Is that a radar detector?

As for your hoses I can't tell from the pics if the octo-hose has been replaced

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks, yeah I've got a deposit on the car and hopefully will be able to fly down to Houston next weekend and drive it back. I'm just checking on the final "non deal breaker" questions as I run across them at this point so I know what to expect when I get there

Al

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Yeah, apparently is some fancy-schmancy (and once very expensive apparently) front/rear hidden radar detector I think it is a bit vintage though. So I suspect it has limited practical value now.

I'm not a lead foot, so it is really a curiosity for me. I hope I can easily turn it off if it starts to get annoying. I'm sure I can just pull its power if it comes to that


Al

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Ugh! I hope this doesn't mean you'll be one of 'those' Jaguar drivers who putt-putts around like they have a bowl of goldfish on the passenger seat... letting Audis and Bimmers push you around, and letting your cylinders get all clogged up with carbon !




Cheers
DD

 

HA ...yeah, yeah




........ gotta blow out the carbon sometimes though, right?

My friend has a nice early 2000s M5, which is definitely faster, but it will be fun to play with him a bit

 

I'd be more than happy to go take a look at this car for you, in person. Don't hesitate to PM me if you agree and I'll go look, inquire, and take more pics if you like.

I'll be syncing the throttle body on the ST and carbs on the CBR today, and replacing the CKPS on the Jag (and might pull the '64 Buick out for a wash) today, but will gladly delay to go check out the XJR for ya.

 

Thank you very much, I'll drop you a PM.

This BTW is the second forum member that has offered to go check out a car for me, the first one in the Dallas area last month, now this car

So I just wanted to make a point to say thank you and mention how valuable forums are like this where members are actively looking to help each other out. This is especially true for topics like this where the available information is otherwise limited to the general public.

Thanks again, as this kind of community support makes buying a car like this much more reassuring. I can honestly say I would not have considered buying this car had a resource like this forum not existed where I could research the topic and reach out for advice.

Al

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Well, flew down to Houston, TX on Friday and drove the car back to North Carolina.

So I am now officially in the club

The car was just as nice as was described, and is near new in many ways, although it isn't perfect in others. After all it is a 16 year old car. But it was completely reliable and got 22mpg all the way back.

After the drive, I noticed a few things that I'll need to look into and have some initial questions.

First, it needs shocks, especially the rears. The the lower bushings for the shocks are just about gone, and so they rattle. So I'll start looking for some tutorials, etc on DIY replacing the rears.

No surprise, the radio has lost its mind It works sometimes, but often gets stuck in one function or the other and gets stuck. So I'll have to decide how I'll approach it, repair or replace.

The drivers electric seat bottom front height stopped working when I dropped the height all the way down. Now I can hear the motor run for the front of the seat bottom height adjustment, but it won't raise up, and I can't pull it up to perhaps get it "jump started". The rear seat bottom height adjustment and all other seat adjustments work fine. And again, even the front seat bottom height adjustment worked until I lowered both the front and rear all the way down. So I'm curious if there is some sensor, some "reset" or something else I can check or repair to get the front of the seat bottom to start raising again.

Also, this is an observation and I wondered if it is normal: When I have my foot on the brake and then park the car, then I shut off the engine, the brake pedal pushes back at my foot slowly but forcefully, pushing the pedal back up to its normal position. Is this normal? My GM cars don't do this, but I thought it may just be a Ford/Jag experience. The brakes seem to work fine, and the brake pedal isn't going all the way to the floor or otherwise operating oddly.

And I think I have the throttle cable issue many have reported, especially new XJR owners who initially think the car is too "slow". My symptoms seem the same, and otherwise the engine runs great. So I'll check into that as well.

And finally, although I'm not completely certain, it looks like the major hoses including the lower radiator hose may have already been replaced sometime after 2012. So that's a relief

Well, wish me luck, and I'm sure I'll have some more questions as I reference the research and info here!

Thanks for all the help and support so far! It has been a great help!


Al

 

We're all very happy for you! The adventure has begun. I'm sure you'll enjoy the beautiful XJR. Cheers!

 

Welcome to the club Al

If you're interested, we have a very active Jaguar club in NC that meets every month. PM me if you want any details

 

Far out !








Not that I'm aware of, personally




I've neved noticed one way or the other. I'll try mine today and see what happens



Cheers
DD

 

Thanks Doug. I kind of wondered if perhaps the Ford/Jag booster just behaved a bit differently upon engine shutdown (and loss of vacuum assist) than other cars I've driven.

