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You might want to add replacing both flex hoses to the front. Hoses can restrict fluid flow to a caliper.
I actually replaced both hoses two years ago when I replaced the calipers. I kind of wish now I had thrown in a replacement to go with the new FR caliper into the order, but at this point it'd delay me past fixing the car over the weekend, and I'd end up losing more time and money to taking another rental car, and so on. I'll pay close attention to it when I do the caliper job, because I've definitely seen a blocked line cause similar symptoms to this on other cars in the past.
Changed the clanking ball joints on my dad's XJ8 as well as stabilizer links and brake lines. Thought I could do it all on the car until the last one, just refused to press in. I ended up replacing the right lower rear arm with a new arm, ball joint already pressed in. The special spring compressor tool worked great, but for the last part it helps to have some longer M10x1.5 bolts and a lot of washers to push the spring pan the rest of the way then replace the bolts with the originals one by one (with spring tool still in place). Also you need to either have a lift or a safe way to jack your car 2ft+ off the ground (ground to body) in order to get the long spring compressor bar in and out.
Now replacing the ball joints and bushings on my XJR. I think I have the ball joints down but the bushings are a new adventure. I tried drilling the bushing rubber out, cutting slots with a hacksaw so it will fold and cutting with a chisel but I had a mess on my hands. Eventually out of frustration I got a 7/8 socket, a 1/2 drive extension bar and just started wailing on it with a 5lb hammer. About 19 hours later those suckers finally came out. I need to buy a press.
Now replacing the ball joints and bushings on my XJR. I think I have the ball joints down but the bushings are a new adventure. I tried drilling the bushing rubber out, cutting slots with a hacksaw so it will fold and cutting with a chisel but I had a mess on my hands. Eventually out of frustration I got a 7/8 socket, a 1/2 drive extension bar and just started wailing on it with a 5lb hammer. About 19 hours later those suckers finally came out. I need to buy a press.
It is a hell of a job at times. Some come out relatively easily, whilst another will just look at you as if it thinks you wouldn't have been up to the job from the start, so why didn't you just ask it before you started. :-)
My observations on this demonic task:
You need a well mounted vice, but all I had was a folding workbench thing - better than nothing though.
You wouldn't be a fool to buy a cheap sawzall - saves some blood sweat and tears when cutting the slots out.
Just make sure there's some method in your madness and it'll be somewhat easier on the mind.
Pushing them in does take a bit of doing too, I thought, because I didn't want to push on the centre piece.
I used a press for that, and even that had its difficulties.
I think the car needs about 3 feet of front elevation, not 2. Takes some doing.
I bought some cheap replacement control arms to work on so the car wasn't out of action for long.
Keep an eye on the basics of the Jag alignment settings - if they are badly out it'll feel like the front end is loose. It isn't, it's just that sensitive to alignment.
Some pictures below from my time on the same job... lower control arm bush removal 01 drilling out the metal rubber middle bit lower control arm bush removal 02 pulling out the metal centre piece after drilling lower control arm bush removal 03 cutting slots in the metal remaining lower control arm bush removal 04 finally, you beat it. upper control arm bush removal 01 pushing out the centre piece upper control arm bush removal 02 clearing the remaining rubber before cutting into the metal upper control arm bush removal 03 waling on the metal so that it can be pulled out
Thanks for the tips Chris, I do have a sawzall and did end up resorting to that. Luckily the car is almost rust free so the bushings aren't rust-welded in there. We will see if I can get the new bushings in or if I give up and take the control arms to a shop to be pressed in.
This is always good news for XJR owners.
Mine is a 2002 and with a generous history of digital devices problems, time spent on it and the generous $$$ spent that goes with it.
After the adventure of two years ago with fixing the check engine light, the last thing I wanted was to go through the same this year again, but the check engine light came on just a month before renewal was due. One thing I DID NOT DO was to reset the light or to disconnect the battery because ,then you set yourself up for a long battle that will certainly go way beyond the month that I have left. I was getting ready for another circus but, luckily, I was reminded (a fellow member here) that the battery charge status tends to be an issue with these cars. These cars have that peculiar (retarded?) design flaw that will create faults with a battery charge status that most other cars appear to be OK with. Mine was 12.3 volts...and not enough!!! No, this car wants way more charge to do its job. So, I thought I should charge it until it won't take one more electron, which happened at 13.26 volts. Well, this did turn off that dreaded light and I raced the car to the smog place and, yes, it passed. So, yes, this just confirms to fellow XJR owners that the battery charge status CAN have something to do with some of these digital processors issues, luckily.
But, why does this happen? After all, the car normally operates at more than 13 volts from its charging system, or is it just the ignition OFF voltage what affects the electronics (ECU?) so much?
Went to the shop to collect my bike compressor from the jaaag, and they informed me that I need a new stub axle. She's in there for a new rear wheel bearing.
Picked up a new rattle on my rear deck lid today. Presents itself w/ road bumps & when I pump up the trunk sub woofers. Checked the 3rd brake light, it's stable, but it sounds like it resonates from that center region.
Maintenance wash & replaced the wiper blade, the highly marketed premo "Rain X" offering lasted me a whopping 3 months, never again. So I went w/ Bosch Pure Vision.
Last edited by King Charles; Sep 22, 2020 at 07:55 PM.
KC I've had great luck with the premium PIAA wiper blades vs those others... and they even have replacable blades if you buy the traditional style (not unibody) wipers. Mixed results with Rain-x on other cars, and certain premium Bosch blades would skitter and squeak, while others worked great.
