Jaguar XJ-S V12 from the opposite end of Britain and a MG
Discussion
I've had my first breakdown making the car undriveable. Happily it happened in the garage so there was no particular inconvenience or stress caused. It almost caused damage though!
I had moved the car the day previously to clear out the garage to make space for some big wood work for my sailing dinghy (Here if anyone's bothered - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...) and the gear selector was heavier than usual but it moved.
The following day I went to do the same again. It started, I selected Drive, released the handbrake and the car took off backwards towards the dinghy (and my MX-5 and Midget behind that...) but I was able to stop the car. After some confusion and disbelief of checking it went backwards in Park, Neutral, Reverse, Drive and 1st and 2nd hold, I released the shift cable was no longer connected to the gearbox.
I checked inside first, with all ok there, so then had to raise the car and shimmy underneath again - definitely NOT what I had planned for a cold, damp day in winter!
The culprit was easy to spot though - the swivel joint has broken. And it's No Longer Available. I've ordered a s/h selector complete with cable and the swivel joint from eBay and am awaiting it arriving. I'm sure I can make something work but would prefer to have a cable with threaded end I can measure and ponder in the relative warmth of indoors before having to do the awkward stuff under the car.
On the plus side, I've manually put the gearbox back in Park just in case I somehow forget about it. That's where the cable is adjusted anyway. I think the ball just stuck in the socket of the swivel joint (it's been well over a month since I last moved it, and it was wet then
) and the heavy feel of the shifter the day prior was twisting the ball on its stud rather than turning the whole ball and stud in the socket like it's supposed to.
I had moved the car the day previously to clear out the garage to make space for some big wood work for my sailing dinghy (Here if anyone's bothered - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...) and the gear selector was heavier than usual but it moved.
The following day I went to do the same again. It started, I selected Drive, released the handbrake and the car took off backwards towards the dinghy (and my MX-5 and Midget behind that...) but I was able to stop the car. After some confusion and disbelief of checking it went backwards in Park, Neutral, Reverse, Drive and 1st and 2nd hold, I released the shift cable was no longer connected to the gearbox.
I checked inside first, with all ok there, so then had to raise the car and shimmy underneath again - definitely NOT what I had planned for a cold, damp day in winter!
The culprit was easy to spot though - the swivel joint has broken. And it's No Longer Available. I've ordered a s/h selector complete with cable and the swivel joint from eBay and am awaiting it arriving. I'm sure I can make something work but would prefer to have a cable with threaded end I can measure and ponder in the relative warmth of indoors before having to do the awkward stuff under the car.
On the plus side, I've manually put the gearbox back in Park just in case I somehow forget about it. That's where the cable is adjusted anyway. I think the ball just stuck in the socket of the swivel joint (it's been well over a month since I last moved it, and it was wet then
) and the heavy feel of the shifter the day prior was twisting the ball on its stud rather than turning the whole ball and stud in the socket like it's supposed to.I had a fairly easy year overall. The windscreen wipers did stop working, but on stripping down the motor I found this:
After a good clean up, I mixed some epoxy resin and glued the magnet back onto the casing, and the motor works perfectly again afterwards.
Sadly, it failed its MOT on Wednesday, but on something which was a known issue I just hadn't dealt with - the leaking power steering rack. It's been losing fluid from the seal at the top of the tower where the column goes in since I got the car, but now fluid squirts out the gator on one side at full lock so it's definitely in need of rebuild and one of the inner trackrod balljoints has a small amount of play. Next job is to strip the steering rack...
Parts started arriving this morning, but it'll be a week or so until I can start the work.
After a good clean up, I mixed some epoxy resin and glued the magnet back onto the casing, and the motor works perfectly again afterwards.
Sadly, it failed its MOT on Wednesday, but on something which was a known issue I just hadn't dealt with - the leaking power steering rack. It's been losing fluid from the seal at the top of the tower where the column goes in since I got the car, but now fluid squirts out the gator on one side at full lock so it's definitely in need of rebuild and one of the inner trackrod balljoints has a small amount of play. Next job is to strip the steering rack...
Parts started arriving this morning, but it'll be a week or so until I can start the work.
When do power steering racks not leak on these cars?
