59 plate (late 2009) XF 3.0D Premium Luxury (92K miles).

OK. So last year I posted about the Jag dealership taking 6 visits and charging me for perfectly good parts going in the bin as they stabbed about in the dark trying to find and fix my Restricted Performance issue.
On that occasion I ended up handing the keys to the dealership principal and telling him I didn't want it back until he had driven it for a week without issue and I also didn't expect a bill for the 6th repair. Hey presto: issue sorted in a week and no further issues, or bill.

Fast forward to 16K miles, and one year, later and Restricted Performance is back. 7th visit and dealership said it was split hose this time, which I reluctantly accepted as a new issue, and they returned the car with my wallet about £300 lighter (again).

First excursion onto motorway within 24 hours and RP is back again.
8th visit to dealership and they now say I have a cracked plastic air intake manifold that is only leaking when warm (so didn't show up on their test drive). They're looking for £3500 to fix that (made me choke, then laugh, then wet myself a little).

So, c'mon team Jag enthusiasts.... what are my options here?
Firstly does that diagnosis sound credible? Sorry don't have any codes.
Can that intake manifold be repaired, rather than replaced (plastic weld? pipe repair tape? I dunno?)?
Is this a Jag specialist dealership job or could any decent garage do it?
Can anyone recommend a good, independent, Jag XF diesel mechanic in Scotland?

This thing is rippin' ma knittin'....

 

Nothing made of plastic on a car should cost £3500 to fix. I wish I knew a mechanic in Scotland to recommend. I wonder if this a part that one could find used at a junk yard. Did they break out cost of labor vs parts?

 

Hey there, as per pm, please see below.....

Please try Prestige Jaguar in Paisley first, speak to Ian / Dougie and tell them I sent you.

Secondly, perhaps make a phone call to The Jag Specialist and speak to Chris, tell him I sent you from Jaguarforums
People have travelled to him from Scotland and South East England and saved lots of money.


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/u...ations-113590/


Anyone else, please post any ideas / sugestions on possible causes / fixes

Good luck

 

OK. So now have more details from Pantland (paraphrasing):-
Plastic inlet manifold (leaks on smoke test when under load)...
Driver's side air intake manifold.
When you flex the manifold you can see it leaking, but only when under load. Failure of the plastic component itself.
Manifold (only) price (other parts and seals also required):- £1,700 + VAT.
Labour estimate:- 9 hours due to right hand bank strip down and replace.
Jaguar do not have a job sheet for RH air intake manifold strip down and replace so can only [guesstimate] what seals and other parts might be required.

Will be contacting suggested parties shortly.

 

Unbelievable...

I had a similar story with my X358 leaking diesel fumes into the cabin.
Jaguar of course told you that the whole cat needed to be replaced ( as well to do both as the other one will no doubt go shortly, around £1000 each iirc )

Turns out there is an aftermarket "sleeve" for the flexi pipe does the same job for £150 a side!!

It may be that there is some other way around your issue, check as discussed and see for yourself.

Good luck

Hope to hear

 

Latest from dealership...

"Further to our telephone conversation earlier today, our findings are as follows :-
We carried out a diagnostic check and found fault code P006A-00 (this fault code is not recorded on any of the previous invoices I still have access to) which refers to 'Mass Airflow Correlation.' This fault code means that 1 bank of the engine has a different air pressure from the other bank.

We carried out an air path dynamic test as per diagnostic equipment recommendations, the results failed the test meaning that there was an air leak or blockage in the system. We then carried out a smoke test on the air charge system (intercooler & pipes) which was found to be OK. We then checked the engine pipes etc and found smoke leaking from the inlet manifold (o/s bank). We stripped out some components for visual access and confirmed the manifold had a hairline crack in the plastic manifold, which opened up when the system was under pressure.

Regarding the repair, we do have access to plastic repair equipment at our bodyshop in [city] which we can borrow and therefore attempt a repair for you. There would be no guarantee with this repair but if successful it would substantially reduce the costs and be a short term fix.

As discussed on the telephone, to replace the manifold would cost approx £[xxxx] to £[yyyy] at retail rates. [Dealer] Jaguar would contribute in the region of [x]% to this and Jaguar UK would contribute a similar percentage (subject to final costings). The cost would therefore be about £[xxxx] inclusive of parts, labour and vat.

If you would like us to attempt a plastic repair then the cost would be approx £400 inclusive of parts, labour and vat."

 

Also should say.... I have absolutely taken up Jim's advice and have spoken with Ian and Dougie at (Indy) Prestige Jaguar, Paisley, who were re-assuring from a single call alone.
Just waiting on some more feedback (part no.s) from Pantland before discussing further with Dougie and potentially shifting car to Paisley.
Will let you all know.
Anyone else got thoughts on repair (plastic weld) versus replace on this manifold?
Ta.

 

Slightly better news then wat007?
Ian & Dougie are both great guys, if anyone can fix it and save you money over dealership costs then they can!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and hope to hear

Jim

 

They should be able to remove and reseal the manifold. We do it here all the time. Split/crack, really? A manifold does not crack on its own. Been with dealers for 30 yrs and never seen one.

