So my shop quotes me $1200 for pats and labor on a new rack and pinion, primarily because of the left side. This is for a left handed driver vehicle.

Sounds about right but wanted to check with the forums as you guys are way more knowledgeable about these things than myself.

$510 for the Jaguar sport rack and pinion. The rest is labor which includes alignment etc. He told me it's a low rate compared to what he normally charges.

How does this labor rate sound? I called my regular mechanic who works on my Acura and he said the labor for this on a Jaguar is much harder. Is that correct?

Also, just last year I had this same Jag mechanic change my control arm bushings on the right hand side. I haven't driven the car more than 1000 miles since then.

Wouldn't he have seen there was an issue with the rack and pinion last year?

Finally, how can I tell if the parts he is using for the Rack in Pinion is indeed the Jaguar Sport brand. Anything else I should ask about such as bushings he's using etc?

Any help is appreciated. I live in NYC in Manhattan so working on something like this is not even an option.

Hoping to take some mechanic classes once I can buy a house and move to the suburbs of NYC so I can work on my cars myself!! lol

 

Robbery.

I'm in NYC too BTW. Normal Rack is 231$ + shipping at rock auto.
Sport rack is 534$ at rock auto.


Rebuilding of your unit is cheaper at $185 and if you have yours rebuilt you'll know you have the same and correct rack. Just that car will have to lay up for a week.

A rack replacement is an easy job with few pit falls.

A two wheel alignment to adjust toe should cost 69$ to 99$

https://www.pepboys.com/service/tire...ces/alignment/
I wouldnt go to pep boys but...here's a published price for an idea and you can find a pep boys in brooklyn.

Job should cost 600 to 800 retail even in NYC. Might be worth a trip over the Brooklyn bridge to 3rd ave. There a good mechanic right next to the BMW dealer on 61st Street and right on 3rd Ave. I bought my wife a used mercedes 320CLK from him, was a honest guy and fixed a few things just like he said he would. Sadly since I do all my own repairs I dont have his name.

 

I am going to have to disagree with the idea that a rack and pinion replacement on the XJS has few pitfalls. First, the engine barely fits in the engine bay therefore, all ancillaries like oil filters, steering racks, coolers, etc, are placed in tighter areas. I have personally replaced steering racks on many XJS cars and can attest to the degree of skill required to reach the fluid line nuts on top of the pinion. It takes a very patient person to remove them and REINSTALL them without screwing them up. As well, a quality alignment is worth paying good money for. A pep boys toe and go will get you what you pay for.

 

Ok we disagree,,,here is why...

You disconnect the intermediate steering shaft it u-joints up and off the rack, then remove the top rack bolt and the loosen the other two or drop the driver side down a bit. Then the fluid lines will be much easier to access. Then off with the tie rods. It's out!
Round trip, it's a 2 hour job with a coffee brake in between removal and replacement.

 

I've changed the rack on my XJS and on my old XJ6 Series III. I will say the XJ6 was a tad easier I can also say the XJS wasn't exactly "hard" especially to a mechanic with an overhead rack at his/her disposal. The most important thing in all of this is what kind of warranty comes with it and will they be there to service it after the sell if it does need warranty service.

 

I've done a removal in the junkyard with just hand tools in about an hour and a half, that included taking the pump too. I was careful to undo things so I could reuse them, rather than just hacking the thing out.

 

My experience with racks in the V12 cars, FWIW, is that the hose/pipes fittings make or break the game. Either the cooperate and you can almost whistle while you work..... or they fight you until you're ready to collapse

And a lot if this ^^^^ has to do with the hoses, it seems. Some replacement hoses out there don't fit quite right ('replacement design') and add to the struggle. The original configuration hoses are OK.

Cheers
DD

 

It is very difficult. However, if you disconnect the OPPOSITE ends of both fluid lines first, the job gets significantly easier. Same with reinstallation, connect the lines to the rack first, then wait to reconnect the opposite ends after the rack is up and installed.*


*1. I wish someone had told me this trick the first time I tried the job.
2. Chances are if a steering rack replacement is necessary, both those lines should be replaced anyway.

 

Great so I'm pretty much screwed. lol I can have him bring that price down. I told the guy to go ahead and do it without getting a second opinion.

I have so much going on with work etc that I just said screw it and told him to do it.

ICS is there a way for him to prove to me that he installed the sport rack?

Also, I did try to get him to do a bunch of cosmetic thing things for free because I felt the price was steep so I'm going to milk him as much as I can.

So this is a two hour job tops for someone who knows what he's doing?

I knew I should have posted something here beforehand. Thanks for everyone's input.

It seems some folks think it's a straightforward job. Does this range in difficulty due to experience.

