Hi All,

I am new to this forum and recently became a proud owner of
an 03 X type 2.5 L, 5 speed. I love the car, but guess what
it needs quite some work. I got it inspected and the dealer
gave me a repair estimate of $15,000, I know ridiculous
right? That's three times the value of the car right now!

Anyways, I was wondering if I can get contribution from the
experts here at JagForums about the selected repair I
thought I should get done to have the vehicle operate safely
and optimally.

1. First and foremost, I need to get the Front suspension
lower control arms replaced on both drivers side and pass
side. I have bought Mevotech brand control arms for this,
how good are these? These are new and were half the price.

2. As I get the front suspension lower control arms
replaced, what all do you guys suggest I should get replaced
in the same job, given that the vehicle has 137,000 miles on
it. I would prefer to spend another 100 or so dollars on
things that usually get worn like bushing, etc. than pay for
labor once again at a later date to tear the suspension
down.

3. Similarly, the dealer recommended replacing the rear
suspension's "lower front" control arms. The problem is that
the joints are worn out and the rear tires are leaning
inwards and outwards from top. I am confused if replacing
only the "lower front" arms would solve the problem, since
there are three different control arms in rear suspension-
lower control arm, lower front control arm and upper control
arm. Any suggestions on which ones should be changed, and
alongside what all other parts in that area could be changed
in same job to save on labor?

4. Need to change PCV Valve and hose. Should I also change
the Intake manifold gasket during this job? I don't know if
these 3 are closely related or not, but read it somewhere.
Can someone guide on this please? I think it's the O rings
that go with the valve??

5. I know from existing threads that most people use full
synthetic oil and mobil 1 oil filters. But manufacturer's
recommendation is conventional oil 5w-30 right? Would one be
better / worse than the other? Some say the engine was
designed for conventional oil and synthetic is not needed?

6. How often should the engine air filter be changed? It
doesn't look dirty or anything, but still would like to know
when shall I change it?

7. Which brand coolant/antifreeze do most people use here
for their x types?

8. Anybody have any experience with URO Brand sway bar
bushings?

Thanks so much folks. Every single response will be greatly
appreciated. Thanks for helping a novice Jag owner!

 

aadish, I will attempt to help you out as much as I can. I can understand where you are coming from and hopefully we can get you taken care of in no time.

1) not familiar with that brand, so, can't speak for their quality.

2) Get the front struts looked at and make sure that they are good and have them do a detailed inspection of the upper bushing for the strut. If you are going to have issues with the front end, 99% of the time it is either a bad ball joint (which you are replacing with the new lower arm) and the upper bushing on the strut. After that, the rest should be pretty good for you.

3) yes, the lower control arms will correct a lot of the problems that you are seeing, but I would also recommend replacing the upper control arms for the rear as those are what have the next major affect on the rear tires leaning in on the rear. But the lower fronts affect it a lot more believe it or not. Just don't forget the 4 wheel alignment after all is said and done.

4) I think you are mixing up a few things here. The PCV valve is something that only taps into the intake and really has no other affect on the intake. The PCV valve can be replaced without removing anything else. As for it being related to other components, we have what we call the "Big 3". This is the PCV valve hose, the brake booster hose, and the IMT valve o-rings. If you are going to have a problem with the engine, these 3 are the first things you should check. You should be able to get all 3 of these changed out for under $100 USD. I would not worry about the intake gaskets as these are a very low failure rate item.

5) I hate to open up a can of worms with this as everyone has a different view of what is good, better, and best. yes, the owners manual says not to use full synthetics, yet, later on Jaguar released a memo saying that use of full synthetics is fine. As for 1 being worth more than the other, that is a personal preference. You can get 300K miles out of your motor with routine convention oil changes. having some "feel good" about the engine because you are using full synthetics can relieve a lot of stress in your mind. I have not seen enough data to convince me to go full sythetic. I have tried it in my car, I even tried the blend. I did not see any change in my car between the 3. Others say that when they switched over to full synthetic, their car ran better. I say stick with a major name brand and buy what makes you happy. I know this is not a crystal clear answer that you may be wanting, but 99.99% of the people out there can't justify why they buy the oil that they do with facts. They only say "it makes my engine run better". I ask how?

6) the air filter should be changed every 15K miles unless you live in a dusty area. Then more often based on conditions.

