Hello fellow members,
I am new member of these forums.

Almost for a year I am an owner of Jaguar XRJ 4.2L Supercharged 2003.
The car was operated by my brother for last 3 years, and before him we don't actually know vehicle history.
It is currently operated in harsh weather conditions here in Latvia, where temperatures quite often drop, road is salted, and road quality is quite bad.

Last couple of months car started to crumble.
Front Left air strut died of shock absorber fluid leaking and eating all rubber in contact, resulting in bladder leaking air.
This made car inoperable, while I am looking for ways to repair air suspension.

The issue is that front springs look like non-OE, as the one that died has no identification on it, & green dot at the top, which stands for comfort air strut. If I understood correctly, for my XJR it should have been sport configuration (red dot).
And also by making visual inspection of other struts it seems rear right strut is having same issue (oil leak) & will die off soon.

Car also has many other issues like:
- Cruise module has died (burnt circuit board)
- Transmission 3-4 gear shift fault (most probably poor mechanical gear condition)
- Radiators in poor condition
- Left reverse headlight cover cracked
- Fuel injector issues
- Secondary fuel pump not working
- Side mirrors not folding
- Plastic air deflectors at the bottom are missing/cracked/damaged
- steel suspension & body elements dying to corrosion
- e.t.c

I love this car and i want to fix her.
however this all results in a huge pile of money, which i could not handle.

Together with my mechanic we are considering option as buying other x350 (XJ6, XJ8) as parts donor
Currently I found XJ6 3.0 2003 RH that could save us, and I wonder how much parts are interchangeable with my XJR, and how much are not.

Please advise.

 

The only certain way is to check part numbers. I think there is a parts catalogue somewhere on the internet, maybe even on this forum. There is almost certain to be a large degree of interchangeability.

 

Good day Fraser,

Thanks for the reply.
I am aware of parts catalog, however, for me it was not so straightforward.
Well, certainly these will be having high degree of interchangeability.

Cooling system will be not.
Brake system is different.
Air struts for XJ6 are "Comfort" and for XJR SC it is "Sport" configuration.

As engine as is 3.0-litre V6 petrol VS 4.2-litre supercharged V8 petrol so not much could be swapped.
Taking in consideration engines are different I wonder whether transmissions are identical. It should be ZH 6HP26.
And I wonder if different engine also affects something else in XJ6 against XJR SC

So I realized it would be much easier to understand what else is different between them and what have some nuisances than to mention everything that is the same

 

I think the only strut you can get now is the comfort one so as long as you replace both fronts for comfort you should be ok. You can just replace the fuel pump that has failed rather than the very expensive whole assembly look on ebay for this 292801667815 auction it should be the correct fuel pump.

If the weather is as bad as you say then the power fold mirrors have probably rusted up. The metal is very poor and corrodes quickly.

The donor car will be ok for body panels, trim, lights etc but the problem is most of the electrical modules are coded to the car so swapping them around can be tricky.

As for the gearbox you MAY get away with a filter and fluid change.

As with all things look at the car objectively, can I fi it? How much will it cost? Would a better car be a better way to go? If I know xy and z is bad what don't I see that could bite you on the bum?

Post some pics up we all love some car ****. please excuse any odd typos as my keyboard has started to do odd things and I don't always catch them.

 

Olgert,

I think it's great that you want to save this car. Maybe it is very rare in your country so you will have to work harder than most of us to keep it going. As far as a 6cyl parts car, the vast majority of body and suspension parts will fit and virtually none of the engine parts will, including the radiators. Also the lower model most likely does not have adaptive cruise control like the XJR. The transmissions are all the same ZF 6HP26 so that will swap but first you should try a service / fluid change to see if that helps.

Good luck and keep us posted as you encounter new problems. Also how many km on your car?

Best Regards
Jeff

 

Hi JCalhoun, Joe Dredd,
Thanks for you replies.

I am willing to continue making attempts to save her until March, and after that I will start considering other options.

Car has ~250 000 km (~155k miles) at dashboard. Quite a journey.

It was brought here in Latvia from Tenerife, driven across whole Europe by my brother and his friend;
They thought it would be a good idea to buy such car in there and sell it afterwards to someone else here. But on the journey he was charmed by this car so it stayed with us.
He became a pilot, and now does not have ability to keep this car under maintenance, cause this kitty surely is hungry for attention

Yes, it is not a common vehicle here, and I might have encountered only 4-5 or x350 here on roads.
Jaguar Dealership is not having friendly prices for anything at all, so I am just not considering their help.

For the transmission fluid change, it was already been done, and fault did not go away.
However my friend mechanic thinks that it might have been done by inexperienced staff, so we have a plan to do a second fluid change.

Joe thanks for correct fuel pump number, it surely will help when it will to a pump maintenance.

At the moment I am trying to make a contact with previous car holder to ask him help me understand which air struts are installed on this vehicle.
XJ6 I was considering to buy has already been sold

Now thinking on my further steps to fix suspension

 

Have you considered converting the air suspension to a coilover? It could eliminate a lot of issues now and in the future, particularly if the winters are cold in Latvia. The conversion is not really that hard to do and you could probably do it yourself. Just a thought. Good luck with it.

 

Hello everyone,

I have contacted previous car owner and now I have new information about my car origin, which confused me, as well as him.