My XJ12 tried to burn itself down on 3 occasions. I think I finally cured it with 12 new Chinese injectors. At the same time, I managed to lose 5 screw drivers down the engine bay, never to be seen again.
Jaguar. Making amateur mechanics since 1945
My XJ12 tried to burn itself down on 3 occasions. I think I finally cured it with 12 new Chinese injectors. At the same time, I managed to lose 5 screw drivers down the engine bay, never to be seen again.
Jaguar. Making amateur mechanics since 1945
alabbasi said:
When do power steering racks not leak on these cars?
My XJ12 tried to burn itself down on 3 occasions. I think I finally cured it with 12 new Chinese injectors. At the same time, I managed to lose 5 screw drivers down the engine bay, never to be seen again.
Jaguar. Making amateur mechanics since 1945
I hope it leaks a little less enthusiastically after the seals are changed My XJ12 tried to burn itself down on 3 occasions. I think I finally cured it with 12 new Chinese injectors. At the same time, I managed to lose 5 screw drivers down the engine bay, never to be seen again.
Jaguar. Making amateur mechanics since 1945
J4CKO said:
Good going on the motor, but bet that Gillet is ruined !
Thanks! The gillet made it - it's a "doing stuff" one designated for getting manky. My wife made it and is happy to make another, and it saves the dining table getting ruined instead If anyone's been following my home-built dinghy thread over in Boats, Planes & Trains you'll know the hull is well on, the standing rig is in progress and I'm now able to make sails. What I didn't have was a half-way sensible car I could tow it with. In fact, I didn't have a half-way sensible car I could even visit the office with on the occasions when my wife was out too. Basically we've been a many-broken-cars family but only two road legal - her Fiat 500 and my XJ-S - which needs a bit of work. I obviously need to rebuild the steering rack. There's been an MOT advisory for rusty front road springs which aren't expensive but are a PITA to replace, there's a bit more rust on the front subframe than I'd like (although I believe it's still saveable) and there's a little bit of external surface rust starting to appear on the sills and lower rear wings where bl**dy surface dressing on the roads has pebble-dashed the paint work. I want to do all this whilst it's just cleaning and painting, not more major structural repair work.
To assist, my dad's loaned me his Mk1 / NA body MX-5 as he can't drive it just now due to some joint pain he's having investigated just now. Unfortunately, the recently rebuilt steering rack in that is now knocking too which I've diagnosed as the offside trackrod balljoint. It was new about 2 years ago, but it's knackered. There's a new OEM one in its packet sitting downstairs for me to replace.
Anyway, my wife found another X-Type on Facebook Marketplace on Friday morning. It's an estate, which is useful, and it's AWD which is necessary if one hates the FWD versions which do in fact feel just like Mondeos. As it's AWD it's by default one of the petrol V6s which I like and it's another 3.0 because that's the correct choice, since the 2.5 costs exactly the same to run but is slower. It's also cosmetically very, very good for a 19 year old car at this price point. Someone - actually several someones - has really looked after a car which frankly wasn't worth peanuts 3 years ago before COVID sent prices through the roof. It has had a rusty sill. I've got the photographs of inside it and it's been cut out and welded up properly, not just a rectangle tack welded over the hole like most get. I've got the photographs of the too. It has a towbar (although it had been removed). It has 5x 18" BBS Valencia alloys with it. That's the good stuff.
At this price point there's going to be bad stuff, right? It's in grandad spec. I'm 42. I wouldn't have chosen beige seats and light coloured wood were I speccing this from new, but frankly body shell condition is more important than bolt-on trim at the age of this car. Also, it's not very well specced. There's no heated seats, no heated windscreen, no automatic headlights, no automatic wipers, no memory seats, no Bluetooth and no touchscreen. I do have my other X-Type in need of sills which does have all this though, so even if I don't strip it for the good parts to swap over I have one I can inspect and copy. The tyres are brand new, but they're "Landsail" brand
.