7) Oh boy, another "which is the better color on a car" question. This is the same sort of thing that the oil question has. The big thing with this is making sure you don't mix different color fluids together. If you do, you run a chance of causing a real heart ache for yourself because the fluids are incompatible and they will form a goo inside your coolant system and really foul things up. Stick with a name brand coolant, drain what you have, flush the system out really good, then refill with the coolant that you get following the directions. The bigger thing is you have coolant in the car and a coolant system that is not leaking. You can in theory run straight water in the coolant system, but I would not recommend it if you live in a climate that even has a remote chance of freezing. Actually, running straight water is the best way to transfer heat out of the engine and "contaminating" the water with the antifreeze product actually reduces its ability to transfer heat. But, the benefit is that the water will not freeze in the block, destroying the engine of the car. So, get yourself some Prestone, Peak, other brand name coolant and call it good.

8) Not familiar with that brand. When I have replaced bushings and whatnot, I have stuck with "Energy Suspensions". They have done me good over the years. But, any quality polyurethane bushing will do you just fine.

 

Thanks a lot Thermo! That information helps a lot!

1. Are the upper bushing for strut close to the sway bar mount bushings? Reasonable to replace in same job? I have got an image below to check if this part looks close to correct for strut bushing?

 

Just curious...what was the dealer going to do for $15k? What you described would cost a fraction of that.
By the way, welcome to the forums. A lot of great people on here. Anything that can happen to the X has probably been discussed here. Surf around a bit and you will quickly learn a lot about your car.

 

aadish, you have the right part. But, that part is not even close to the sway bar bushings. The upper bushing is mounted to the top of the wheel well. But, if you have the lower A-arm out of the way, then you are only but 3 bolts away from getting to this piece. You can see the 3 nuts if you open the hood and look at the top of the strut tower. The 3 nuts you see there hold the bushing in place.

 

Alfadude- I know it sounds ridiculous but yeah 15K! they wanted to change:

-pcv valve
-breather hose
-IMT O-rings (this and two above for 110)
-Radiator (complete part) cuz they felt a nano sized leak: 900
-the undertray was missing so add 600 for that
-Rear Arms - 520
-swaybar bushings - 1200
-transfer box- 1K
-FR A Arms - 1K
-Clutch- just cuz its very old now (nothing wrong as such) - 3,500
-Headlamps (cuz they don't suggest having HID kits, so they strongly recommended going back to factory ones) - 1600
-brake fluid exch - 130 (i got a flush for 50 bucks at another place).

The dealers have a "replace part" policy here in the US. Part distributors and dealers have an understanding where they don't even want to touch the part/item for servicing if the problem is fixable without replacing. They would rather replace the whole chassis than fix a dent!

 

my bad - the transfer box was 4.5 K

 

Thermo- This might be just adding up extra work, but should I also go ahead and replace the struts itself, or is it further down and would bump up the labor? I was looking at this list on jagbits: http://jaguar-parts.jagbits.com/sear...page=1&filters[catcode]=XType_Suspension_8&sort=code%20asc

1. the last item on this page is the bushing/bearing which we discussed earlier. Monroe is the same price as the genuine jaguar part. I might as well go with the OES part then.

2. If I do want to replace the struts in same job, I see two shock absorb-ers for front, one is for sport suspension and another for regular. Since my X-type is not sport model, can I still put the sport struts on? If yes, would that mean I am going to have to change other things alongside to accommodate the sport struts?

3. I'm using the terms "struts" and "shock absorbers" interchangeably, assuming they are close enough or do the same task, in this suspension at least.

Too many questions, but I hope this will be helpful to other too.

 

aadish, if you are looking at doing the struts anyways, then the bushing has to come out anyways. You are not adding any more work to the job. Just a little bit in cost for the new bushings.

As for the difference between non-sport and sport struts, there are slight differences. Both will bolt up to your car, but the sport struts are 1.4" shorter (due to the shorter springs associated with the sport model) and the strut has different valving in it, making the strut offer a stiffer ride. Can you add it, sure. Would I say to, I can not say that.

The "difference" between a strut and a shock is essentially a shock only limits how fast the suspension will move. It doesn't serve any other functions than that. Where a strut does the job of a shock, but also normally provides some other function, normally assisting in the steering of the car (struts physically twist when you turn the steering wheel). So, in our cars, no only do they minimize the bumps, but they are a vital part of the steering geometry. Granted, most mechanics will understand if you tell them that you need the front shocks replaced on your car.

