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Did both sides this weekend, but boy what a struggle without a proper lift.. but i won in the end.. i also had to mend that little link to the chassi movement potentiometer.. its plastic bearingcaps just fell off when i toutched it.. managed to McGywer togeather a ”new” with a part from my Citroen XM parts collection.
A splash of black caliper paint and it was as good as new.. 🙂
Hi everybody, I want to share with you all the works I did on my car since I bought it one year ago. This is my first post, I am a new member, I'm sorry but I'm not used to taking pictures while I work, I will next time. One year ago, here in Italy, I bought a '2000 pristine condition XKR 4.0 coupè with only 60000km (37000 miles) with full service history, including gearbox oil and filter, supercharger oil, front suspension arms bushes, timing chains and metal tensioner conversion. The car runs like a dream, but with some small flaw: a rattle from rear left wheel, a little clunk through the steering wheel when cornering or brake, and the steering that feels heavy maneouvring while stationary.
The first work I did was the steering. The ZF Servotronic control relay under the glove box didn't work, so the steering assistance was always at low level. I replaced it with a used one, and now the steering is very light, like it should be on a Jag.
Then I removed the lower steering column joint, which connects to the steering box, mine it's the early design with a sliding coupler, later models have a rubber coupler, and are trouble free. The slider was dry and a little rusted, so I scraped off the rust an greased very well, an no more clunks. The problem was that I had to take it apart two more times to realign the steering wheel, I tried not to move anything during disassembly, but obviously has moved!!
Then, about the rear rattle, i found some play in the lower shock absorbers bushes (that it's not a bush but an articulated joint) and I replaced both, a bit difficult to do in place but doable with a bit of skill.. The main noise went away, but unfortunately there's still a strange rattle audible at low speed on rough roads. I checked everything, apparently there's no play nowhere.. probably this will be a new thread looking for help here in the forum!
The last work I did was two weeks ago, a complete service that took me a whole day! This included:
Engine oil and filter, very easy by removing alternator cooling duct. I put some Mobil1 0W-40
Differential oil.. very difficult due to the position of the filler plug, and because there's no drain plug, but I think I removed quite all the old oil. Filled with 75W-90 synthetic.
Greased rear axles joints
Replaced brake fluid and bleeded the system
Replaced fuel filter
Replaced engine air filter
Last work I tried to replace pollen filter, many pieces to dismantle only to find that my car has no filter at all!! No way to easily add one, there's no filter housing!!
I did the first cut of attempting to repair both seat modules form the XKR.
The outermost circuit tracks along the edge of the board are desperately thin, and prone to both physical and liquid attacks. Each module showed very slight evidence of corrosion, but enough to cause open circuits.
Things aren't helped by the design of the case being such that it would provide better protection against water ingress if the module had been installed inverted.
Well, 75% success on the seat modules. I'd missed a broken track on the passenger module. Tried a new battery in the fob as that wasn't working either until I dismantled it and cleaned up the switches. At least it's transmitting now although the car doesn't respond, sigh.
I'd start a new thread on this XKR but I'm not at all confident I'll get a success. There is so much wrong with it.
Since i did not have any solid information from seller regarding the status on gearbox oilfilter/oil i choosed to played it safe. According to the seller, they had some issues with the gearbox so they decided to flush it.. They had to push 5US gallons through it before the oil came through clear.. ”did you replace the filter too?… Ehh.. No.”
Luckily i have a friend with a workshop i could borrow a proper lift from.
With the pan removed everythin actually looked really nice.. and no ”mud” in the pan. Nice and clean. A neat setup, using a small car battery and a cheap electric ”oilchanger pump” sucking from bottle and filling gearbox without making a total mess.. It took 3liters to get to top it off again.
I'd pulled the SLM out of the poorly 2004 XKR to check for any water damage, so it was a good opportunity to try some reverse-engineering on the bulb failure detection circuitry.
If it can be defeated, then the hassle of fooling it to permit LEDs to be used for the rear exterior lighting can be avoided.
It works in a similar manner to the lamp control module in the earlier cars, but with one important difference. The old LCM only flags a single signal to the SLM to indicate a failure of any of the bulbs.
The later SLM integrated electronics are more complex, and appear to distinguish which monitored bulb circuit has failed, although this isn't reported to the Instrument Cluster (or the IC just reports the single 'bulb fail' message).
It's not impossible to work-around, but nowhere near as easy as for the earlier cars. I'll keep digging...
Last edited by michaelh; Jun 19, 2025 at 07:34 AM.
Pulled the seat module from the passenger right and checked out the circuit board as there was no forward back movement; it was actually in very good condition! Replaced and still not getting forward /back travel. So I ordered another unit for replacement. As I was tinkering about, I found that the positioning switch was partially off-set. I repositioned the plastic cap on the switch and got full movement. Simple Success!
I may keep the one on order when it arrives.