I mean this guy is in a very experienced shop so this should be something he's accustomed to doing so the degree of difficulty for him shouldn't be that bad.

 

Of course!

And, if he's had a problem with Jag rack and pinions before he might be adding in an aggravation charge.

Or if he's never done an XJS V12 rack job maybe he's buffering his estimate to account for the unknown

Or maybe he's just seeing what he can get away with. "Whatever the market will bear" type of thing. That's free enterprise.

Heck, when I've worked on other peoples' Jags there are certain jobs I just don't like doing. Those become a "Here's my price. Take it or leave it" proposition.

Cheers
DD




If he isn't specifically accustomed to old Jags that might be playing a part. Lots of shops are scared of them. Even experienced shops.

Cheers
DD

 

All he has in there are old Jags. E-Types, XJS's, XJ6's, XK's....from every year. You can also occasionally see other classics from different manufacturers in his garage but Jag's are what he specializes in.

The guys is a well known Jaguar black belt in the NY area as I've seen some really nice cars in his shop. I don't want to out his name but so far he's had the car running like a beauty so I can't really complain.

Like you said, maybe it's a job he doesn't like doing or knows that his helpers will have problems with.

Don't really foresee it being that he doesn't work with older vehicles. I'm going to still try and get the price down some and have him do some other work I need for free or cheap lol

New hood struts, cigarette lighter, stuck trunk lock etc.

 

Also thinking of purchasing a new aluminum Radiator. What's the total labor hours on that job?

I'm thinking of asking him to do that for cheap to make up for this expensive job. One hand washes the other. Loyal customers should get cut some slack from time to time. lol

 

Well, maybe he's really good. And charges what he thinks he's worth. If the customers think he's worth it, too, they'll pay. If not, well.....he won't be around long.



Cheers
DD

 

Agreed.

When you've got a niche car (old Jags), and you find someone who is good at working on them, I don't mind paying a premium. He's got to stay in business, and I need him in business. If we try to haggle them down to the price of the local Pep Boys, he won't be able to stay in business, and Pep Boys will be working on your Jag.

Padre

 

I don;t think anyone mentioned this, but by my guess overhead for running a business in NYC has got to be sky high compared to a lot of locations. Just because parts cost x and labor is y hours doesn't mean that's the sum of his costs.

Eric

 

BadKat174,

As with most jobs on most cars, it's all about experience and knowing the best way to do it. I've changed a rack on an XJS and IMO, the key element was disconnecting and re-connecting the pipes. It had already been suggested to me that the easiest way was to disconnect the mounts and lower the rack a bit and then disconnect the pipes. Mac Allan has suggested an interesting alternative way on disconnecting the other end of the pipes.

Although a lot of mechanics don't like having to explain their approach, why don't you "help" your mechanic and mention that you've heard from owners about these two approaches that considerably ease the job (and cost!) and ask him beforehand which approach he uses. You might just find that he hadn't thought of either way!

Good luck

Paul

 

Whats the difference between the stock & sport rack (mine is a 91. Also did anybody mention using polyurethane bushings ? Regarding the aluminum radiator, Wizard, a company in NY, v12's, and I think Be Cool all make direct fit aluminum rad's .
Lawrence

 

Hi BadKat

Hopefully this will tell you what you need to know.

OB

RackPinionHeads

 

I have a 96 XJS-C with 4L inline 6, and the quote I rec'd in Minneapolis is around $1000 for parts, labor and alignment.

Just FYI, there is a how-to sticky on replacing a steering rack on a 94 XJS with 6L v12. It looks quite straightforward. There is a special tool for removing the factory steering rack bushings - I found one on Jagparts.com for around $50.

I've ordered a factory service manual, the bushing removal tool, polyurethane steering rack bushings and plan to order the rack after I verify that mine is the 3 bolt, non-servo rack. I will order Lemforder OE rubber bushings for the upper and lower control arms and new tie rods (probably Moog to save $). I was told by a Sr. member named Vee that if I need new ball joints, only buy Lemforder brand.

I'm by no means an expert, but can usually follow directions, so I'm going to try to do it on my own. Not sure if you're able/willing, but from the sticky, it doesn't look that hard.

Either way, your price doesn't look out of line, esp. as pointed out that NYC shop space will cost more than almost anywhere else in the USA.

Good luck - I hope you get your car back on the road and driving like a champ in short order.

 

I'll second Lawrence's question: what's the difference between the normal and sport rack?

I just replaced my original bushings with polyurethane. Only after the car was off the lift did the mechanic mention that the seal at the input was leaking. So now it has to come down/off again.

As I'm trying to clean up the handling on mine, I'd be interested in a sport rack.

Pete