It's a big leggy at 140k, but I have lots of spares including a spare 42k mile engine in the garage. I suspect the Automatic Transmission Fluid (yes, this one's an automatic - never mind) has never been changed so I picked up 5 litres today to start draining and diluting the old ATF. I'll repeat that again a bit later. It has a minor knock at the front, which I suspect are anti-roll bar bushes and/or drop links. I shall investigate and resolve that. The very nice man I bought it from is disabled and never drove far. He's done minimal milage in his ownership and previous owners used it more frequently. On the 350 mile drive home in initially caused some concern when the NSR brake caliper started binding. Some violent handbrake tugging and jabbing at the brakes seemed to free it, and the MPG quickly improved from 20odd to about 32mpg. Nearing Glasgow it started to exhibit a bit of a misfire at lower RPMs but under bigger throttle openings. I say misfire but it feels like a judder.
As to the brake caliper, I found the correct caliper brand new in my garage. I'm really bad for not selling on stuff I don't need and hoarding it (hence a spare engine!) and in this case I bought the wrong side in a moment of unclear thought a number of years ago for my 3.0 manual saloon. I'm pleased I have it though, as I can immediately cure whatever is wrong with that binding caliper.
As far as the misfire/juddering goes, there's no MIL and no permanent or pending DTCs showing on my OBDII reader. I've had this before on the other one though, and it was weak coil packs. They work fine when cold and as they heat up it starts missing. I have 4 spare used but working ones from the other car. 2 were bad and I bought all 6. I've also got 6 more on the spare engine but their health is unknown. The spark plug service interval is 60k on these engines. At 140k on the clock and a car probably worth £800 3 years ago, it's debatable whether the plugs in there are 20k old or 80k old. It's not hard to do but the inlet manifold needs to be removed to access Bank 1 at the rear by the firewall. Ultra-cheapskates with no skills who pay garages to do the absolute bare minimum may have skimped on plugs. If I remove the manifold to change the coils I'm changing the spark plugs while I'm in there. Only 5 plugs were in stock in Autosave's Aberdeen branches so they're on their way from either Dundee or Inverness. I'll pick them up tomorrow or Tuesday depending on when they get in.
The first thing we have done is extensively clean the inside of the car. It was well presented but smelled of dog. Fine if you like how dog's smell, or own dogs and therefore no longer notice how everything smells of dog. I don't own a dog, and don't like the smell of dog. Dog or no dog, I don't like sitting in cars where everything you touch has someone else's fingerprints etc on it, so whenever we get a used car we always give the interior a thorough clean. We then set about refitting the tow bar. The bolts had gone missing during the week so we got some more this morning (which I had to cut to length) and bolting in was very straight forward. Unfortunately the electrics were "professionally" installed using those god-awful block plastic Scotch-Lock things with the metal teeth inside which cut the insulation (and half the copper strands). These were intact and the tow bar electrics merely cut off so it was easy to crimp the coloured wires back together. When I have a bit more time I'll remove all those nasty connectors and repair the damage the "pros" caused before that causes me wiring problems later. That's why the profeshnuls quote a mere 90mins for a full install - they just do a hatchet job on your wiring loom since by the time a cable breaks it won't be their problem. For now, the trailer lights work and I can tow. The car even came with spare number plates so there's already one screwed on to my light bar for the dinghy trailer. The towbar has full caravan electrics including this relay to charge a leisure battery. I won't be buying a caravan but I likely will have a battery in my dinghy so I'd like to get this working but it's no obvious where the remaining cables go so I need to do some digging online for diagrams. They'll surely be out there - I haven't tried looking yet.
All in all, this will be a very acceptable tow car for my dinghy. Frankly with our daughters at the age they're at, it'll be good not to pile everyone into a Fiat 500 for every trip It's got a few niggles, yes, and whilst some may be put out at finding those it's nothing I can't deal with. Having so many spare parts for these and having spent so much time with the other one over the past 13 years, this made a very compelling case for just getting an estate version of a car I already know and understand well and have a lot of stuff for.
The only thing I'm not that happy about with it is that the steering is both very, very sensitive and incredibly light. I'm happy with one of those things in the same car but not both. It's much, much lighter than my saloon. I don't even know which rack it has though and there are at least 3 racks available on X-Types, so I'm going to find out what's actually on this car when I'm underneath draining the ATF and investigating the front suspension, then decide what to do about it.
