So tackling the overhead console I see the fall broke all the lighting console's mounting slots, no big deal as I have 2 laying around from my wood upgrade project. Initially I just switched out my entire original overhead console for the wood unit, but I instantly noticed the color was a bit off, likely AGD instead of my SDZ.

So today I'm putting the wood on my original, not without destroying the old insert on removal of course. The wood unit removed w/ no damage & w/ a bit of still tacky film so I left it, I think that w/ the metal bend tabs will be enough to secure it. But the less I handle this Jag plastic fashioned from egg shells & unicorn tears, the better lol. Over the course of rebuilding the previous good tiny switch bulbs that were working before decided to crap out even w/ numerous re-seatings. Oh the joy of testing, removing & installing minuscule bulbs by head lamp in a pitch black driveway lol. Finally got everything working & reassembled. Hard to tell from these digital pics but in the sunlight the difference in hue was very noticeable. The wood's a perfect burl match & shape but the gloss here makes it look milky ?!







Going to be really pleased to have my original OH console back up w/ the perfect match I doubt anyone else noticed, but I surely did. I just hope I've mastered the OH console install as those quarter turn plastic fasteners are very questionable engineering @ best in this application. This task will best suited for day light/tomorrow.


Short lived victory. I just noticed I left the seller's warranty sticker on & it's visible in the light's housing now I have to take back apart w/ those moody bulbs & frail plastics.

 

Been fiddling around with an old diff that I ordered from ebay some years ago and never even bothered unpacking properly. Life got in the way.
Turns out it's a pretty dodgy diff. Pinion bearing seems bust. Strange non standard pinion oil seal too.
(Edit : I see from Bob Gauff post that it's actually just the backing ring / ryton ring assembly.)
So I'm trying to disassemble the diff so as to teach myself sumink. It's either that or bin it.
So the last couple days toil has involved drilling the middle of the hardened steel of an extra long 30mm socket, so I can use my impact wrench on this two long bolts.
​​​​​​I recommend 14mm & 18mm hss cobalt drills. The 14mm can go as far as you like, whereas the 18mm needs a little more care.
​

 

Drove the 01 VDP for the very first time since I've owned it. HOT DAMN! It's been on blocks in my barnyard for 2 years, waiting for me to solve the fuel pump/inaccessable fuel line connectors problem. I finally gave up the DIY approach and had it flat-bedded into town to a mechanic who could do the work intermittently on slow days for a basic flat rate manual price, regardless of complications. (his idea, not mine). Bless his heart, complications galore but no extra charge, $300, approx.

After he got the engine running, first time since I'd replaced the upper tensioners, it sounded great, so I authorized a new set of tires, same tire as what's on my '05. When Lee got the old tires off he discovered massive corrosion UNDER the chrome plating inside the wheels. He cleaned off the beads with a small flat wheel in a grinder and used bead sealer (again, no extra charge) and mounted the tires and left it outside the shop with the keys in a coded lockbox. When I got home from work Saturday night, I walked to his shop, retrieved the keys, and drove it to my own workshop, then home, about one mile. BIG ****-eatin' grin on my mug. Sat in that VDP Dove leather for the first time, just as great as it looks.

Drove it on the highway Monday to test the various systems, and gave it high marks all around: stiff steering limbered up, A/C works great, brakes continue to improve as I get the surface rust off the rotors, front suspension sounds good with no knocking or weird noises, all reminiscent of my gold XJ8L that went to a new owner right before Covid 19 came along. Much nicer interior, many fewer miles.

Today, Friday, the first storage issue came up, one tire out of 4 has lost air. I'll get it examined, but apparently the corroded wheel issue will need to be addressed again soon.

The car:



Note that corrosion is visible on the inside of the wheel openings, indicating that it's under the chrome outside the wheel, as well as inside.

 

Finally my car on impeller 18 inch tyres are 245/45/18 . Slight difference in transmission shifts I had 16 inch it was fine but the car was too low . Btw rear tires are bridgestone potenza and the front are marshall tyres . I had sumitimo on the 16 inch . If I had more cash I will go with goodyear or pireli so my advice may save you time and work if you want comfort ride and good tires go with those brand. n my case I paid 230$ for wheels and tires not bad deal for 4 year old tire

 

Just got my 1999 XJ8 from storage and while driving it back home had ABS light come up on dash. Put diagnostic on once at home and found the front right ABS was showing a fault. Purchased a new sensor, then on arrival went to fit it. Oh boy, simple job so I thought. Take off front wheel, turn wheel to expose wiring and sensor. Disconnect lead, undo single bolt - first problem. Didn't want to budge! Loads of WD40 and sheer brute force and I then got it to turn. Then was the next issue. The actual sensor seemed to be jammed into the hole. Tried to prise it out with a screwdriver. Managed to get certain amount of wiring core out of this bit, but still didn't want to come out. Ended up drilling it out very carefully. What a pain this was. I got there in the end and new one fitted. Started up and no ABS light illuminated. Result!!!

 

Wife and I took bikes and spent the weekend in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania. The Fall leaves were the most beautiful I have ever seen. We drove 500 miles up very steep and curvy highways. I briefly went into restricted performance and check engine came on. Car performed just fine. Code was a knock sensor high voltage bank 2. I erased it with no further issues. Probably due to using less than 93 octane gasoline??

jeffxj8

 

Hi,

Last weekend I finished the rear-end of my Jaguar X308.
Everything was really easy until I got to the exhaust brackets... those were a pain and took like 50% of the time to remove and re-install.