On my car, I replaced the FR lower forward control arm bushing (really the whole arm with a junkyard assy, due to trashing my part from lack of rest/sleep and irresponsible use of a sawzall... not my proudest moment). BUT it seems to have solved the metallic creak from the FR that's been plaguing me for over half a year now that I've been slowly putting off/chasing with other parts. The old bushing must have torn internally, since I couldn't see any rubber damage from the outside after taking the old arm out. That, or the creak was solved by cleaning out some of the dust in the spring pan *shrug* it wasn't that dirty, and I'll just assume the bushing solved it.
STILL haven't figured out my vibration at highway speeds. Rotated tires and that helped greatly, but it's still above what I'd consider acceptable. I'll have to find a shop near my new apt that does road force balancing, and hope that solves it. Or maybe these cars just can't handle a hair of front end misbalance without building up harmonics at 55-60mph... it really ruins what would be a pleasant driving experience.
To add insult to injury, I discovered the DAY after I solved that creak, that my thermostat seems to be sticking open. Temp needle drops to almost a tick below middle at highway driving, and goes back up at low speeds/idle. Maybe it's been doing it a while though and only became apparent from the recent cold front. In any case, I'm hoping I can just quickly swap the tstat and hold a funnel below it to reduce the coolant mess, without dealing with a complete drain/fill. Shouldn't have to do this since I swapped it when I did timing chains 40k mi ago, but it's gotta be done.
KC I've had great luck with the premium PIAA wiper blades vs those others... and they even have replacable blades if you buy the traditional style (not unibody) wipers. Mixed results with Rain-x on other cars, and certain premium Bosch blades would skitter and squeak, while others worked great.
On my car, I replaced the FR lower forward control arm bushing (really the whole arm with a junkyard assy, due to trashing my part from lack of rest/sleep and irresponsible use of a sawzall... not my proudest moment). BUT it seems to have solved the metallic creak from the FR that's been plaguing me for over half a year now that I've been slowly putting off/chasing with other parts. The old bushing must have torn internally, since I couldn't see any rubber damage from the outside after taking the old arm out. That, or the creak was solved by cleaning out some of the dust in the spring pan *shrug* it wasn't that dirty, and I'll just assume the bushing solved it.
STILL haven't figured out my vibration at highway speeds. Rotated tires and that helped greatly, but it's still above what I'd consider acceptable. I'll have to find a shop near my new apt that does road force balancing, and hope that solves it. Or maybe these cars just can't handle a hair of front end misbalance without building up harmonics at 55-60mph... it really ruins what would be a pleasant driving experience.
To add insult to injury, I discovered the DAY after I solved that creak, that my thermostat seems to be sticking open. Temp needle drops to almost a tick below middle at highway driving, and goes back up at low speeds/idle. Maybe it's been doing it a while though and only became apparent from the recent cold front. In any case, I'm hoping I can just quickly swap the tstat and hold a funnel below it to reduce the coolant mess, without dealing with a complete drain/fill. Shouldn't have to do this since I swapped it when I did timing chains 40k mi ago, but it's gotta be done.
Never easy.
I've also been fighting the old 55-60 vibration in my 99 XJR. I've replaced shocks, wheel bearings and stabilizer ball links along with balance and alignment. I decided to just tear down the entire front suspension and replace all bushings and ball joints. I found some worn or torn lower bushings but the ball joints weren't too bad.
But upon closer inspection I believe I found the real culprit, a sheared body mount.
Going to replace those and the engine mounts while I'm in there as you have to detach them anyway to get to the subframe mounts. This car has been in a salt-free roads state and has about 93K but 20 year old rubber is 20 year old rubber, it's going to harden and crack. If this doesn't do it I give up on the vibration.
But, why does this happen? After all, the car normally operates at more than 13 volts from its charging system, or is it just the ignition OFF voltage what affects the electronics (ECU?) so much?
Your alternator might be on its way out. I had a plethora of batteries going a bit funny too early, trac faults at start up etc.
Then finally, one winter's evening, the headlights started going up and down with the engine revs. It had taken a few years to completely show itself, but there it was, the culprit! :-)
Developed an incredibly lazy method to replace the rear lower shock bushings.
Get rear of car on ramps. Load trunk with multiple batteries and spare X300 differential assembly. Undo lower shock bolts and watch the bottom of shock fall out of the car.
Grab hand press and press bushings out. Slather new bushing in antisieze and hammer in as far as you can go. Force shock up, fasten it back up and you’re done.
Developed an incredibly lazy method to replace the rear lower shock bushings.
Get rear of car on ramps. Load trunk with multiple batteries and spare X300 differential assembly. Undo lower shock bolts and watch the bottom of shock fall out of the car.
Grab hand press and press bushings out. Slather new bushing in antisieze and hammer in as far as you can go. Force shock up, fasten it back up and you’re done.
Finally had time to get to the motor mounts while I was replacing the subframe bushings. Glad I did, the left side was gone:
Funny how the right side frame mount can break, but the motor mount was fine. Yet on the left side it was the opposite. Excited about having this thing ride like it did from the factory, haven't experienced that yet.
Picking up my X308 Thursday after being in storage for 5 months. Taken my XK8 convertible off the road for 6 months, until next summer - possibly. Did not really use it this summer due to coronavirus. Most shows cancelled in the U.K. so pointless taking anywhere, plus there was no where else to take it as most venues were closed. Can’t wait to use my X308, really missed it. Went over yesterday to give it a ceramic coating, as I had polished it to an inch of its live before storing it, so will look gorgeous when it hits the road. Roll on Thursday!
Let my concubine use the 308 recently, I get in today. Broken driver side puddle lamp cover no doubt from slamming the door on the seat belt (shakes head), overhead console hanging by it's wires, this only happens when you jump RR crossings @ 70+ mph lol. She's going to get some unannounced **** play next carnal session, retribution comes in many forms lol.
Last edited by King Charles; Sep 29, 2020 at 07:12 PM.
