When I had a problem shifting into drive it was because the mount on the transmission for the shift cable was corroded and had some movement in it. Brass cable cover/guide also needed replacing. It's not a difficult job. A transmission shop will do it for not much money. As soon as transmission detects any misalignment it'll give a code. Though obviously this might not be your problem. But if it is it will get worse. I ended up forcing it, because I was stuck in reverse, and breaking something in the shift lever mechanism. Then it needed towing. Then I formed a real dislike for the J-gate, used on the mercedes AMG box.

 

Yes I'm 95% sure it's electrical spurred on by the dead cell.

 

I put the new altenator in the trunk , she'll be heading to the shop for repairs this incoming monday(really wish I had time to work on her myself, but my family members are starting jobs and the XC70 has to fill that role now.)

 

I changed out my pitted,

painted grill with a chrome one. XJR’s here in the US have a lot of chrome so I really like the addition.

 

Sold it. Sad face.

 

Replaced fuse number two under the passenger rear seat kick out. Now all my locks work again!

 

I took it to an expert and had the rear shocks replaced. The Jaguar Doctor in Orlando did an excellent job. If I had tried this, after 3 weeks I would have had the car towed to him anyway.

I was quoted $770 by Pep Boys. I dropped it off three times last week there to have it done. Finally on Thursday, they admitted they didn't know how even after watching Youtube videos.

After talking with Andy at Jaguar Doctors, he replaced the shocks with "proper Bilsteins" for just a little more. Best decision I have made with the car.

 

I had noticed the car. 2001 XJ8 with 85000 miles, just wasn't producing power as it had. After getting my rear shocks replaced at my Jaguar repair shop, he noted on the report that it was not getting full power and might possibly be the mass air flow sensor. So I got on YouTube and watched a guy spray the sensor wires (2) with CRC Mass Air Flow Cleaner. You have to use cleaner specific to the MAF sensor that won't leave a residue. I picked it up at Autozone for $10 and a can of CRC Throttle Body cleaner $7.

So I unscrewed the sensor from the plastic air intake pipe and sprayed the two wires.

I can't stress how much this improved my performance. It put the Jaguar back in my Jag. I was astounded how well this simple cleaner worked. It's going to be a semi-annual ritual of mine going forward.

 

Contacted shop today, all hardware looks good they're checking harness connections for tranny code & rear mount bushings for noise.

 

Got the car back from shop, all trans hardware look fine & she's running/shifting perfectly, going to chalk the fault code up to a dead cell gremlin unless it presents any issues. Noise in rear is deemed a bushing he just denoted "left side bushing" nothing in depth lol I guess that means I've got to find a diagram, Either way it's gotta be dealt with.

 

Just got it back from the shop for the alternator replacement, I think my torque converter is going (thing makes a very whinny sound when upshifting, doesn't bang into gears but shifts are significantly delayed)

 

Drove it to work and back (~35 miles each way) for the first time since installing the replacement transmission. No warning lights, nothing exploded, not even an ABS light. Shifted well enough, though I think the fluid and transmission are still breaking in. With the ABS failures, I guess resoldering ALL the harness connections on the ABS PCB, not just the motor terminals, solved the weird intermittent sensor issue I was having. I'll have to just keep driving and see if it comes back.

Now I just need to seam sealer the leaky trunk seams, replace the front LCA's with OEM ones I've had collecting dust, solve my sunroof rattle and a couple other creaks, get the roof repainted, diagnose a potential intermittent battery drain or intermittent start fault, and other smaller things. But it's progress! It drives, and feels special!

 

Had the ole girl on a dyno today to run the transmission hard in every shifting scenario & she performed flawlessly. The previous gearbox fault is 99.9% a dead battery gremlin in mine & my techs' minds. Now to find someone who wants to drop that rear sub-frame & sort my noisy bushing issue.

 

can it be done like this? vmethod for removing shock absorber without dropping rear end:


Or is it a different bushing?

 

Deleted, incorrect post.

 

Shocks & related rubbers were done this way about 6-7K miles ago. Either something in that work has failed prematurely or it's a bushing in the actual rear frame.

 

Took apart heater water pump, cleaned it and put it back just to find it is gonna fail someday soon. Replaced coolant. Replaced lower steering column and gaiter to it. Did four wheel aligment. Serviced front brakes. Replaced all wheel nuts. Measured the heater valve control with oscilloscope. And switched front tires to the back.
And yes, bought new alternative pump for the heater. Have to make it fit some day.
So not THAT much.

 

Sadly had to part ways with Sophie this past Friday, she was a horrible first car; its going to be really hard to find something remotely close in a modern car. Even though I wanted to repair the transmission again the anxiety of not knowing when something could go wrong and if it would happen soon made me sell her. On my last drive with her the trans refused to stay in gear , damn near killed me taking it to Greensboro. I'm considering a x351 or possible xk150 but I'm worried that they may also be plagued by horrible ZF engineering and owners that could not keep to the maintenance schedule. I do know that technology has come a long way since 1997 when these cars first hit the road. If I can't get another XJ , I'd like something with true double wishbone suspension all around, and the lack of IFS and IRS would be a definite deal breaker. Supposedly car insulation has gotten so good these days that hearing your engine is a sign of something gone horribly wrong. I loved hearing that aj27 roar; and I will miss Sophie dearly; even though it almost got me killed three times(once at the intersection in front of my job the trans stalled while I had right of way but you know Virginia drivers and their smartphones. in some alternate universe insurance totaled her out). So does anyone here know how similar or dissimilar the x351's handling characteristics are when directly compared the x308's?

 

the gen2 s-type, 150, 350 and 351 drive 10x better than the 308 especially at high speed

 

do you know why that might be the case at high speed? air suspension?