They do leak where they're bonded together. That can be resealed with a good sealant for WAAYYY less.

 

If the plastic manifold has split, it must be at the welding seams (I would be suprised if they are bonded/glued, but that's another story), the plastic wouldn't crack anywhere else apart from the joints.

Repairs are possible, plastic can be welded. There are companies who fabricate in plastic for heavy industry (making tanks, customising plastic piping, etc) but the other people to think about are the motorcycle shops; sports bike fairings often need repairs so they should know someone who can plastic weld.

I would have my doubts about using a glue or adhesive and getting it to seal properly, the materials that the intake are made of a probably not condusive to glueing, if they are made of PP or PE then welding is the best option to repair, especially if the parts are under pressure (between the intercooler and the engine), I don't know what the material is but if someone can tell me then it's easy to say if a glue or if welding is the best approach.

 

I'm not familiar with the manifold on his U.K. model, but the 2009 4.2L U.S. model uses an intake plenum that is bolted together and sealed using (not available separately) molded rubber seals. I have removed and resealed no less than 30 of them, using a high performance silicone, as the cost of a new manifold was a couple grand.

Again, though, I'm not familiar with the same year U.K. model so it may be different.

 

It's the 3.0L Twin-Turbo Diesel V6, i've only seen the older 2.7L up close myself.

Either way it will definitely be leaking at the seals/joints.

A sealant is different again to glueing, if you mean something like Sikaflex then for sure that'll be the way to go if the manifold is designed in separate pieces and bolted/gasketed together.

 

We get no diesel vehicles over here, so good luck with that one!

Anything plastic can be fixed with the right equipment. My mobile bumper repair guys plastic weld all the time. The manifold may be a composite, though. Hell, for the $$$ they're talking about, I'd try a fix first. A used part may be the next choice.

When something that unusual happens, I usually check with several other dealers to see if it's chronic, or just the lucky one. If it's chronic, call Jag and ask for assistance.

 

Hi all.
Sorry for not closing the loop on this one sooner and letting you all know how I got on... so here goes...
Having spoken to Dougie, Ian, and one of their mechanics at indy Prestige Jaguar Paisley (as recommended by mod. JimC64), I was immediately reassured that this was not going to be a £3.5K repair. Turns out they had done one that week on another 3.0D XF and charged £832, all in. These guys really knew what they were talking about and told me how to question the dealership.
On pressing the dealiarship further (after speaking to Prestige) they confirmed that they were including the price for new injectors, injector kits, timing belt, blah this and blah that. Most of which was unnecessary.
So, I took the car off the dealership and handed it over to Prestige in Paisley, first thing next day. The following day I collected it, all repaired, FIRST TIME, for £842 (they put a tenner of diesel in it for me after I handed it over with bingo fuel).
They showed me the manifold that they removed. Sure enough, a hair-line (but visible) crack along the shoulder of the manifold. They also pointed out, and handed to me, the thumb-size piece of plastic that had broken off from the inside of the manifold on the bridge between two of the large intake ports. Had a smaller piece broken off, and got into the air intake proper, it could have been sooo much worse.
I haven't replied sooner because, having been bitten before by believing this thing was fixed, I wanted to let it run for a while. Well, that was about seven weeks ago now and it has run like a dream ever since (and probably done about 3,000 miles in that time).
So, the moral I have taken from this is to listen to the message from the many forum contributors who repeatedly say "take it off the dealership and give it to a good indy, that you can trust".
Service due fairly soon, so I know where it won't, and where it will, be going.
Yes, I has wavered over this episode, but I'm now back in love with my XF again.
Big thanks and kudos to mod. JimC64 and more especially to Prestige Jag, Paisley for a job well done.

 

Superb Wat007 and so glad that Ian and Dougie managed to help you out as I knew they would!

Hopefully you told them that I passed you on from JF?

As for the service? Prestige is the way to go for sure.

I usually get a mid way oil change done at national tyres for around £40 just to keep it all nice n fresh, cheap as chips for peace of mind as they use the correct grade of oil

So glad all is well, thanks for coming back to share.

Jim

 

I must say ..Great stuff JimC64! The power of the Forum!

 

I had the very same problem still getting fault codes since the repair have regretted buying the car 3 months after owning it first the intercooler burst plastic weld seam common issue Jag customer service not interested in any way... Then the drivers side inlet manifold cracked and no not on a seam or anywhere near a seam just goes to show it is poor manufacturing again Jav not in the slightest bit interested very poor show I think just wish I had gone with my head and bought a 535d like I really wanted absolutely regret ever taking a jag for a test drive

 

Tomorrow i will open it to se how can i fix it and take pics

 

Inlet manifold I'm guessing....
******* at jag won't be any help they won't admit there is an issue with **** parts I bet it's the one on the drivers side
Soooooo glad I got rid of mine was nothing but trouble