Hello all,
I've had my VDP since '05 and have really enjoyed it overall. I've had it serviced professionally, and keep it in the garage at night. We've put 40,000 miles on it and have had no engine problems other than the perpetual check engine light due to a smog sensor and the occasional power steering pump leak.
In '06 our rear end went bad (sudden stop on the freeway- barely got to the shoulder) and now we're being told it may be going bad again (we had it replaced with a rebuild). I thought Jag rear ends were bulletproof! Is this common?!!
Also the driver's seat computer went out- no more moving the seat, auto mirror adjust/steering column adjust, etc. Is there someone able to do board-level repairs to the computer that would be cheaper than buying a new one?

 

Welcome to the forum Davo,

Electrical issues aren't unusual but a second rear end failure in less than 40k miles is serious bad luck.

Follow this link XJ X300 / XJR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the X300 section. If you post the tech question about the rear end and the electrical issues there, the resident experts should come to your aid.

Graham

 

Welcome to the forum Davo,

Good to have you with us.
That does sound unusual, I hope someone can help.

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.

 

welcome to the forum Davo, good to have you here with us

sorry to hear about your bad luck.............some top guys here an good info.......I'm sure we can help some

There's a really great mix of information, camraderrie and fun here..... I have manually upgraded you to full forum access so you can better view the whole site and all its features

Jump on in and enjoy the site.................

 

Thank you! I was considering selling my cat, but this forum has me rethinking that decision!

 

Yo Davo!!!!! Glad you're here buddy. I hadn't seen you join, so this is cool my bud. All the best to you my friend

 

Welcome to the forum.

Good to see you.

2 rear ends!! Is the car a weekend drag strip queen?

That is not a general issue.

 

I didn't think so...guess I'll have to keep closer tabs on where my wife is taking it!!! ;-)

 

Hi Davo
Sorry about your problems but I think that you have come to the right place for solutions (not neccessarily from me I hasten to add!).
Could you be more specific about the rear end failure? Was it all wobbly? Did you lose drive? Were there noises/leaks?
The most common 'forget' points on the IRS on the Jags for people who are not familiar with them (bearing in mind that Lister didn't do many modifications to enable it to take 700 bhp and it was also the basis for the first Aston Martin DB7) are the radius arms (especially the bushes) and the cage mounts. In other words there is no point in removing the entire axle assembly, shot blasting and painting it, fitting all new shocks, springs brakes etc and the bolting it all back in to an unsound structure.
The whole structure as a unit is pretty much indestructible, it is usually the ancilliarys that fail.
As for the electrics you say that you have a VDP so I don't know what year it is or how the electrics are compared to my late 1993 XJS but I did notice a common thread because only today (well yesterday now) I was sorting out the electric mirrors on the XJS.
About 2 years ago the electric mirror adjustment failed but as I am the only person who drives it why would I need to adjust them? (She who must be obeyed has never driven the car but can't wait to get behind the wheel of my new [bag of spanners] V12 XJSC).
Anyway, whilst trying to figure out why the mirrors weren't working I found out that the mirrors are on the same fuse as the electric seats. The seats were working so it was a simple matter of deduction to trace the power to the mirrors, strip the control toggle down and use some very fine buffing paper to clean all the contacts and hey prest, working mirrors.
It sounds to me like that you may have a blown fuse (which you will have to investigate but they have a life time too) or possibly just dirty contacts in the fuse box. My 'new' scabby old XJSC has had a new electrical lease of life just by cleaning the contacts in the fuse holders (old electric tooth brushes work really well) and fitting new fuses (pennys).
Hope this helps a bit.
Steve

 

OK, OK, deep breath here...I think you're completely on the wrong track here.
First of all, the differential is what went out on me not the IRS; but to be more specific, the first inkling of a problem was on the way to Vegas when it started blowing smoke. I pulled over to check for an oil leak somewhere or an overfilled crankcase or anything- couldn't find a thing. Ran fine the rest of the trip. It wasn't until a couple months later that it started blowing smoke again and suddenly ground to a halt, barely making it to the shoulder of the freeway. $2500 later we had it running like new!
Second, the passenger mirror works fine; but the one who must be obeyed got too close to the garage post on her way out and took off the chrome cover- then ran over it to test its tensile strength rating.
That said, you make some excellent points about my electrical system woes- my driver's seat computer quit working so my drivers seat doesn't move; my steering column no longer does its in-and-out and up-and-down thing; and there's an annoying relay-clicking sound whenever I open a rear door. So its back to the fuse panel for me; it is certainly worth the proverbial pennies you mentioned to try!!
Thank you so much for your inspired response!

 

Davo, I was talking to our mutual friend Dave *** yesterday and he mentioned that he had heard there may be a differential retrofit of another unit of some kind. It may be worth Google'ing a bit to check it out!