Good Morning ALL!

Been missing you guys. Jaguars Got Nothing on a 100yo house when it comes to what needs attention. My God. Huge learning curve. Old paint is my nemesis! Almost 2 full years of weekends war-ing. Scaffolding. You get the idea.

3 Jags and a Porsche, only neglect 🙁

Here's the thing. My Lady mostly drives the 2002 XK8 and something happened (that never has) the other day on a normal routine drive. No excessive speed, not pushing the car in any way.

I came into a SERIOUSLY trafficked corner where rt278 meets rt95 just out of NYC into NJ. For folks who don't know rt95 is a (the) major North South American highway in the US. Running from like Maine to Florida connecting all major US coastal-ish cities.

It had just started sprinkling/misting, came into this tight roundabout style corner medium slow and the entire rear end started drifting. Uncontrollably. Ended up facing the wrong direction into incoming traffic. Thankfully it was early AM Sunday. Light traffic.

I righted the car and a little shaken continued. I attributed the spinout to my stupidity, light rain on a super heavily trafficked corner and days, weeks and months of oil drops, coolant loss, invisible rubber skin form tires and a million other deposits on the road from literally a million cars.

I drove to where I needed to in NJ and headed back. Rain had continued and gotten heavy, on and off. Entered into the exact same corner but on the return side of the trip and the complete spin happened again! This was a couple of weeks ago and I CANNOT get it off of my mind...

These SPINS were super easy to "accomplish". I could see no real reason for them happening. Dangerous like. I had never noticed this car "wanting" to go *** out before like this.

My wife is driving this car now as a daily driver. Does the XK8 have some issue, a history, of being this messy in the rear end like this? What do I need to be thinking? Could this be signifying a need for diff fluid change, issues in the diff, other things? I hope SO, while hoping not. If this is "normal" I can't have MeLady driving this thing around if it has a tendency and issue with this.

As always, I appreciate any and all insight.

Please advise.

 

My first suspect in situations like this is always the condition of the tires. My second suspect would be a potential contaminant spill on the pavement in that particular spot....

 

What Jon said.
Also, spit-balling here, but maybe tire pressure a bit high?

 

Hmm. Thanks Jon, Mickey

Tires are not new at all and air pressure isn't off. But mishaps were situations where the lean of the corner was putting weight or force on the same corner of the cars rear, both left turns in the exit way.

I took thought an oil spot. I even tried to make the rational with myself that maybe, just maybe it was two oil slicks and as my luck had it I hit two in a day. But this has been haunting me. What are the chances - then again, two slicks in two places (I mean literally millions of cars travel these corners) same day - maybe...?

I guess what I've kinda boiled things down to is a malfunction in the differential? Or a absence of fluid? I am NOT 100% on differentials in general and what type I even have in my 2002 XK8, and how it functions. Then, I was and am really wondering if the differential is a weakness in these cars!? I have read a little bit about folks looking for and making an upgrade, I think, to have a more pure LSD setup as opposed to the (can't remember the exact name) stock set up in the XK8. Posts I have read mentioned improving cornering with LSD but not exactly said that what is stock is a weakness in rain or less than ideal conditions.

I can see MeLady taking it for granted that all is good in a tight corner on a rainy day and all kinds of hell breaking loose. I don't want that, of course!

I've never changed the diff fluid in the 2002. I did in the 2004 flood car, was expecting water in the diff, found none. Maybe I better check.

If there is no or LOW diff fluid in a differential like the one in the XK8s (or any),,, what kinds of symptoms or deficiencys will the car exhibit? A hard spin in a tire that should be resting or easing back?

 

The DSC or Trac Control didn't kick in ? Mine will occasionally kick in (DSC on my 2006), when I don't want it, and start pumping the brakes. Sometimes I'll just turn it off. Hard turns on bumpy roads will do it.

 

Tires get hard and lose traction in the wet when age.

 

Two events in the same corner can only be an issue with the road - probably some diesel on the road.

 

Hey Blade... Nah Man,,, different corners. Once heading out, once coming back. Same exit so to speak, but headed in different directions.

And no, not really a lot of action (that I remember) from the abs and trac control. Kind of signified that it was doing something for a second or two on the second go around,,, honestly I didn't notice during the first action. Was too busy wondering why my tuckass was all clinched, lol...

And yes, tires could be right. They are not nearly new. And maybe should be.

I'm still wondering what the diff was or wasn't doing and what (if anything) I should be thinking about that. What does a diff lie ours do when out of fluid? Or low on fluid? Or driving on 214k fluid? Are there clutches in our diffs? How do they work?

 

No clutches, it's an open diff. It wouldn't hurt to change the fluid, well maybe hurt a little as it's a nuisance type job.

 

that plus old tires. That’s all one needs to lose it.

Really doubt old rear end lube caused your problem. But it’s time change it . So change it . Mobil 1 75w-140 will help the rear end last as long as possible. The 75w-90 may be the factory spec, but it’s not in the same class as the 75w-140 when it come to gear protection

To recap:

1) get new tires, some sticky ones.
the Pirelli tires were much stickier than Michelins on my 2002 XKR

2) change the rear end lube

3) drive in the rain more


Z

 

Same thing happened to me on the NYS Thruway. Raining, misty just coming up on Canajoharie heading east going just below the speed limit on a Thursday morning when all of a sudden the rear end snapped. I hit a concrete barrier and was pushed back perpendicular to traffic, in a low area, in a white car, foggy. Two tractor trailers heading my way from the rise.

Thank God the car could still move otherwise all the food prepped for my daughter's Graduation party for that Saturday would have been used for the wake!

Yup, tread was low. And this was an AWD Volvo S-90!!

Headlight was $3,500!!

 

Just for grins, look at the date code of the tires. Last 4 digits of the DOT number are week of manufacture and year. How old are the tires?

 

Tires it is...!
Looking at $320 or sumpthin for new running shoes.
Then, the diff fluid change process. Convertible 😵‍💫
Thanks for the advice about the diff fluid! I'll be taking it!

I need to know more about the differential in these cars and how they function. The "type" . Don't know much about it.

Thanks to all of y'all for the words!

​​​​​​Stay UP!

 

Happens here a lot with a drizzle after a dry spell as most tyres age out rather than wear. Folks rolling into each other...

I think our diffs are just plain old skool techno.



P.S. Aren't old houses a hoot?

 

My home isn’t too old by New England or English standards. Only 104 years old. But still, old enough so I hope to find a hoard of gold and stock certificates hidden in the walls.

the Spaniards came thru this area about 400 years ago and the Indians (NA) killed all of them after the appropriate torture of course.

I hope to find the Spaniards gold they buried in the yard somewhere, just before they were surrounded….

Z

 

How far are you from Leon Russell's former 1970s estate at Grand Lake of the Cherokees?