I am 62 and I have been driving since I was 16. OK, hands up, it was illegal to drive at that age but when you have to get from "A" to "B" on winding country roads with no other traffic ......
My cars in those days were a '49 Ford Anglia "Sit up and beg", a '52 Vauxhall Wyvern, a '56 Ford Anglia 100E and a Commer van.
The reason that I'm bringing this up is that in those days. any fool with some basic tools could get a car going. I mean, what was there to go wrong with them? I can even remember when I was legal owning a Humber Hearse and you had so much space to work with that you could sit on the wing with your legs dangling down on the inside while you plastered a split in the exhaust with GUNK once you'd wired a Heinz bean tin in place.
Nowadays, everything needs to be checked and double-checked before the garage hands your car back.
I guess I'm just a bit miffed because I got a call from the garage yesterday to say that the second reconditioned alternator that they had tried had failed to work on my car. What he's telling me is that there are 3 different types of alternator that were fitted to my Jag and so far they have tried the other 2. So what's happening now is that they are taking my alternator to a guy with a shed who makes them like new again. It's cheaper but time consuming.

Do you ever get the idea that the garage gaffer is delaying sending your car back to you so that he can swan around in it?

 

I agree.

Strange comment from him. There is only ONE alternator for your year model. A 120amp DBC6819.

What I had down here is the fact that these are Japanese alternators, and the same as Toyota Landcruiser, EXCEPT for the regulator pack. The rebuild guys do them all to suit the most common, which is NOT Jaguar, and then tell all sorts of stories to buy some time, and basically they just dont know.

Got involved here with an XKR alternator, and the same part number as my X300, but the rebuilt unit simply would NOT charge on his car. They had "misplaced" the old bits, mmm, and since the only issue was worn out brushes/slip rings, the regulator would have been OK. After 3 weeks of messing around, the owner ordered a regulator pack from some supplier in the UK, and we fitted it ourselves, good as new, Then he got a full refund from the clowns.

 

"Swan around" I translate (tongue in cheek) to "joy ride"...? I prefer older cars for their lack of technology. Networked computers, drive by wire, ABS, GPS and so on and so forth. I like to put the key in the ignition and go. Good tunes, A/C, electric windows and automatic gearbox are all I need in my car. Here in the USA event data recorders ("black box") will be required in every new vehicle beginning with the 2015 model year. I will continue driving old cars (my XJS I hope) that don't have government spy boxes, pardon me, event data recorders in them. BTW, I'm 60...

 

Grant .... I think what he meant to say is that the body of the alternator is the same but that the wiring at the back is different. When I eventually get it back home I'll take some pictures.

Roger ..... How can I best describe, "Swan around"?
OK, Let me try this. The garage gaffer (boss) has to go and meet his girlfriend. Sounds like the perfect time to do a test run in the Jag. Although I must admit that I don't seriously think he's doing that. I do have the odometer readings though, lol.

 

Yes...! Stevie we do talk the same language! LOL! what you describe as "Swan around" is to us Yanks a "Joy ride". I've suspected folks of joyriding in my XJS. Can't say as I blame them but then again if anything ever happens to it they'll regret their Swan around.

 

5teve, did you get a chance to check the wiring on the right hand side trunk hinge? I'm pretty sure that if you find a frayed wire or shorted wire and your trunk lights don't work, this will effect the security system of the car and possibly cause the symptoms it is exhibiting. It seems pretty obvious that the "Gaffer" at the garage doesn't really have a clue. I think you wrote in another post, that sometimes when you close the trunk, the interior lights would come back on and then the engine would turn over. I dont think the problem is with the alternator.......Mike

 

Roger .... For us Brits, a "Joy ride" is what you go on in a car that you have just stolen. Same thing I suppose, lol.

Win Wiz .... I have not yet had chance to inspect the wiring near the boot hinge. The car is still in the garage (That's the mechanic's workplace, not the garage next to my house) I told him about the wiring loom being known as a black spot as it went through the holes. I have even loaned him my up to date Fault Codes DVD

 

I think a gps tracker should keep your mind at ease thus you can know where your car is at that moment

 

Super Mod .... I reckon that buying and fitting a GPS checker would cost more than the car, lol

Anyway, I got a phone call from the boss man at the garage this morning and he told me that they have received an alternator that is an exact match to mine. They are going to fit it today and do all the other jobs that needed doing for the MOT and then call me tomorrow to arrange when to deliver it.
BTW, the alternator that was on my car was, according to the boss mechanic, a genuine Jaguar part as fitted to the car back in 1995. It's not "Jaguar" branded though. It has a Japanese name that I didn't catch over the phone.

I'll keep you updated.
Steve

 

Speaking of Japanese brands...I just replaced the fuel pump in my "96 VDP with a Denso pump. The Denso was such an exact fit that I was able to use the original fuel pump pigtail to connect it - no cuts, no mods, no adjustments whatsoever. The Denso was literally a "drop in" fit.

 

Hi all,
I got her back from the shop yesterday afternoon and all is well. It's a bit complicated but I had to get one of the mechanics to drive to my place and then I drove him back to the garage so that I could pay for the repairs etc and chat to the boss. Anyway, the upshot is that the total cost surprised me.
He did the MOT and repaired the fuel lines at the back end (corrosion) and gave them a lick of underseal. He also replaced a side-light bulb and the wiper blade. He added a couple of advisories about the springs but he added that it was in much better fettle than most of the Jags that came through his hands.
Then we get to the troublesome electrical gubbins. The original alternator was a Nippon-Denso and he had finally managed to track down a replacement. The trouble wasn't the casing itself but more the way in which the wiring went into it. If it is sunny tomorrow I'll try and take some photos of it.

Anyway, the total cost breaks down as follows.....
Alternator .... £230.00
Belt ............ £14.61
Wiper ......... £6.50
Bulb ........... £1.50
Underseal ... £25.00 (that included all the rest of the underseal work)
M.O.T. ....... £35.00

All of the above except for the MOT itself need to have VAT added at 20%
Making a grand total of £368.13 including the VAT.
I can live with that.
BTW, the car was in the garage from 28th of March until the 9th of May so roughly £10 a day. lol

ps .... He even had it washed for me.

 

Good news, well done to him for his courtesy

 

Mine is a nippon-denso as well, buoght one from E-bay used, but guarenteed. when I got it the bearings were bad. had it rebuilt for $85, and the E-Bay vendor refunded my money. Good deal for an otherwise $450 alternator. I'm glad that your Jag is back on the road.

 

Roger,

That is because the Engine Management System/ EFI system on the X300 is Nippon Denso.