Hello everyone,
Very nice to meet you all, I have been an avid reader of these forums since the old brown and red format days, (yellow and red? cream and red? specific Jaguar coded interior colour and red?).
I am the fortunate custodian of a 1997 Jaguar X300, it has been my pride and joy since circa 2005 having purchased it from a friend of mine's father who bought it new.
Over the years it has been plagued with the usual issues but is now driving like new again. I always find it facinating how the X300 has a shorter wheelbase than an XF is lighter than an X351 and is (at least IMO) turning into an extremely reliable, daily driver / modern classic.
I have been fortunate to have a very good, enthusiastic, passionate mechanic, who looked after my father's Jaguars as he does mine. When my Grandfather passed he had a 420G, my father has had a Mark 2, Series 1 with 2 and 3 modifications and TWR kit, XJ40 and XJR 308, so Jags are definitely in the blood.
Some things I have learnt:
When my car began over revving / driving itself up to 60km/h out of nowhere my mechanic deduced it to be a hairline fracture in the piston cover plate (not sure exact terminology, the thin metal cover plate surrounding the pistons, the crack caused a vacuum leak but as it was after the sensors it was not accounted for, typical symptoms (batter gauge dropping, revs to low and stalls unless double footed).
Following this my car again adopted some electrical gremlins which led to stalling and under revving, having replaced the MAFs, the TPS was ultimately disconnected and ECU remapped to rev higher, this was fine for some years a little thirsty but great pickup. This year I elected to restore the car a little, I purchased a new Coolant temperature sensor, installed a CPS bracket, installed a new Crack Sensor, new wiring for the sensor, and re-plugged the TPS, immediately the car turned on and stalled, notably it no longer revved to circa 2500 on turn on (as thou it was confused about its positions), occasionally when it did work it drove better than ever and really made the car feel alive but this was totally random.
Ultimately, I removed the throttle body pipes and cleaned the TPS suddenly the car stopped stalling but still occasionally revved too low as I removed the pipe from the Camcover to the throttle body pipe (after the MAFS sender) I noticed it leaked approximately a shot glass full of oil. The engine after shutdown had been pumping oil into the air duct but as it was after the sensors it blocked the TPS but wasnt accommodated for by the air / fuel mix. Today my mechanic replaced the cam cover and seals and noted the spark plug sockets had filled with oil, he cleaned them and installed new ones, the car is now IMO perfect and so smooth in idle it feels like its turned off, the fuel consumption now reads 6l/100 on the highway and the pick up feels immensely improved over the original (largely due to the CPS I would say).
I isolated the failure of the 'check engine light' to appear to a sticking Ignition lock and have also lost a spray can straw in same lock when it locked, thank fully I discovered bathing it in Silicon Spray helped the broken straw slide straight out and ultimately assisted the check engine light to turn on, nearly every time.
Other modifications over the years include a complete stripping of the orange peel application of new paint and custom clear coat protection, removal of the side bumpers and installation of custom 18' wheels (the car is a Gold / topaz colour);
New carpets, new bulbs behind the dash and gauge cluster;
new Memory module;
new SLCM and new key fob (fixed issue of non-programmable and Immobilizer deciding to randomly lock the car out of the key);
Fixed the bulb behind the gear selector; and in every window switch;
installed discrete Apple Car play / Android Auto with fold away screen, new speakers in doors, hidden modern arial and disabled popup arial;
Installed halo lights the same as the Iron Madden Jaguar with Amber indicator surrounds and 12v ignition DRL Halos;
Upgraded high beam to high powered HB3 Bulb; upgraded all interior, boot and licence plate lights to LED (original halogens were melting some of their surrounds although I do miss their romantic glow at times);
New centre console with new cup holders;
repaired seat motor connections (where you can hear the motor but the seat wouldn't move);
installed new rear window motor;
disabled Valet mode without keyfob;
I only add the above incase some people are having these issues and can't quite find a solution I was hoping to give back to the community where possible and also continue learn as I'm sure I'll encounter new issues along the way.
Looking forward to our future discussions.

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Jack,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help

 

welcome to the forum - enjoy!!

 

Hello, Jack,
You obviously have lengthy experience with your Jaguar! We like to have members like you so we can pick your brain. LOL
Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Welcome to the forums Jack,

Good to have you with us. That's what I call an Intro.

As an avid reader, I doubt you need a link to X300 forum from me. You can also use the Australia - Queensland Region forum by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...queensland-92/ to find other members in your region.

Please read the guidance for new members ( https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/n...ned-up-241802/ ) which answers many of the most frequent questions about getting started.

Enjoy the forums.

Graham

 

Welcome aboard Jack.

 

Welcome to the Forums.