To assist, my dad's loaned me his Mk1 / NA body MX-5 as he can't drive it just now due to some joint pain he's having investigated just now. Unfortunately, the recently rebuilt steering rack in that is now knocking too which I've diagnosed as the offside trackrod balljoint. It was new about 2 years ago, but it's knackered. There's a new OEM one in its packet sitting downstairs for me to replace.
Anyway, my wife found another X-Type on Facebook Marketplace on Friday morning. It's an estate, which is useful, and it's AWD which is necessary if one hates the FWD versions which do in fact feel just like Mondeos. As it's AWD it's by default one of the petrol V6s which I like and it's another 3.0 because that's the correct choice, since the 2.5 costs exactly the same to run but is slower. It's also cosmetically very, very good for a 19 year old car at this price point. Someone - actually several someones - has really looked after a car which frankly wasn't worth peanuts 3 years ago before COVID sent prices through the roof. It has had a rusty sill. I've got the photographs of inside it and it's been cut out and welded up properly, not just a rectangle tack welded over the hole like most get. I've got the photographs of the too. It has a towbar (although it had been removed). It has 5x 18" BBS Valencia alloys with it. That's the good stuff.
At this price point there's going to be bad stuff, right? It's in grandad spec. I'm 42. I wouldn't have chosen beige seats and light coloured wood were I speccing this from new, but frankly body shell condition is more important than bolt-on trim at the age of this car. Also, it's not very well specced. There's no heated seats, no heated windscreen, no automatic headlights, no automatic wipers, no memory seats, no Bluetooth and no touchscreen. I do have my other X-Type in need of sills which does have all this though, so even if I don't strip it for the good parts to swap over I have one I can inspect and copy. The tyres are brand new, but they're "Landsail" brand
.It's a big leggy at 140k, but I have lots of spares including a spare 42k mile engine in the garage. I suspect the Automatic Transmission Fluid (yes, this one's an automatic - never mind) has never been changed so I picked up 5 litres today to start draining and diluting the old ATF. I'll repeat that again a bit later. It has a minor knock at the front, which I suspect are anti-roll bar bushes and/or drop links. I shall investigate and resolve that. The very nice man I bought it from is disabled and never drove far. He's done minimal milage in his ownership and previous owners used it more frequently. On the 350 mile drive home in initially caused some concern when the NSR brake caliper started binding. Some violent handbrake tugging and jabbing at the brakes seemed to free it, and the MPG quickly improved from 20odd to about 32mpg. Nearing Glasgow it started to exhibit a bit of a misfire at lower RPMs but under bigger throttle openings. I say misfire but it feels like a judder.
As to the brake caliper, I found the correct caliper brand new in my garage. I'm really bad for not selling on stuff I don't need and hoarding it (hence a spare engine!) and in this case I bought the wrong side in a moment of unclear thought a number of years ago for my 3.0 manual saloon. I'm pleased I have it though, as I can immediately cure whatever is wrong with that binding caliper.
As far as the misfire/juddering goes, there's no MIL and no permanent or pending DTCs showing on my OBDII reader. I've had this before on the other one though, and it was weak coil packs. They work fine when cold and as they heat up it starts missing. I have 4 spare used but working ones from the other car. 2 were bad and I bought all 6. I've also got 6 more on the spare engine but their health is unknown. The spark plug service interval is 60k on these engines. At 140k on the clock and a car probably worth £800 3 years ago, it's debatable whether the plugs in there are 20k old or 80k old. It's not hard to do but the inlet manifold needs to be removed to access Bank 1 at the rear by the firewall. Ultra-cheapskates with no skills who pay garages to do the absolute bare minimum may have skimped on plugs. If I remove the manifold to change the coils I'm changing the spark plugs while I'm in there. Only 5 plugs were in stock in Autosave's Aberdeen branches so they're on their way from either Dundee or Inverness. I'll pick them up tomorrow or Tuesday depending on when they get in.