 

OK, that explains it. Sounds like they went over the whole car pretty good and made a worst case list of any potential issue. Sounds like you are doing the right things and should be having your X humming along soon and with minimal effect on your wallet. Enjoy your new car.

 

aadish, if you lived close to me, we could take care of a lot of this stuff for very minimal money. Personally, their comment about "having the HID kits is not a good idea" is complete @#$%^&. If you install them correctly, then they are just as good as the factory stuff. They are just trying to upsell a bunch of stuff that is not necessarily needed. Granted, I am making the assumption that whoever installed them knew what they were doing too. Get someone in there that hacks and slashes and you have a much bigger issue than just new headlights.

Unfortunately, with the radiator, they are correct. Whatever you do, do no use one of the "stop leak" products. You are going to cause tons more damage than you are going to fix. It may not hit you initially, but it will hit you. Those are great products if you are somewhere that you feel your life is threatened and you need out of there. But, beyond that, please don't use products like that. Your mechanic will "love" you if you choose products like that.

 

Thermo- that would def have been nice to get it fixed for cheap. About the HID's, do you have any suggestions on this issue: when I turn the low beams off, and try to turn 'em back on, they don't come on. I have to shut the engine, wait for a minute or two and fire her back up again after which the low beams come on just fine. any ideas as to what might be going on?

When you say "more damage" by stop leak products, do you mean damage to other parts of engine? Can you elaborate on that, as to what kind of damage could occur? I'm just curious to know and seeing that there are so many knowledgeable people on this forum, I thought I could learn some new things.

Thanks!

 

aadish, when you pour stop leak into the radiator to make it stop a leak in the radiator, the product coats all the walls of the coolant system. So, just think about the radiator. You have essentially put a winter coat on the inside of the radiator. So, you have reduced the ability of the radiator to transfer heat out of the coolant system. You also have coated all the walls of the coolant channels. Again, you have wrapped those effectively in a winter coat. So, now, you need the engine to be at a higher temperature to transfer the same amount of heat. Then you can also consider the water pump. It is going to coat that and you can affect how much coolant that it can pump. So, you are making it harder to get heat out of the engine and you are reducing the amount of coolant that can flow. Just not a good combination.

 

"Stop Leak" radiator compounds have been around since the dawn of the automobile: here's a good, cheap, simple one from a 1923 Popular Mechanics you might try if you really want to save a buck!

 

Thanks on the insight on stop leak fluids guys! I appreciate it!

On another note, I am a little confused on the sway bar end links. Essentially there are two brand I am interested in - Mevotech or Beck/Arnley. I don't mind either, since they are both reputable brands in suspension parts. Now the issue is there are two image illustrations on different websites on how these links look (for front suspension).

First link is: Beck/Arnley 101-5692 Suspension Stabilizer Bar Link | Sway Bar & Stabilizer Links | Free Shipping over $50 | Autoshepherd which I think shows the correct image and this part could be comparable to the factory part.

However, there is another product at link Beck/Arnley Suspension Stabilizer Bar Link | Sway Bar & Stabilizer Links | Free Shipping over $50 | Autoshepherd which shows the same part but the rod connecting the ball joints is very different from previous one.

Any suggestions on which of these two look like the Jag factory links? Also, if any idea on one is better that the other, plus if one fits better than the other.

Thanks a lot!

 

Bruce- egg white experiment would be really fun to perform once I get a really junky car with a radiator leak..:P

 

It appears that the first one most closely matches the JEPC.

 

would i also need new grommets and washer if I am replacing the sway bar links and bushing? the grommets and washers are shown here:
Energy Suspension 9.8105 Sway Bar End Link Grommets and Washers - 98105

 

okay so I replaced the front lower control arms (both driver and passenger side). The ball joint on drivers side was pretty loose and the passenger side had some play as well. The vibration in chassis is all gone after putting Mevotech brand new control arms. Happy!!!
Got a 4 wheel alignment after that.

However, its a Jag after all and some new problem has to come. After replacing the control arms, now there is a flapping or grinding noise coming from the passenger side front suspension ONLY when driving at 2500 RPM or above. And gets pretty worse. It feels like the wheel is about to come off if I continue at 2500 RPM. I double and triple checked the suspension components and everything seems tight. There is not a single bolt or nut that seems loose.

Any idea on what's happening?

 

Hey thermo do u know the steps to replacing front n rear strusts. Greatly appreciate any help.