I ordered new shocks, new springs, a new A-frame because it was rotted and a new fuel filter because I it was accessable after I removed the subframe. I also ordered 4 new driveshaft u-joints, but I was unable to remove the curremt ones because there were stuck, so instead I greased them. It took me 4 days to restore the rear end of my X308. (Note that I did this on the street; no lift, only 2 jacks)


Old rear-end

New one


All done

 

Washed,decontaminated & thoroughly coated in Collinite 845, she's ready for fall & winter.

 

Damn KC, that paint job of yours shines so much I have to wear tinted glasses just to look at the pictures!!!

 

De buren zullen wel blij met je zijn
Nice job!

 

I'm liking the little home made trolley. Now there's an idea!

Your car looks so much like mine that it's almost given me the impetus to do nearly the same job.
Mine will be a spring & diff replacement though. Plus checking the state of the centre bearing on the drive shaft.
I've so not got the drive myself right now!

 

1 Checked rt ft door speaker for buzzing when base line from song is strong. Found small piece of paper debris when removing grille. Put a drab of superglue on speaker edge, and all's well.
2 1st check of spare tire (bought car 3 months ago) and dodged a bullet. Tire had 0 psi...that's ZERO PSI ! Top it up and will check next weekend to see if it held. If not, run to local tire store to check for a leak.
3 Checked cig lighter and no "pop up" (I don't smoke but might need to charge cell fone with USB adapter). Tester says not live with the key on. Can't find where fuse is...any clue?
4 Have 2 spare trunk lid lights (from junk car) that test fine. Looked for place to install in deck lid, since I think 2 factory lights are a joke. No luck in lid, so checked both sides of trunk carpet and found suitable locations. They will illuminate horizontally, while factory lights cover the downward. Now to figure wiring,
ol' Blue is my daily driver, 155K, and everything works. Still, I miss my Black, the '05 8L.

 

I think you're posting in the wrong sub forum. This is X308.
X308 Vehicle Care Handbook has fuse box locations & all the various fuses detained but, that will not help you since you do not have an X308.
In case you do, in fact, actually have an X308....
We have 5 fuse boxes; 2 in engine compartment, 2 in back seat area & on in trunk. (4-13)
Luggage Compartment Fuse box (4-20)
Cigar Lighters fuse # 5, 25 Amp.

You must have a manual for your 92/93 XJS.

 

Steve
Ooops, sorry, but yes I do have both XJS and XJ8. Thx for cigar lighter fuse info.

 

I replaced the front rotten front speakers in my gold 2002.. Bonus, I properly attached the loose and creaky door panels. I had to buy 20 sets of new mount pins from Jag dealer for 60 dollars. Once I figured out how to do it, mounting the door panels was easy. Speakers sound good, panels are solid and quiet. Happy

 

Been driving a week plus w/ severely compromised vision from a botched lasik procedure, let's just say parallel parking in a congested urban setting was an adventure today lol.

 

Replaced the battery due to no-start unless headlights were off, after car say a while. Thought it was a simple fix, and everything was great... until a week later I got the same issue. Looks like I spent $200 for nothing, and get to chase down a possibly intermittent current drain.

Also developed a knock in my FL lower ball joint (again...) so I tried to reman an old MTC lower control arm I had sitting around. Turns out the ball joint bores are NOT to factory spec, and also painted, and have a slight conical taper to them. Going to write up a detailed post on that in its own thread at some point, but now I sprang for new OEM control arms for both sides. Even with some deals I found from private sellers on Ebay, still so much money...

 

Gotta ticket today 88 in a 60 I was "Torque App" testing some shift parameters. Always smooth interactions w/ NC state troopers, had that been local police I'd have had so much hassle. My NC license sometimes come up as suspended due to a DMV records glitch but I also have valid Georgia license & that scenario confuses the police, troopers not so much lol. Texted my lawyer on the scene he said "no worries I'll plead you to sub 75, pay the cost". There's a new by-pass & he was tucked away in a gully on the side by an off-ramp.

Car's running supremely right now, couldn't be more pleased.

 

Without notice, I began to hear a metallic noise coming from the front. I thought at first it was the wheel bearings but on jacking up the car and grabbing the wheel, shaking it to the right and left as well as up and down, there appeared not to be any play. I took off the wheels too, to check if there was anything untoward but all I could see was a scoring on the inside of the front nearside wheel. That should have told me what the issue was, but as a safe guard I took it to my local independent Jaguar service centre. They identified that the brake shield on the nearside wheel was in fact touching the inside of the wheel, hence the metallic noise I could hear when driving. The service centre staff bent the shield back into the correct position so that it didn't touch the wheel. Problem solved. No idea how it got out of alignment in the first place, but now sorted, at no cost!

 

Hello,

On one of my 2000 VDPs the left side (Upper) fan comes on high. The other fan never comes on at any speed and the left side only comes on high. I swapped the relay with one I had from my previous XJ8 and nothing changed....same situation. Also, when the car is turned off, often that same fan runs for several minutes. Both 30a fuses in the engine control fuse box are good (I think F12 & F14). I changed the temperature sensor in the water manifold but that did not change anything.
Any ideas guys? Thanks much