The first thing we have done is extensively clean the inside of the car. It was well presented but smelled of dog. Fine if you like how dog's smell, or own dogs and therefore no longer notice how everything smells of dog. I don't own a dog, and don't like the smell of dog. Dog or no dog, I don't like sitting in cars where everything you touch has someone else's fingerprints etc on it, so whenever we get a used car we always give the interior a thorough clean. We then set about refitting the tow bar. The bolts had gone missing during the week so we got some more this morning (which I had to cut to length) and bolting in was very straight forward. Unfortunately the electrics were "professionally" installed using those god-awful block plastic Scotch-Lock things with the metal teeth inside which cut the insulation (and half the copper strands). These were intact and the tow bar electrics merely cut off so it was easy to crimp the coloured wires back together. When I have a bit more time I'll remove all those nasty connectors and repair the damage the "pros" caused before that causes me wiring problems later. That's why the profeshnuls quote a mere 90mins for a full install - they just do a hatchet job on your wiring loom since by the time a cable breaks it won't be their problem. For now, the trailer lights work and I can tow. The car even came with spare number plates so there's already one screwed on to my light bar for the dinghy trailer. The towbar has full caravan electrics including this relay to charge a leisure battery. I won't be buying a caravan but I likely will have a battery in my dinghy so I'd like to get this working but it's no obvious where the remaining cables go so I need to do some digging online for diagrams. They'll surely be out there - I haven't tried looking yet.
All in all, this will be a very acceptable tow car for my dinghy. Frankly with our daughters at the age they're at, it'll be good not to pile everyone into a Fiat 500 for every trip
It's got a few niggles, yes, and whilst some may be put out at finding those it's nothing I can't deal with. Having so many spare parts for these and having spent so much time with the other one over the past 13 years, this made a very compelling case for just getting an estate version of a car I already know and understand well and have a lot of stuff for.The only thing I'm not that happy about with it is that the steering is both very, very sensitive and incredibly light. I'm happy with one of those things in the same car but not both. It's much, much lighter than my saloon. I don't even know which rack it has though and there are at least 3 racks available on X-Types, so I'm going to find out what's actually on this car when I'm underneath draining the ATF and investigating the front suspension, then decide what to do about it.
Very best of luck with the new addition OP. It is lucky that it has landed in your hands as its new custodian.
Your write up is brilliant. The solidly reasoned business case as to why it is required. And your greatest trick - getting Mrs OP to find it and suggest it! The message I’m taking away is that if you have two older Jaguars in your household, the really important thing is to ……………………have a third.
Huge good luck with it.
Your write up is brilliant. The solidly reasoned business case as to why it is required. And your greatest trick - getting Mrs OP to find it and suggest it! The message I’m taking away is that if you have two older Jaguars in your household, the really important thing is to ……………………have a third.
Huge good luck with it.
Thanks folks 
I think the mystery of the weird steering is solved. Unfortunately, it's related to the car looking fairly smart on these wheels. The BBS Valencia was available from Jaguar for the X-Type, but as 18" x 7.5J with ET52.5 offset.
These are 18" x 8J with ET59 offset - they were also available from Jaguar, but for the S-Type. The wrong offset is, I am almost certain, what's responsible for the overly light steering. The tyre size is also for an S-Type, which having had this size before was why the size didn't immediately catch my attention as I've had plenty this size. The X-Type should have 225 40 R18 tyres whilst the S-Type and indeed these wheels wear 245 40 R18 tyres. As a consequence, I've discovered that on full lock these ***just*** scuff the plastic wheel arch linings, which is no good and they'll fail its next MOT.
I would be sad to lose the Valencias, but I do have other options here at home. What I'm thinking of doing though is taking one of my Aruba wheels the correct size and offset from my other X-Type and the spare Valencia over to the tyre shop I use and I'll explain my problem and pay them to fit one of my 225 40 R18s to the spare Valencia and try that on this car. The narrower tyre and proportionate reduction in sidewall height might give me enough clearance. If it does, I'll try a couple of spacers and, if there's still clearance on full lock, see if that sorts the weird steering feel. If not, the Valencias can go on eBay and I'll run about on the other wheels I have.
In other news, I've removed the airbox and inspected the spark plugs on the Bank 2 (front) and they're worn out. Maximum gap is exceeded and the electrodes are eroded concave. That won't be helping... On the plus side, the piston crowns are lovely and clean. I've swapped over the ignition coils on the front bank too but will wait until the new plugs arrive before whipping off the inlet manifold to get at the back. I also drained the ATF, and got about 4 litres out which was very dark brown, almost black and smelled rather burnt. That's been refilled, the gearbox warmed up and the level corrected. The misfire hasn't entirely disappeared but it's much, much better. I think new spark plugs all round and swapping the coils on the rear bank will fix it. The gearbox is much more responsive.
