large wire brush to take off the foam. After that i laid the fabric over it and cut it to where I had 3-4 inches hanging off the front and rear edges. Next, lay out your fabric next to the headliner foam side up, and coat both with a good 2-3 coats of the adhesive. Let dry for about 10 minutes. Next is the easy to mess up part. I bought a bunch of cheap 3/8" dowels and laid them crossways across the shell. Then have a friend help you lay the fabric over the dowels, lined up pretty well, adhesive (and foam) down. Watch the edges, make sure they don't touch the shell, this stuff grabs hard and quick. Next, carefully remove the center-most dowel, and carefully start pressing the fabric to the shell. Start in the center and work out, being VERY careful not to stretch the fabric too much, or you'll start getting pulls and bunches. start moving towards the front, removing dowels as you go. This lets you work with a nice small area as you go. once you reach the front, go back to the center and start rearward. Once it's all pressed on, let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then start trimming the edges. I left maybe 1/8" past flush on the sides, and ~3" on the front and back edge for later. Then trim out the sunroof hole, being sure to leave about 3" past the edge all the way around the hole. Cut diagonally into the corners, stopping shy of the edge by about 1/4", so you have 4 flaps along each edge. Next, flip the headliner over. Tape off towards the front and rear edges, leaving about 4" exposed. Hit the strips with adhesive and let it dry for about 5 minutes. Then roll the fabric over and press it to the strip you just sprayed. This makes the front and rear edges finished. The sides don't need to be finish rolled, as the trim covers them. Let it dry and offgas for a while, the adhesive is stinky stuff. I let mine dry for about an hour. Next, get in the car and remove the foam from around the top edge of the sunroof frame around the sunroof hole, and once it's clean use some paint on contact cement that's compatible with the spray (3M sells it, same stuff just in paint-on form), and carefully paint around the top edge of the sunroof frame, the face between the frame and the roof skin. Wrangle the headliner in and into the proper orientation, again going in through the rear door opening. Very carefully insert it under the rear sail panel cover horns and put the a-pillar covers in place to loosely hold it in position. Reinstall your overhead console, the sunvisors, and the two rear edge stays. This will locate the headliner properly. Then, making sure of proper alignment with the sunroof frame, roll the flaps over the edge of the frame, gluing them to the frame, which gives you a nice finished edge around the hole and holds the center of the headliner up. Re-install the pull handles. Then reinstall the edging around the sunroof hole and doors. Then roll your windows down and let it sit for as long as you can. It's going to smell bad for about a week. So all in all, not hard, just a few potentials for problems. But then you're all done, with a nice new non-sagging headliner!

As for plugs, I used Denso Iridiums. They were only like a dollar more expensive apiece than the double platinums, and I've always had good luck with them in high boost engines. I think I went one temperature range colder than stock too, but I can't remember off hand.

 

Wow, thanks for the extensive explanation! It actually doesn't sound too bad from your description. I'm trying to imagine using the dowels to keep the fabric above the liner... How did you go about removing the center dowel? Doesn't it grip the adhesive and cause tugging across the entire thing?

Oh, actually, I'm just thinking about it... Did you lift the two dowels next to it to allow easy removal?

I might just give this a shot. Thanks!

 

The adhesive is not all that tacky unless you come into contact with something coated with the same adhesive. So the non-coated dowel just slides right out. That's why you coat both surfaces. They don't go down hard to anything until the two sprayed surfaces make contact with each other, where the bond very quickly becomes very tight. you might be able to reposition something once if you move quickly, but after that it's down. But anything else will just have a very slight adhesion.