Good Evening, all!

I own a 97 XK8 and prior to its winter slumber had a failure in its telescoping steering wheeln. I can hear the motor but it is not moving in and out. Can I safely assume it is the gear? How difficult is it to remedy this situation? I am a fairly skilled backyard mechanic so hopefully I can fix this one at home. Would I need to buy the gear or do I have to buy the gear and motor? Or is it the track it extends on? Any information would be appreciated!

Most common problem is that there is a square ended cable about 3" long that breaks. The motor is usually fine so all that is needed is the cable. If you can hear the motor running, that is a good thing. The cable is now sold separately. Jaguar just sells the motor and cable as a package.

That's a good thing, someone finally having the cables made. What do you sell them for? And how come you don't spend your time here, I understand you're quite an expert?

Thanks for the compliment. Most of my experience is on the older cars. Learning the newer cars is mostly on my own cars and the peoples cars that work here. We do take in cars to repair but prefer the XKE models. They seem to be easier to get parts for which is suprising. The reason I have not been very active here is I had signed up a year or so ago. My computer had the login set and I ended up changing things and lost the login. Between Jag Lovers and the JCNA and work, not that much free time. I do scan this forum but as mentioned, I tend to learn more than I know on the newer cars and don't have that much to offer. Finally found my password and got it going again. Here is a link on the cable. Bear in mind that this is retail on our site. http://coventrywest.com/Jaguar/newprods.htm

Greetings Mr. Maury, thanks for your reply.

Re the JCNA: point one, congrats on your election as a VP.
Point two: about two weeks ago, I saw a JCNA post that I responded to, I think it was by Cindy Williams but I apologize if I got the name wrong. The post concerned her request for contact from some of the younger membership, regarding an article she was researching.

I responded by advising her to post a note on this forum: there is never any mention here of JCNA activities, and more than a few readers might be interested in learning that there are Jaguar Club rallies and autocross events in which they can participate. Even checking out the "ancient" cars at a JCNA concourse might be a kick for some of the owners who are not familiar with Jaguar's past.

So I have not seen anything come of this suggestion, and I'll post it here in case you think it merits condiseration. If this topic has piqued the interest of any readers, go to JCNA's website and have a look around...apparently they are interested in some "new blood", and you might see an event to participate in that isn't just for us ancients.

Warning: do not race against Mr. Maury's XK, his car can probably throttle steer better than yours. Stiff rear sway bars on tight autocross courses are a nice thing to have.

A calendar of upcoming events would help where clubs of any sort that might be of interest to Jaguar drivers can post events. I see that there is a calendar on this site but one such as the one on JCNA is a bit friendlier to review.
I will follow up with Candy to see about more posts. It is a big concern to get younger members into the Jaguar clubs, whether JCNA or not. As it is now, it is rare to see members under 40 at the events. When we had our slalom last fall, there were 4 Jaguars and 17 various Japanese cars.The Japanese cars were all driven by young people (male and female), the Jaguars by older people. Not sure what the answer is to get younger members but suggestions are always welcome.
Our club just had our spring slalom two weeks ago. This weekend we are having a Judges training session on the XKE with a cookout. The next weekend there is a spring drive and then on May 1-3, the Walter Mitty. Then on May 18, we leave for the JCNA Challenge Championship in San Antonio. That does not even count the non Jaguar car events in the area. Some clubs are more active than others so some travel will be necessary. Nice way to meet new people and put names with faces. If there is anyone in the SE that does not know about any of these events and needs more information, I will be glad to assist. dmaury@jcna.com

a push for younger membership would help with more aftermarket support since we( I still consider myself young) like to mod and personalise.....To this I try my best when I can here. And that would be a great idea to push JCNA here as we also support different events and all 3 Jag dealerships here in Houston are owned by the same company.....Bruton Smith also owns alot of NASCAR tracks across the US too... Back on track, no pun intended. do you also have a threaded bushing to replace the plastic ones that now strip for the telescoping and require upper column replacement of which I just did on my wifes 96 VDP.

You squirt, you couldn't just call me for a column ? ;>)

So now hopefully someone has read this and wants to learn more...Mr. Maury, some sort of catagory or banner should be established here to catch alot more eyeballs. If you or another JCNA poobah would contact JimC64 or another site administrator here, that could build more traction than a shaved set of tires. There are at least a few people here who would love to show up at a slalom and put a pasting on some ricer boys.

Drive it like you stole it,

Andrew Bernstein
British Auto Care
JCNA of Central Ohio member

I just sent Candy Williams a note to follow up on this. Also, on May 19, there is a practice slalom at the Alamadome before the San Antonio event. The official slalom is on Thursday same place after a rally on Wednesday. Friday is the concours. You don't have to be entered to come and watch. I will have my XKE there to run the slalom, rally and concours. I have not had a rice burner beat me yet with it. Should be a lot of fun and not that far from Houston.

My apologies to Ms. Candy...I think Cindy Williams was from "Laverne and Shirley". Probably a Geo Metro driver.

Hey Mr. Maury, did you get to Road Atlanta to see the Trans Am race? I understand that XKR smokes Corvettes these days. And ricers.

Not quite so sure what it would take to smoke an XKE driver in his own element, though. I'll cypher on that a bit.

Brute,

Here's a thought for today. How about having Mr. Smith sponsor a track day someplace? I vote for Kentucky Speedway, they probably have alot of open dates and he just bought it. Bring your XJ6, we'll trade some paint.

Please call me Dick, Mr Maury makes me feel old and I don't need any help in that direction. I mainly enjoy running the slalom whether JCNA or SCCA. I used to run my XJS which was highly modified but traded it on the XKR. Although we had our first slalom, I ended up trailering the XKE and therefore did not get to try out the nifty dual rear sway bars on the track. Not really any comparision between either the XJS or XKR and a properly set up XKE. In 2007, I came within .01 seconds of breaking the record for the JCNA course. Now, I am putting a new set of Hoosiers on and hopefully will see the record drop in San Antonio. BTW: the tires are 295/30-18 and good for about 50 miles at a cost of $1300/set. They really make a difference though.

That's way too serious for my idea of slalom, and for my size pockets. Don't expect me unless you see a twin cam Lotus Europa come rolling in: if I could come up with one, I'd give you a go.