On the down side, one of the steering rack gators is completely bust open but inside hasn't rusted and spoiled yet so I'll order a new gator today.
I think the mystery of the weird steering is solved. Unfortunately, it's related to the car looking fairly smart on these wheels. The BBS Valencia was available from Jaguar for the X-Type, but as 18" x 7.5J with ET52.5 offset.
These are 18" x 8J with ET59 offset - they were also available from Jaguar, but for the S-Type. The wrong offset is, I am almost certain, what's responsible for the overly light steering. The tyre size is also for an S-Type, which having had this size before was why the size didn't immediately catch my attention as I've had plenty this size. The X-Type should have 225 40 R18 tyres whilst the S-Type and indeed these wheels wear 245 40 R18 tyres. As a consequence, I've discovered that on full lock these ***just*** scuff the plastic wheel arch linings, which is no good and they'll fail its next MOT.
I would be sad to lose the Valencias, but I do have other options here at home. What I'm thinking of doing though is taking one of my Aruba wheels the correct size and offset from my other X-Type and the spare Valencia over to the tyre shop I use and I'll explain my problem and pay them to fit one of my 225 40 R18s to the spare Valencia and try that on this car. The narrower tyre and proportionate reduction in sidewall height might give me enough clearance. If it does, I'll try a couple of spacers and, if there's still clearance on full lock, see if that sorts the weird steering feel. If not, the Valencias can go on eBay and I'll run about on the other wheels I have.
In other news, I've removed the airbox and inspected the spark plugs on the Bank 2 (front) and they're worn out. Maximum gap is exceeded and the electrodes are eroded concave. That won't be helping... On the plus side, the piston crowns are lovely and clean. I've swapped over the ignition coils on the front bank too but will wait until the new plugs arrive before whipping off the inlet manifold to get at the back. I also drained the ATF, and got about 4 litres out which was very dark brown, almost black and smelled rather burnt. That's been refilled, the gearbox warmed up and the level corrected. The misfire hasn't entirely disappeared but it's much, much better. I think new spark plugs all round and swapping the coils on the rear bank will fix it. The gearbox is much more responsive.
On the down side, one of the steering rack gators is completely bust open but inside hasn't rusted and spoiled yet so I'll order a new gator today.
trevalvole said:
Although the interior may be grandad spec, the exterior seems to have sporty wheels, front and rear spoilers and side skirts, so is it something like a Sport spec?
Hi, I think this car would have come on 17" Cayman wheels originally. As above the 18" Valencias have been sourced afterwards as they're not the correct size or offset for an X-Type. The skirts were common to all X-Types but the rear spoiler was a dealer fit option and available aftermarket through places like Adamesh. One does get some odd combinations on these sometimes! The model of this one is an SE though. There was "Classic" if I recall correctly which was poverty spec with manual A/C knobs and often no cruise control etc. These were mostly 2.1 V6s with FWD or 2.0 diesels. There was also SE and Sport spec at the same level roughly with suspension and trim colours being the main differences. SE got chrome outside whilst the Sport was body coloured. I think I drove a low spec Sport once which still had the manual A/C knobs but lots had the automatic climate control. Above those were Sovereign on the walnut polisher lineage and Sport Premium. When I bought my silver saloon it was advertised as a Sport Premium but I think it was actually just a fully-loaded Sport with all the options ticked. The Sport Premiums I think had half-leather and half Alcantara seats whereas my other one is full black leather.The old Automatic Transmission Fluid was rather manky looking with the usual burnt smell one gets with old ATF.
New ATF went in the top...
I've only done one drain so the gearbox still has a fair amount of the old stuff in it now mixed with fresh but already it's very noticeably quicker and smoother in its gear changes. I'll do this again soon and get more of the old stuff out.
As for the plugs, yeah they're goosed. I think one of the previous owners decided that a 120k car wasn't worth all the expense of £50 in spark plugs and the massive labour involved in removing several small bolts to shift the inlet manifold out of the way and didn't bother. Now it's got 140k on the clock these old plugs with clear daylight showing through an archway eroded into the electrode with the feeler gauge at maximum gap won't be helping anything.
