New breather tube installed. Running fine and no codes have appeared as of yet.

So far so good re knock sensor too. If P0333 rears its ugly head, I'll get the proper Knock sensor that Carnival suggested.

I feel good about replacing rather than patching up the old brittle tube.

StagByTriumph, I used your suggested pull the tube through / under the intake manifold with a hook coat hanger trick. It worked perfectly, save me a lot of time and frustration. Thanks.

Thank everyone for the support.

Next, door latch cable and speakers in the 2001 xj8.

jeffxj8

 

may have set the fuel pump replacement world record...1 hour flat

 

What did you use to cut the opening?
It would have been so easy for Jaguar to have provided an access panel right there!

 

angle grinder, took me 2 minutes

unhook the wires in the back and put something on top the lines, i used a floormat

 

Glued the weird end of my intake tube back together, but broke my high-load breather hose(SKU:NCA3951CB); so thats on order from sng right now.......oh I also scheduled an oil change for next week,vacummed my interior and refueled.

 

Bought this fixer last Sept. Wasn't running so I dove in. Found the common problem, broken timing chain! No valve/piston damage, so I rebuilt the front timing, new water pump, new thermostat tower, new spider hose and valley hoses. And it runs!

 

Photos?

 

Today was a bit of good and bit of bad. Went in to replace the passenger side upstream O2 sensor, and finally got the thing loose (the good). Used a 17" breaker with a 7/8" crowsfoot, as the O2 sockets were useless and wouldn't stay on the thing. The bad, you ask? I inadvertently ordered and received the downstream sensor - wrong part, wrong connector. So, we'll go through this all over again tomorrow when the new upstream sensor arrives.

 

The weather is absolutely rotten here in Orange County, NY - so no opportunity to do anything with the car (or even drive it)
However, I did go to the DMV for the second time in 2 days to get the registration sorted. All good now.

Car will go in for an oil change (my paperwork indicates it was last done in 2019, but that the car had done less than 1k miles since) and the new tires fitted this week!

 

Over the past few weeks:
Resoldered the ABS module. Did both motor terminal legs, as well as ALL the input connector pins. Stripped the old solder with solder-wick and resoldered with high quality solder. Hopefully that will solve the intermittent missing wheel sensor fault.
Replaced the LCD in the gauge cluster. The old one was delaminating between the anti-reflective coating and the LCD, it was readable but looking pretty gross. Bit of scary surgery since it involved prying apart the gauge face label from the backing, but I got it back in B+ shape. Bit of debris on the yellow/red status indicators in the middle, OK otherwise. Will do until I find a cheap cluster face that works as a replacement.
And most importantly...
Picked up a transmission!! Almost all needed small parts are on order, just need for health and weather to line up, hopefully get that put in in a week or two. Thing is much lighter than I expected.

 

Nilanium, when going back in with the transmission, be VERY patient about that TOC tube on top of the transmission. To get the brass crush washers, banjo bolt and getting that banjo flange perfectly flat on that transmission can be quite difficult. I almost stripped threads because I was fighting the tube not being 100% lined up and parallel to each other.

 

Still haven't put the transmission in... But I've gathered all I need now and the plan is to try to do it all in one day tomorrow. Got some prep work out of the way ahead of time (undoing driveshaft, exhaust/cats, fluid drain, etc). When in neutral, the output flange on the broken transmission will only rotate one way, the other direction I can't turn it by hand. No wonder it was so hard to roll on the lot before.

In the meantime, I've finally gotten around to working on an idea I had years ago... 3d printing a cupholder that inserts into the center console storage. Started working on the design for that, beginning with the shell dimensions for the enclosure. Printed a test shell to see if I got the measurements right, and... fits like a glove! Now I have a fancy storage divider, and the right dimensions, couple very minor tweaks and I can design a cupholder into that shell easily.

 

I replaced the upper shock bushings and fitted new Bilsein comfort shocks on my 2001 VDP about 3 years & 10,000 miles ago, but I didn't replace the gaiters and bumper stops at the time. It's been bugging me that I didn't, so I ordered new two sets from SNG Barrett and fitted them today. I doubt it will make much difference, if any, even though the old bumpers do show obvious signs of age and wear, but the fact that I know they are new is satisfaction to me.


.

 

An update to installing the new front shock buffers and gaiters...............previously I noticed that the buffers and gaiters would drop down from the upper cup that they are supposed to be retained in.

Since replacing the buffers with new ones they stay in the upper cups as designed. So I assume that the fact that the old buffers had not only hardened with age, but also "shrunk" in length, was to blame for this, and now with the new, longer, and softer, buffers they stay in place as they should.

Bottom line, at $35 a side they are well worth replacing.



.

 

Over the course of the past few days, got the driveway transmission swap done (mostly). New transmission, engine rear oil galley seal+plug, transmission-driveshaft coupling, transmission fluid+pan gasket+filter. Ran it today and it does move again!!! Bit of weird error messages when filling the transmission but all seems well now. Will need to do a proper run up to temp and check fluid level on a flat parking lot tomorrow before doing more extended testing.

