I was thinking of power washing under the hood? Was not sure how safe that is.

 

I rebuilt the motor on the tilt steering. Not paying for one. They typically are fine.
Also re-covered my headliner.

 

The tilt motor position sensor can get gummed up with dried lubricant . The sensor gear works can bog down the motor . A TSB increases to power of the motor but not the sensor gear works . Some people leave the wave washer out to help with replacing the lubricant .

 

 

Will be replacing front crankshaft seal and then get some fresh oil maybe a nice detail after.

 

Thanks for the advice. I also hear that if you do it you need to put everything electrical in a plastic wrap. Well with a Jaguar heck that would be half of the engine bay

 

Replaced top radiator isolation mounts
Sanded and re-applied polyurethane to top of steering wheel.
Took out seat to check memory modules... decided it was too much work... put seat back.
After reading the previous post decided to re-glue edges of cloth on trunk floor/spare tire cover as well.

 

I had some new cracks developing so I filled them with some clear polyurethane.

 

the screws at the top of the glove box often crack and come loose. Happens with age and vibration. The plastic on an X300 is very very thin,
So I pulled out the glove box. And used epoxy to sister on the back side the top edge of the glove box. It added about 1mm plastic. I used clear plastic from
a package of screw drivers I bought about a year ago. Cut it to shape and epoxied it to the back side of the top of the glove box.

 

Changed engine oil from 10w40 shell helix h5 mineral oil to Castrol semi synt 10w40. Also decided to change from standard 95 fuel to Shell V power 98.

The oil change remover the chain noise at start up completely and the 98 fuel? Not sure if there is any noticable better effect, but the engine sure seems to run very smooth. And from what I've read it might be a good fuel for our kind of engines.

 

My Cats been getting harder to start of late (middle of winter) and have found I routinely have to put my foot to the floor on cold start to get her purring.
I have also been getting fault code P0116- Engine Coolant Temperature Cricut range/ Performance Problem. The top of the sensor is a 19 mm plastics nut and I found this would just spin freely of the metal sensor underneath. After prying off this plastic portion of the sensor I was able to get a pair of vice grips on to the lower portion and get it out without issue. I'm hoping this has fixed my problems as I will not be able to tell till the next early morning cold start. Interestingly I changed the sensor about 20k km ago while chasing other gremlins, so although I'm hopeful of an easy fix, I'm also thinking the sensor shouldn't be a regular service item.

 

Hi MikeyB10,

I recently changed the Coolant Temp Sensor after having all sorts of problems starting the engine when warm, cold starts were fine, but ran with a rough idle and flooded the engine many times. It was amazing how that small and relatively cheap part totally transformed the car.
The proof was checking the Ohms with a DVM. The old one was showing 7000 Ohms which from what I read makes the ECU think its about more than 20 Celsius below zero outside, so it compensates by adding more fuel to start the engine.
After swapping out the sensor, I found the car started first time every time hot or cold and the fuel smell which I thought could be a flaky fuel pump disappeared.
My 97 4.0 XJ has just rolled over 170K miles and I hadn't changed the sensor in the 15K miles since I had it. so I am hoping it's not going to be a regular thing, but if I have any more problems the first thing will be to check the resistance of the sensor.
I also replaced the Crank Position Sensor, which looked like the original one based on the manufacturing date. That also made a big difference to the rough idle, but the Coolant Temp Sensor was the clincher.

 

Have you got a brand you like and a few steps to guide us? I have some very faint ones I'd like to fill.

 

Hi Nobeel Masri
After starting my X300 up first thing this morning, I can confirm my starting problems were also due to my faulty Coolant Temp Sensor. I didn't try testing the ohm on either the faulty or new one but watching the Temperature vie my phone and an OBD2 Bluetooth adaptor its now making a lot more sense. Previously, before I had reached operating temp it would jump around between -20 C and 40 C. I'm amazed at what a difference a little sensor can make. For the cost of a $15 aud this is one of the cheapest and easiest Jag problems I've had .

 

I have another post I did with more info sorry
So any clear gloss polyurethane will do. I used MinWax Fast-Drying Polyurethane Clear Gloss from WallyWorld.
I have X300's 96 and 97 and it works great. I first did it over a year ago. So this was a new touch up with some new cracks.
I also have used this on the steering wheel cracks/chips. However on the steering wheel I roughed it up with 600 grit sand paper then applied 5 coats with 1000 grit between each coat, finishing up on the last coat with 4000 grit to polish it. That took about a week. I waited 24 hours between sandings/applications so the polyurethane could dry. On the other wood trim I just use one application.

I used a piece of headliner material/foam backed I cut into a brush and LIBERALLY applied a line of poly along each crack. The clear polyurethane will wick into the crack and you'll see the colour change from light to almost imperceptible. Then you VERY QUICKLY wipe away the excess and wipe hard till there is no hazing or residue (fast drying) I would suggest doing each crack separately so you don't have poly drying on the surface of the shiny polished finish. If you wipe with paper towel you will wick the poly back out of the crack. use something like a cotton T-shirt. Besides paper will leave more scratches if you wipe hard. If the cracks are really big or chipping this may not work. It works best on the little fine cracks that seem to infect all the trim after a while. The sooner you catch the crack the better.

You will still feel (with your hand) and see the crack a little bit, but it will be MUCH MUCH less visible and unless you look at the right angle it will not be noticeable. And it appears after more than a year they do not come back. New cracks will show up but the old ones seem stable.

Steve

 

Changed Ball Joints on '97 x300. Not as bad as we thought. NO road spring to remove or un-tension.
We jacked up car on jack stands, moved jack to under the lower suspension and lifted a few inches.
Removed Wheel, Caliper, Wheel Bearings and Rotor and Backplate --- All Easy and safe.
Tied caliper to frame with a ty-wrap -- no brake fluid to clean up.
We loosened up the upper and lower nuts with a 7/8" wrench -- same as a 22mm.
Used a pickle fork on both joints -- no problem.
The lower ball joint has 4 of the 1/2" bolts -- (13mm) -- removed.

New lower ball joint -Eurospare-- slid into place but the 4 bolts had to be tightened a flat at a time, with loctite.
See picture of annoying aftermarket part -- bolt heads too close to unfinished center portion --- see OEM style on your car ! >>>
Upper ball joint slid into place, tightened everything up, repack wheel bearings, and it is all back together.

Not too bad !

 

Replaced the chrome below the passenger side rear window where original one was dented.
rebuilt the remote key fob. re-soldered etc...

 

changed to ebc brakepads. noticeably better braking now.

 

The Lower belt tensioner on my 96 VDP tore it's self up and melted. So I replaced it. 1 hour and $25 in parts This is the second time I've replaced it.
I also replaced the upper shock mounts on the radiator.

 

Started and drove it for the first time in 10 years!