There is a split (i.e. completely bust open gaiter on the steering rack). A Lemforder replacement costs a tenner but postage to my address beyond the Scotland Strait which bisects Scotland north of Dundee - a large geographical obstacle observable only by postal companies willing to travel to Cornwall or North West Wales for standard price - is expensive so I'm waiting until the spark plugs arrive which should be tonight and I'll have a look at what the gaskets under the inlet manifold are like. In my experience they're usually reusable on these Jag V6s so long as previous hands have been careful. If they're not in great shape then obviously that can be a source for unmetered air/ vacuum leak and can contribute to poor running. If that's the case I'll add them to the order for the steering rack gaiter.
New ATF went in the top...
I've only done one drain so the gearbox still has a fair amount of the old stuff in it now mixed with fresh but already it's very noticeably quicker and smoother in its gear changes. I'll do this again soon and get more of the old stuff out.
As for the plugs, yeah they're goosed. I think one of the previous owners decided that a 120k car wasn't worth all the expense of £50 in spark plugs and the massive labour involved in removing several small bolts to shift the inlet manifold out of the way and didn't bother. Now it's got 140k on the clock these old plugs with clear daylight showing through an archway eroded into the electrode with the feeler gauge at maximum gap won't be helping anything.
There is a split (i.e. completely bust open gaiter on the steering rack). A Lemforder replacement costs a tenner but postage to my address beyond the Scotland Strait which bisects Scotland north of Dundee - a large geographical obstacle observable only by postal companies willing to travel to Cornwall or North West Wales for standard price - is expensive so I'm waiting until the spark plugs arrive which should be tonight and I'll have a look at what the gaskets under the inlet manifold are like. In my experience they're usually reusable on these Jag V6s so long as previous hands have been careful. If they're not in great shape then obviously that can be a source for unmetered air/ vacuum leak and can contribute to poor running. If that's the case I'll add them to the order for the steering rack gaiter.
I went to collect the spark plugs last night and picked up a pair of 5mm and a pair of 7mm spacers to try. It currently has 6.5mm excess positive offset, moving the centreline of the wheels inboard towards the rotational axis of the MacPherson struts. This is visually masked by the fact the wheels are half an inch wider and the tyres 20mm wider across the tread. I very much suspect it's enough to cause the weird, light and floaty steering though. I could just change the wheels over and indeed still might, but I have to admit I kinda like them so I'm hoping I can make something work.
I'm very confident the OE tyre size of 225/40 R18 will fit no problems. The 245/40 R18 tyres on there now almost fit and just tickle the backs of the plastic wheel arch liners with the outside shoulders of the tyres. It just clears statically, actually, but there are very like marks on the liners where the dirt has been rubbed off.
I've knocked up a rough sketch in Illustrator to appraise how much extra encroachment the spacers will cause onto the wheel arch liners whilst hopefully fixing the steering feel. If I can't do something sensible with the wheel arch liners (I may try gentle re-shaping with a heat gun) then I believe 235/40 R18 tyres will still look healthy on these wheels whilst buying me the clearance I need.
I'm very confident the OE tyre size of 225/40 R18 will fit no problems. The 245/40 R18 tyres on there now almost fit and just tickle the backs of the plastic wheel arch liners with the outside shoulders of the tyres. It just clears statically, actually, but there are very like marks on the liners where the dirt has been rubbed off.
I've knocked up a rough sketch in Illustrator to appraise how much extra encroachment the spacers will cause onto the wheel arch liners whilst hopefully fixing the steering feel. If I can't do something sensible with the wheel arch liners (I may try gentle re-shaping with a heat gun) then I believe 235/40 R18 tyres will still look healthy on these wheels whilst buying me the clearance I need.
I've tried the 5mm spacers and they've helped the steering feel. I'll try the 7mm ones soon.
I found the source of the front end suspension knock too. I like it when my suspicions are correct. I like it more when I'm right about stuff and the required parts are nice and cheap - in this case anti-roll bar bushes. The one on the passenger side in particular has a nice big gap around the anti-roll bar itself and with a prybar in there the bar can be easily moved about 2mm up or down within the bush. I ordered two new bushes plus the steering gaiter last night.