Now I'm getting some intermittent light smoke from the driver's side area around the catalytic converter... Not sure what's going on there but I'm worried I'm going to have to replace that cat-manifold gasket. The smoke doesn't have a noticeable smell to it, so maybe it's pre-cat exhaust fumes? I'll try to get under the car during the day tomorrow and see if I can find the source, it wasn't obvious from above today. Really don't want to take that cat out again, absolute pain with all the cooling lines in the way, and all the heat shields too. Turns out the big heat shield on that cat has just been rattling around for who knows how long, it had no fasteners holding it in place when I removed the cat.

 

Last week I got my 2000 XJ8 cam covers resealed with all new gaskets, replaced the oil pressure and oil temperature sensors, oil and filter change. Nice 70 F degree day in Colorado, it got a nice exterior scrub (1st photo) and engine bay detailing (second photo), went for a satisfying spirited drive with its new updated ECM to blow out the cobwebs.

This XJ8 Base has 128k miles, traction control, has been a daily driver for me, lots of things replaced by the previous owner mechanic (POM) in Alabama and me in Colorado: timing chains, guides and tensioners done at ~63k miles (POM), front and rear shocks and top/bottom bushings (me), headliner reset (POM), clutch cone replaced ~ 68k miles(POM), uprated aluminum t-stat housing, and new main hoses and belt (POM),new heater circuit hoses and expansion tank w/ cleaned & lubed blend valve and replaced cabin heater pump & new Orange coolant (me), dark tint windows (me), regular 3000 mile Synthetic oil /filters changes, new O2 sensors and complete TB rebuild (me), Platinum NGK plugs (me), high intensity Sylvania bulbs (me), replaced cracked marker lenses, replaced rotors and pads and brake fluid (me), tie rod ends (me)ECM upgraded with later version for 2002 XJ8 and properly programmed by me with IDS/SDD, battery 3-4 years old and well maintained overall and yes, will peg the speedo.

Last things to be done are upper/lower ball joints (in hand) , replace a defective upstream O2 sensor (in hand) once I get it back on my lift with some warmer weather, set the rear center high mounted tail light in place, repair the boot lid wire harness (common) so boot button and remote unlock trunk - currently unlocked with the key. Two keys - one black and one green and two transmitter fobs, all manuals.

When you look closely there several light pock marks from hail that I have been told by insurance can be popped out paint-less - can't be seen unless you absolutely do a detail exam. Other than that paint is excellent save a few scratches. Interior it good but the driver seat is showing its age, regularly fed with Hyde Food, leather steering wheel. Memory seat all positions, lumbar supports, sunroof and the rest of the electrics work.

Photo #3 was last night (14 March 2021) gotta love Colorado - but the 2000 XJ8 is safe and dry inside my garage, but the 2005 XJ8L got buried under 24" of snow - seen background past my Stag - foreground- under restoration. Today 40 degrees F and piles of shoveled heavy spring snow.

I am offering her for sale for a reasonable offer as we are down to one driver - me, and I have 4 cars and one crotch rocket, one car under restoration and I'm in need of pairing down the collection to get the restoration completed.

She's very pretty, runs perfectly and gets lots of comments everywhere she is driven, I rescued her from Alabama where she was garaged most of her life by #2 owner, only 72k miles in 15 years who had $11k in recent receipts when I bought her at 72k miles in 2015. I actually prefer her over my wife's 2005, but the 2005 is so ridiculous low miles and like new condition, the 2000 has got to go.

No rust or corrosion anywhere. So I unloaded my '96 Xj6 with 248k miles to a willing 'bama buyer in Alabama and bought this one, a dead ringer for my wife's 2001 XJ8.

If there is any interest in this very pretty 2000 XJ8 base, PM me for more info.

 

Removed and replaced the upper passenger side Oxygen Sensor this afternoon.

Really fiddly and I had a bear getting the new connector to seat properly on the metal mount but all done, CEL off and running noticeably better.
I am hoping the fuel economy will improve a little as, while I expected it to be poor, it has been a little eye watering with NY prices for 93 Premium. lol

 

Gave Sophie(named after a girl who offered me a ride home before I inherited my x308) the Italian shakedown , got to work pulled codes ,and finally passed the startup test with p1111 at 180,030miles . It took a long time to get here and now I'm considering adding an 2012 x150 coupe base to my stable of base model awesomeness. I'm scared of doing it because the worst thing we can do to our x308s is not driving them. That said I think I'll be taking it to VIR in may (some promos running something like $235 for an all day pass to really feel it in the corners) . Things to do : oil pan gasket(its been leaking since we got it time to fix that), performance brake pads(or xjr caliper,rotor,dust shield upgrade), more seat time. Got my water pump replaced two weeks ago, and she's been running like a top. Can't stress this enough even for show-grade x308s, USE THEM(I daily mine, and love it dearly).

 

De-pollinated the ole girl, she'll be good for 12.5 minutes lol.

 

Up early to get my beloved to the shop to solve a rear end noise. Battery's dead as my son unknowingly to me unplugged my float charger & it's been sitting a week plus now. No worries I call AAA , done deal. I proceed to back out of my driveway & the damn car will not engage into Drive. Re-fire, let sit idle for a few minutes temp. gauge is up into regular range & she performs as she should. On crank I get p1772/gear box fault, I've never seen this code before, could it be a random electronic glitch from the dead battery ?!

Been running flawlessly, so it's odd the dead battery & tranny code coincide ?!

Transmission's rebuilt at about 2 years 6K mileage. Either way she's in the shop lol.

Hate to say it but if it's another mechanical failure I may just cash this one in.