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Hey all, excited to join the forum!
So, I just bought my 2001 XK8 and am loving it! Though it does have a few slight issues.
The seat belt retainer clamshells, all 4 of them, (where it clicks in) are all messed up and held closed with tape. They all work, but man, they look terrible.
My front suspension might be going out, as i feel most small bumps pretty well.
The ABS light comes on occasionally, and the previous owner said he just unplugs it, wiggles the wires and plugs it back in ,and it's good for a week or so? 😆
The CD changer in the trunk won't eject any of the CDs.
Both front seat belt retractors are totally worn out and dont retractors the seat belt at all.
The serpentine belt squeaks just a little bit during initial 30 seconds of start up.
No cold AC, even though the AC has been serviced many times over its life.
And finally, i just noticed that the driver side wiper spray line is broken, and neither spray...ugh.
That's all I've noticed so far. So, I'm looking for tips, tricks, advise, reliable parts locators and resources? Also, what do you guys use to wash, wax, buff and protect your cars, and soft tops? Thanks everyone!
These guys make great quality 3d-printed plastics, including the seatbelt faster covers: https://octoclassic.com/product-category/jaguar/xk8
Have a look at the front top shock mounts - they have a habit of disintegrating. There are some great alternatives available made by two forum members that actually last!
For the seatbelts it might be worth fully extending them and then cleaning the belts thoroughly - I have heard of occasions where that can resolve retraction issues.
I'll mention the cam tensioners, as that will be uppermost on most people's minds. You do need to make sure that you have the later, metal-bodied ones.
My top tip, trick, advise all in one is read everything on this forum. Every single question you have about your car has been answered multiple times, complete with photos and detailed how to guides. Start by reading the stickies at the top of the forum and, on a desktop computer, learn where the "search forum" button is.
That button is your key to fixing anything that goes wrong on your car thanks to the hundreds of forum members who have gone before you and documented what they did.
Hey all, excited to join the forum!
So, I just bought my 2001 XK8 and am loving it! Though it does have a few slight issues.
The seat belt retainer clamshells, all 4 of them, (where it clicks in) are all messed up and held closed with tape. They all work, but man, they look terrible.
My front suspension might be going out, as i feel most small bumps pretty well.
The ABS light comes on occasionally, and the previous owner said he just unplugs it, wiggles the wires and plugs it back in ,and it's good for a week or so? 😆
The CD changer in the trunk won't eject any of the CDs.
Both front seat belt retractors are totally worn out and dont retractors the seat belt at all.
The serpentine belt squeaks just a little bit during initial 30 seconds of start up.
No cold AC, even though the AC has been serviced many times over its life.
And finally, i just noticed that the driver side wiper spray line is broken, and neither spray...ugh.
That's all I've noticed so far. So, I'm looking for tips, tricks, advise, reliable parts locators and resources? Also, what do you guys use to wash, wax, buff and protect your cars, and soft tops? Thanks everyone!
Welcome! My 2003xk came to me in Oct last year and the time with this forum has led to many good ideas that will now come to you! The 2003 and later came with metal tensors but I know that is the most expensive issue if the plastic fails in the earlier models. Also a battery tender saved me lots of time and probably money when I put in a new battery and got the ummp over 12.5 volts. The code reader stopped giving me misleading errors and the amber warning on the dash stopped saying the common error "check rear lights cruise control not available. I too will pursue two new seat belt clip covers now that the appreciated advice was added. Enjoy the cruising!.
The 2003 and later came with metal tensors but I know that is the most expensive issue if the plastic fails in the earlier models.
While it's certainly true that the 2003 and later cars came with metal tensioners, so did the last of the 4 litre cars starting with engines made from August 2001 onwards. You would think by now any surviving cars that had the plastic tensioners fitted at the factory, would have been upgraded to the latest by their owners in the meantime, but there are still some out there today. The advantage of buying a car which hasn't been updated, is you will then have the opportunity to install brand new timing chains, tensioners and guides, rather than the 20+ year old ones on the newer cars. At some point everyone is going to have to install new chains.
Hey guys, so I have been searching for stuff around the net, and found PlaygroundPar.com, it amazed me how many parts they had for my exact year and model! I was able to get a full set of front seat belt retractors, a 60k mile set of wiper arms, and the back seatbelt housings! All for around 120$!
I don't know if you guys have found this site, but wow, lol
Just bought my 2001 XK8!