The steering gaiter is also quite an easy fix, but it will mean the track rod end has to come off. Usually I can be fairly accurate in marking and counting the turns to put steering back together fairly well. The car currently tracks straight but with the steering wheel a couple of degrees left which irritates me so I'll get a 4 wheel alignment done. I've found X-Types can feel somewhere between sloppy and reasonably peppy depending on alignment, with most being what I'd call "indifferent". A lot of the bushes on my new car look like fairly young rubber but I think the dampers are old, and tired dampers which don't damp the springs properly do not make for good handling cars (a fresh set of OE dampers at around 65k on my other X-Type were transformational - people don't notice the continuous degredation of their dampers usually, and don't usually replace any until made to at an MOT when they are deemed dangerous), but I can address that a bit later.
I found the source of the front end suspension knock too. I like it when my suspicions are correct. I like it more when I'm right about stuff and the required parts are nice and cheap - in this case anti-roll bar bushes. The one on the passenger side in particular has a nice big gap around the anti-roll bar itself and with a prybar in there the bar can be easily moved about 2mm up or down within the bush. I ordered two new bushes plus the steering gaiter last night.
The steering gaiter is also quite an easy fix, but it will mean the track rod end has to come off. Usually I can be fairly accurate in marking and counting the turns to put steering back together fairly well. The car currently tracks straight but with the steering wheel a couple of degrees left which irritates me so I'll get a 4 wheel alignment done. I've found X-Types can feel somewhere between sloppy and reasonably peppy depending on alignment, with most being what I'd call "indifferent". A lot of the bushes on my new car look like fairly young rubber but I think the dampers are old, and tired dampers which don't damp the springs properly do not make for good handling cars (a fresh set of OE dampers at around 65k on my other X-Type were transformational - people don't notice the continuous degredation of their dampers usually, and don't usually replace any until made to at an MOT when they are deemed dangerous), but I can address that a bit later.
SirGriffin said:
I can concur with that - when I had a Fiat Panda I changed the rear dampers, and the ride went from utterly atrocious to merely terrible.
Hmm, I might try the same with this current Honda Jazz...
I like the X-Type, but only in certain colours, yours looks nice.
Fresh dampers made a big difference to our Fiat 500 last year. Admittedly one of the bushes was looking a bit second hand but the car had taken on a bit of an oversteer bias. Not that people our age with kids hoon a 1.2 Fiat everywhere we go but where we live you're never quite able to take if for granted that there won't be a deer jumping our from a verge or some non-local using 100% of their brain capacity trying to keep their over-sized SUV on the tarmac cutting a corner or whatever so it's preferable not to have cars degrade into weird handling that might bite hard in an emergency.Hmm, I might try the same with this current Honda Jazz...
I like the X-Type, but only in certain colours, yours looks nice.
It's well worth doing IMHO. By the time a car bounces doing the old man's bounce test, dampers are absolutely rubber-ducked and probably have been for the last 40,000 miles
My wife removed the inlet manifold, replaced the spark plugs and the remaining three ignition coils this morning.
It's back together, she's been out for a test drive and reports back that it appears to be running sweetly now with that on-load misfire gone, so that's good. All I had to do myself was access one slightly awkward bolt down the back of the engine and thread the spark plugs on Bank 1 (the rear one) which were awkard to get started and she didn't want to risk cross threading them in the head so asked me to help.
I still have that brake caliper to swap over (and I think I'll change all the brake fluid at that point - it's a bit dark) and of course there's that gaiter and the ARB bushes still to arrive. Not a bad first week though
It's back together, she's been out for a test drive and reports back that it appears to be running sweetly now with that on-load misfire gone, so that's good. All I had to do myself was access one slightly awkward bolt down the back of the engine and thread the spark plugs on Bank 1 (the rear one) which were awkard to get started and she didn't want to risk cross threading them in the head so asked me to help.
I still have that brake caliper to swap over (and I think I'll change all the brake fluid at that point - it's a bit dark) and of course there's that gaiter and the ARB bushes still to arrive. Not a bad first week though
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