He claims that car has Daimler Super V8 version struts installed.
They have green marking.

He also mentions that brakes come from Daimler as well.

However he is also not aware whether car is Daimler or XJR.
My car has 'Super V8' badge, but I am thinking it might be not Daimler Super Eight rather than just an XJR with replaced badge, brakes and suspension;

There is little information about differences between XJR & Daimler.
Wikipedia says:

• My car does not have distinctive wire mesh grille but may have chrome-finished side mirrors, although I believe these could be just plastic covers glued on top regular mirrors.
• It is short wheelbase.
• It might not have boxwood inlays finished in wood veneer as interior looks like regular x350, only the steering wheel being different - it is fully made from wood.

other relevant forums thread I found https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...8-44335/page2/ does not help

Question #1: How can I distinguish whether my Jaguar is XJR or Daimler Super V8?

VIN: SAJAA74R64TG16331

• Manufacturer (SAJ) Jaguar passenger car
• Market (A)Rest of World with twin air bags, side air bags and curtain air bags
• Transmission (A)automatic LHS
• Body code (74)X350 SWB 5 seats - Super V8/Daimler/VDP
• Engine emission system (R) 4.2L Supercharged
• Check digit (6)
• Model Year (4) 2004
• Assembly plant (T)Browns Lane 4.2L S/C
• Production Sequence Number (G16331)

Later on I will post some photos as well

I am a little bit confused now which Air struts Daimler Super V8 has.

As per SNGBaratt parts brochure:Bilstein B4 Airmatic struts does not come in Comfort & Sport Configuration:

• Air Spring and Damper Front: 44-069483
• Air Spring and Damper Rear: 44-069506

Question #2:What configuration Bilstein B4 Airmatic have?

Arnott does distinguish them:

• Air Spring and Damper Front
  • Comfort Suspension: AS-2888
  • Sports Suspension: AS-2890
• Air Spring and Damper Rear
  • Comfort Suspension: AS-2889
  • Sports Suspension: AS-2891

Question #3: Which Struts might be installed on my Jag, to be compatible with others, if I would choose to replace only 1 front, or pair of front ones?

Kind Regards,
Olgert

 

I think the after-market struts from Bilstein are 'Comfort', they don't make the 'Sport' setting any more. The difference is the Sport air bag has less volume, thus increasing the spring rate. If replaced in pairs leaving Sport ones on the other end, I doubt you'd notice the difference. If you replaced the fronts, with Sport still on the back, it would be a bit like having a car with caravan towing springs fitted.

 

Hi Fraser,

Thanks for your input.
I have ordered Bilstein strut 44-069483, and fill fit it to my car once it arrives.

I may confused you, but it turns out my car is fitted with all 4 struts 'Comfort', taken from Daimler Super V8, so new strut should be perfect fit.

Still wondering whether i have XJR or Daimler Super V8 actually
Thinking it might be Daimler.

Would be happy to receive response from anyone that actually does understand the difference or posses any of them

Kind Regards,
Olgert

 

Want to raise question once again:
How can I distinguish whether my Jaguar is XJR 4.2 SC or Daimler Super V8?

My car has 'Super V8' badge, but I am not convinced it Daimler Super V8, as it has pretty standard equipment.

There is little information about differences between XJR & Daimler.
Wikipedia

VIN: SAJAA74R64TG16331
Vehicle identification label:
Kind Regards,
Olgert

 

Daimler Super Eight's had fluted upper grille surrounds & a fluted boot trim strip. Also had big letter "D"'s on the head rests, IIRC. Just Google "Daimler Super Eight" & compare

 

March 2019, just took it over. Front left reflector was missing. Can someone based on this image tell me: Is it XJR or Daimler?
2004 4.2 SC

 

Not a Daimler grille, but looks like the Daimler wheels. Maybe the previous owner had some kinda uber-JLR access, or got a hold of a wreck & just went swap-crazy. Very interesting indeed

 

Do you have the split-bench dual rear seats with the center console?

 

As you can see, no split. However for rear right passenger seat there is a console to control right front seat

Steering wheel is fully wooden. Are these wooden inlays standard ones ?

 

Hello everyone
Just received my car back today, after installing Bilstein strut 44-069483 (front left) (yeah, just single, not in pair).
Now we are testing whether all is back normal, and it seems that it is not.

Air Suspension Fault (AFS) is appearing at the console when I'm in driving mode more than 10 minutes, while braking or standing still. When accelerating or standing still while switching from driving mode to parking mode, it instantly disappears, and reappears under previous conditions back on.
Fault however does not put suspension in raised mode.
Tomorrow we will attach laptop to read down the fault

Regards,
Olgert

 

Jeff
i also have a2003 XJR also with gearox issue and im thinking of swaping it out . am i right in thinking that any ZF 6HP26 box will do or do i need to find a specific model for my 2003 xjr.
thanks in advance.
Gary

 

Gary,

There are a LOT things to check before swapping out your gearbox. See the many threads posted on here by myself and others for lists of things that can cause shifting problems that have nothing to do with the gearbox. (engine misfires for example) That said, the 6HP26 for the supercharged cars is SPECIAL and cannot be exchanged with a non supercharged car. One example is that the drums and pistons for the clutches are different so additional friction clutches and steels can be fitted to handle the increased power.

Jeff