One of the least cost repairs I have had on my 2000 XKR.
... picked up some supplies art HomeDepot and then to the local Shop for some grilling supplies... Got home backed up into my normal spot and saw coolant steam coming from the front left drivers side but only under load (ie. in neutral and rolling now "smoke" but it put the tranny in gear and move "smoke"). So now I am pretending to know what I am doing by looking for evidence of leaks.
As do many of us, I hate the antenna on our XK8. I pulled the #9 fuse years ago and got decent reception in my suburban location. I wanted to improve on it so I followed Rev Sam's (sam1174) video from 2011. Instead of a ribbon antenna, balan and cable, I went with a dipole antenna. With this antenna, everything is kept in the trunk. I connected the antenna cable to the radio antenna with the f-type fitting . It wasn't a tight connection so I secured it with a double wrap of splicing tape. The antenna cable tucks behind the bulkhead cover. The antenna is about 10" wide.
Reception has improved.
As do many of us, I hate the antenna on our XK8. I pulled the #9 fuse years ago and got decent reception in my suburban location. I wanted to improve on it so I followed Rev Sam's (sam1174) video from 2011. Instead of a ribbon antenna, balan and cable, I went with a dipole antenna. With this antenna, everything is kept in the trunk. I connected the antenna cable to the radio antenna with the f-type fitting . It wasn't a tight connection so I secured it with a double wrap of splicing tape. The antenna cable tucks behind the bulkhead cover. The antenna is about 10" wide.
Reception has improved.
how far do you live from the broadcasting station(s) ?
Mine is merely car adjacent. I am currently working on remodeling and reorganizing my garage at the farmhouse we bought 2 years ago. Yes it is taking me that long to get around to it. I am trying to maximize my space. It is a one-car garage but it's actually pretty massive, especially lengthwise. House was built in 1956 and the thankfully the vehicles are pretty daggone big back then and the garage was built this suit. My XJL is the biggest thing that I can fit in it and still be able to house all of my equipment, my workbench and be able to move around but that's it that is as much car is I can get in here. I have an f250 farm truck that's a crew cab long bed and I can fit it in here but I can't do anything to it 😂. Or close the garage door!
So anyway, today, I worked on redoing the electrical thing. Replace the original ungrounded circuit with a grounded circuit and adding a bunch of additional receptacles.
Tomorrow though, I will be trying to figure out some crazy electrical problems on my middle signs 2018 at Malibu. I like the challenge of the electrical problems by Malibu's are so boring and mass produced. Hopefully, it's something simple. The car really isn't worth a ton of effort or Honey spent on it as far as I can tell her.
I would guess up to 30 miles, surrounded by mountains.
I live 50-60 from any FM stations that might work , so no mountains. So maybe your fix might work for me. I pulled the antenna fuse 7 years ago and haven’t had any FM since. Probably would be culture shock to hear it now .
I live 50-60 from any FM stations that might oh dd b , no mountains. So maybe your fix might work for me. I pulled the antenna fuse 7 years ago and haven’t had any FM since. Probably would be culture shock to hear it now .
Z
For about $9 it's worth a try.
PS I have a sister in law in Tahlaquah.
Last edited by MRomanik; Jun 27, 2025 at 09:49 AM.
I have before yearly MOT, so as a good girl I did oil change, bleed the brakes, cleaned, lubricated and checked everything what I could.
Can't believe I already made 8000km on her, technically almost tripling her total mileage. Might need to do it more often than once per year.
I have before yearly MOT, so as a good girl I did oil change, bleed the brakes, cleaned, lubricated and checked everything what I could.
Can't believe I already made 8000km on her, technically almost tripling her total mileage. Might need to do it more often than once per year.
Hearing about the MOT's you all have across the pond, as it were, I am thankful that I live in a state in the USA that is pretty lenient on all of that. I have rarely ever failed our State Inspection over the years. In fact, they are looking to eliminate the requirement in some states for it. I also happen to live in an area where emissions testing isn't also required.
Yea definitely more freedom in some of the US states, but we at least have it here a bit easier than in mainland Europe. 90% of cars we have here would not pass MOT there so when a girl comes in a car like that, it is easy 10min sail through. 😍
But damn how I would wish to be able to have MOT free car or custom build.
Hearing about the MOT's you all have across the pond, as it were, I am thankful that I live in a state in the USA that is pretty lenient on all of that. I have rarely ever failed our State Inspection over the years. In fact, they are looking to eliminate the requirement in some states for it. I also happen to live in an area where emissions testing isn't also required.
In the UK/Europe, streets tend to be smaller with a higher density of traffic, plus pedestrians, cyclists, children etc. You only have to watch something like Just Rolled In to see what kind of chaos would rule if you trusted the general public to maintain their cars to the same kind of standard that car enthusiasts tend to in the conditions we have here. Working brakes should never be an optional extra, lol.