That's what it feels like to me, that once the engine is shut off, the vacuum assist decreases and the pedal pushes/returns/pushes back up, rather strongly. It's is a slow push back, not hard/fast.

...or maybe there is something amiss with the booster, it vacuum supply, or some sort of vacuum check valve. All guess on my part at this point, as again, this may be normal and a non issue.


Al

 

Congrats!

The drive cable has likely pulled out of the motor or gearbox (I suppose it could've snapped, but more likely just disengaged.) Happened to me, but just before I was pulling the seat out to have the bolster mended. I tried to take photo's but it's in a bit of a crowded spot - the good news: A no-cost repair that has held up since August.....but yeah, you'll have to pull the seat to fix it. Search out my seat-repair posts from Aug 2013 timeframe. When I have more time I'll look into it and see if I put those photos in there or just left 'em up on photobucket un-posted. Likely this evening.

I've observed the opposite; Pedal sinks quite a bit on start-up. Can't recall ever having it push back on shutdown...but then, rarely ever have foot on brake for shut-down...I'll try it and be more observant. But mine is naturally aspirated.

 

That really sounds like what I am saying, which is that when the engine is off the pedal is "high" and sinks when running.

 

I thought I'd posted more than I had on the seat issue. Seems all I said about it is that I tried the calibration method from the TSB and all I got for my efforts was a disconnected cable. In any case, I have a vague memory that the motor that runs the front of the cushion up/down is shown at the upper right of this photo, or what would be the left front of my driver's seat (LHD car):





THe drive cable comes off the back of that motor and arcs around above and behind the module to the gearbox which is nearly indistinguishable in the photo but located along the seat frame rail in the left of the picture. (the right frame rail - we are looking at the bottom of the seat asy.) The drive cable is just a square-tipped flex cable similar to a speedometer cable. I don't recall a positive retention mechanism where mine came loose, but just pushed it into what appeared to be the hole it came out of and twisted back and forth on it til I heard a little snap of it seating home.


FWIW, here's a link to all of my seat pics....but even though I recall attempting to take one of the cable end free in the wind and where it was supposed to go, I couldn't spot any such photo I could make a declarative statement, "that's it." The one I've posted is on page 8 of the photo-album.
Seats Photos by holbrz1 | Photobucket




Maybe....and if it is not the right mechanism it is similar. Again, 9 months or so on, which is a Looonnngg time to my memory these days, but I believe this is it and the photo was taken from the back of the seat looking forward along the right hand frame rail. I've attempted to circle the drive cable endpoint. You can see it coming in from the right, arcing 180 deg and attaching to the gearbox.

 

Thanks! That is great info. I'll definitely take a look. I appreciate that!


BTW, we drove the XJR straight home, 19 hours, only stopping to eat and get gas.... almost like 24 hours of LeMans Car did great.

 

Congrats on your purchase!

Funny how I have the same k40 radar system in my car. Previous owners had it installed but it is outdated and doesn't seem to work for any CHP or police radars. Only seems to pick up speed limit radars and A LOT of automatic door sensors

 

Congratulations al_roethlisberger, on the new Jag. It looks great
Wish you pleasant drive!

 

Thanks all! Yeah the K40 at this point is more of a curiosity. I may eventually just remove it *shrug*

The car is driving great. I've found a few minor issues that I missed, but they truly are minor.

- one of the rear ash-tray chrome lids popped off from its plastic door, easy fix.
- the two "lenses"/"jewels" in the fog light switches have come loose and fallen into the switches, not a huge deal, but I'd like to fix at some point.
- found a few more minor dents, very minor, and I'll get the "paintless dent removal" guy to take care of them.
- two minor rock chips in the windshield, and I'll call the windshield guys to fix it for free.
- the front OEM floor mats have Sun faded a bit from black to a greenish hue, but I'll get some SEM Color Coat and re-dye them one afternoon.


One thing I already knew about was the steering wheel "wear" which turned out actually to be that the leather has worked itself down a few millimeters from where it normally meets the wood, and now there is a little gap. I guess this was just from the last driver and how he held the wheel, pulling the leather down a bit. I'm going to try to work it back up and then re-glue it.

I've attached a photo that shows the "gap" in the leather of the steering wheel, and the two fog light switches that have their lenses missing and dropped into the switch.


Here's a question, can anyone push forward/up on their steering wheel and have the column lift just a little.... very little..... bit, like the column tilt it a little loose?

Thanks!
Al

 

Yes, on the steering wheel free play....very slight but it's there.

I'm almost positive someone has posted a fix but I've never taken the time to dig in.

Cheers
DD