Newbie Jaguar XJ8 (X308) Questions

[jcelee]

Hope somebody can advise on the following on my March 2002 XJ8 3.2 Sport

1) Thermostat Housing - I currently have the original plastic one - leaking increasingly like a sieve! Should I replace the thermostat at the same time as the housing (with an ally one)? I guess so...

2) I'm getting the upper chain tensioners changed shortly. Should I change the waterpump at the same time (on 2002 car)?

3) The hoses all have those dodgy squeeze clips. I plan to change them to jubilee clips - any good ideas what sizes I need and where to get them?

4) I'm pretty sure the front cigar lighter is short-circuiting. It had no fuse in the boot when I bought the car and it just pops fuses almost instantly. First off I'm planning to try changing the cigar lighter socket. Any ideas how to go about this or where to get one?

Thanks!

Jon

[Jaguar steve]

jcelee said:

Hope somebody can advise on the following on my March 2002 XJ8 3.2 Sport

1) Thermostat Housing - I currently have the original plastic one - leaking increasingly like a sieve! Should I replace the thermostat at the same time as the housing (with an ally one)? I guess so...

2) I'm getting the upper chain tensioners changed shortly. Should I change the waterpump at the same time (on 2002 car)?

3) The hoses all have those dodgy squeeze clips. I plan to change them to jubilee clips - any good ideas what sizes I need and where to get them?

4) I'm pretty sure the front cigar lighter is short-circuiting. It had no fuse in the boot when I bought the car and it just pops fuses almost instantly. First off I'm planning to try changing the cigar lighter socket. Any ideas how to go about this or where to get one?

Thanks!

Jon

There's a company called Welsh Entrerprises who manufacture aluminium thermostat housings for the V8.

www.welshent.com.

The later water pumps have a more durable impeller design. I've not heard of any problems with these, but it would do no harm to remove the pump and have a look just for peace of mind. If you've had serious coolant leaks and done a lot of toppong up the best advice would be to drain and flush the system so it'll be easy to check the state of the pump before refilling.

Cant'remember the clips sizes you need and it's pissing down so I'm not going out to look. There's enough land in most cases to fit new Jubiliee clips alongside the old sprung types so a slimmer and easy to seperate type would be the ones to choose.

IIRC you can access the cigar lighter socket by removing the inner lining of the centre console. Make doubly sure you disconnect the battery before you start.

[jcelee]

Briiliant, thanks Steve.

SNG Barrett seem to have the best prices on the ally thermostat kit in the UK (£38+VAT at the mo). I take it that it would be a false economy to not change the thermostat itself?

I'm having a 70k service done next Monday so all the coolant will come out anyway (together with oil, brake fluid).

On another issue, I understand there is a gear mechanism that goes on the electric steering column reach adjustment. I understand it is possible to replace this rather than the whole motor mechanism or column? Any idea where to get one or whether it is feasible DIY (obviously with battery disconnected!)

Jon

[Jaguar steve]

Stick a new thermostat in. No point in putting the old one back - even I'm not that tight

IIRC the steering column reach motor cable breaks, replacing one was covered in the JEC magazine a while ago. I've never done one but from memory of the article it's not that difficult a job to do. Might be worth getting yourself a copy of the magazine from the Jaguar Enthusiasts' Club to have a read

[jcelee]

Thanks again Steve, I'm a member so should be able to get hold of it. I'll request a copy on there.

In the end I've ordered the cable from the states as I've only seen whole motors for sale here.

Jon