You know.. I always thought that 80-90 kmh vibration came from my tires being out of round or something to do with the roof rack, but now you've got me thinking...

 

When doing those rear bearings did you simply reuse the preload spacer that goes between them, and not have any issues? I'd read the manual on the rear bearing job and it said to swap out spacers until there was a certain amount of preload on the bearings. I'd figured since I don't have a supply of spacers on hand it'd be one of those jobs to take it to a shop.

 

The bearings are made to strict tolerances and the manufactures would be cleared out of business if they could not live up to them. I used the same shims that was installed originally and when i was done i made sure there was no play in the bearings what so ever and that the wheel rotated freely, everything well greased with a quality wheelbearing grease.


If i have to choose between continue driving with a bad bearing, take it to the shop and get robbed or do it myself.... if it is reasonable doable.. i most certanly do it myself. :-)


/E

 

As my beloved X308 remains in paint I have idle hands syndrome. Went & test drove this XJ6(linked below) & it's awesome albeit the color. Price is excellent as well so who knows what this weekend may bring to my drive-way.

https://onslow.craigslist.org/cto/6102713467.html

 

If the paint is still good enough to bring it back to full shine,
and you get rid of those awful bumpers,
and you get rid of those awful white tires,

It will be a BEAUTIFUL machine!

 

Always loved the nose on this era, the headlights,hood & grill contours(not the bumper) are more curvy/sexy it gives the car a stalking like stance to me visually. It sounded really mean & clean on my test drive I was really impressed !

One of my former clients video has never been more fitting for me right now lol.

 

It's not often I disagree with you... but those whitewall tyres are perfect, and definitely need to stay

It really is a shame about the US spec bumpers though. My god they're horrific!

 

Justification Exhibit A : My son's soon to be driving ( well that's my excuse lol). I'm going back this weekend w/ $4,000 in cash & if he bites, it's mine.

Further justification : My Maserati has been a bit of a let down to be honest & only has 9,000 miles so I've subconsciously been wanting to get rid of it. I'm sure I can fetch a nice price for it as it's a rare sight for this area.


I will continue to talk myself into this venture lol.

 

Went at it and also replaced the left rear wheel beering this evening...

There was absolutley no grease left.. only some burnt goo that smelled terrible..

Now i can say for sure that the 90kmh vibrations are gone... if im sitting and wondering if its really, really gone... trying to feel it... they for sure are.. so are the very low level, low frequency rumble.. With new bearings there is nothing that set of resonances in the suspension that connects to the body.. other than the wheels.... hmmm.. i may take them to the wheelshop for some, if possible better balancing anyway..

The 110kmh humming "noice"... well.... after giving it a thought in my now a little more quieter car, i came to the conclusion that its actually may be the engine..
I figure it must make atleast some kind of noice.. :-)

/E

 

TBH I've only found the quattroporte and gran turismo to my liking. Especially when the exhaust is uncorked and you can hear that Ferrari engine sing. I have to say I've enjoyed my XJR much more than just about any other car I've owned. I've been eyeing an older XJ to get so I can try some hot rodding.

 

Yes it's been a major let down as Maserati was one of my dream cars since a youth. Just the handling & highway mannerisms are more akin to a Nissan Sentra than a premium sports car. There's no comparison between my 17 year old X308 when it comes to highway handling.

 

I really like that XJ6, although the bumpers need to go.

One thing I really like about the X308's design is how Geoff Lawson referenced other XJ models in it's design. For example I love the subtle reference to the rear wing tips of the XJ6 on the 308.

Today I will be checking over my XJ and making her ready for her big trip to mainland Europe. She will be travelling from the North of England to France, into Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany before returning home next week.

 

Have a great trip, Stu.
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Door in pieces, glass out..


Well.. a picture says more than...


The lifting motor/mechanism

Had to take the right front door apart.. the sluggish window lifting motor was long overdue.
To disassembly the door is thankfully a piece of cake, and with some gaffatape holding the glass... the same goes for the lifting motor.


When trying the motor it was running as nice as the replacement lifting motor i had prepared.. so it is the glass "tracks" then...


The glass had to go.. just lower it, tilt it forward and lift out.. piece of cake..


It proved to be the aft sashchannel that had corroded behind the rubber right where the glass moves in to the lower part of the door, causing it to bulge.. pulled the rubber out as much as needed and cleaned up the area behind it, corrosionstop, paint and then put everything togeather again.


It was a little pain to get the rubber back in to the sashchannel, had to make a flexible plastic tool, abboujt 10" long with the same thickness as the glass and a rounded end, and then run it up and down in the rubber in order to force it in to Place with the help of a small screwdriver..


Since the "track" was bone dry i actually sprayed some silicone in to it in order to help the glass to slide.. I know, i know.. silicone.. but a man got to do what a man got to do..


/E

 

Well this was yesterday but I removed the battery, as it was dead and then cleaned the boot out... Full of clutter like cats, tranny bracket, exhaust parts, new parts etc.

This Friday I hope to have the old man running and movable again! Wish me luck

 

Has anybody tried to replace the bearings in the radiator fans? My right fan is sluggish and blows the fuse after about 15 minutes running. New fans are pricey and used ones may or may not be a fix.

 

One of my motors burned out and I took it apart just out of curiousity. I don't think it's something that's easily servicable, but I could be wrong, especially if you're very careful with them.

The issue could be shorts inside the winding as well, which isn't really feasible to fix. Put a used fan in its place and haven't looked back.

 

Well, it was actually Saturday, but might as well let him ride to the prom in a little class.

 

Good man Charles sir !

XJ6 update : I went to drive it again Sunday afternoon, this time the car was pulled from the inside garage bay & I got to see the concrete underneath it. It indicated a heavy oil leak which the seller was indifferent to when pointed out. I spoke w/ the maintenance/detailer guy alone & he confirmed the car had a few massive leaks.

Seller turned down my $4K offer & I avoided another project, win/win.

 

I am used to working on small synchornous motors used in radar antenna position. also long experience in Vacuum motors. I think I will give it a try, if it doesn't work I haven't lost anything except time
Thanks for the input.