There should be a link in the stickies to the wiring diagrams for the X308 series in pdf format. As you are comfortable with a DVM, you may find these handy for at least deciphering the color codes.

 

Thanks plums I'll check that out.

My concern now is I've been reading about that link lead that could possibly add another $120 to the repair. Hopefully mine is ok.

Plus I'd like to hear about anybody else's experience or thoughts on the tilt and remove method of leaving the tank's hoses on the bottom attached. It would seem like it would be the way to go as long as there's no hose damage.

 

The link lead is nothing more than two wires with a black box in the middle. The black box is a noise suppressor circuit. This is guesswork based upon the fact that the OEM for the pump is Walbro and Walbro holds a patent for such a device. On the other hand, Denso has it built into the pump itself and guess who holds the patent on that?

If you read more, the link lead likes to cook the terminals on the ground side at the tank connector flange.

As the link lead does not *improve* the functioning of the pump, chop and splice seems to be a reasonable simplification. The wiring *must* be fuel rated though. Teflon insulation or equivalent. 14 gauge or better. You will find it at aviation supply houses.

As for tilt and remove, the caveat is that all of the plastic clips securing the fuel lines have to be loosened so that the fuel lines have some flex room and removing the fuel filter will also help. You will be changing the fuel filter in any case. Late GM pickups and such. eg. 2000 GMC Yukon. The guy at the auto store actually said that "there might be much of a market for part # xxxxx" to explain the lack of stock before he was educated on the application

Someone has actually done it using your "custom access hatch" approach. The only caveat is that you should make sure the opening is securely covered with sheet metal after the job as it forms a fire separation between the cabin and the tank.

 

Good info plums, thanks.

What I was going by, as far as the tilt and remove was the thread https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...t-start-10157/ where in post 17 member XJ ate talks about his method. He says all the connections are on top of the tank. Are the clips you're talking about in the boot or underneath?

 

In reality, the subwoofer is already near there, and so there is a big hole (6" x 9" +) covered only with the paper cone of the speaker... not very fire-safe. So, I wouldn't be too concerned with making your new hole fire-safe, either. Covering with some sheet aluminum or galvanized sheet metal with RTV sealant and some screws should do the trick - mainly for soundproofing..

If you have access to a decent sheet metal nibbler, I think the hole method is the way to go - takes a 5 hour job down to 1 or 2.

Plus, if you're an audiophile, you can now add a 10", low profile subwoofer in the new hole that you purposely cut to both clear the fuel pump (or pumps if you have an R) AND fit the new sub.

 

The clips are along the length of the fuel lines underneath. Release the fuel lines from *all* of them.

The hatch option is quite attractive. The only thing is that it is very cramped back there with the slope of the glass. Even working on the center brake light is a royal pain.

 

I saw the holes on the rear shelf for the 6x9 speakers, so I guess good sound takes priority over any boring fire safety stuff.

A lot of cars come stock with access panels.

For cutting sheet metal, I use my Dremel with fiberglass reinforced cutoff wheels. I got a bag of maybe 50 of them for under $20 on eBay. They break and are not economical in the small packs you get at hardware stores. Believe it or not you could cut a car in half with them. That's also my preferred rust removal tool. It's small and light so you can get in small places and be pretty accurate.

Since my Caprice wagon had a 3 year lifespan, I cut a "U" shaped hole and then used some flattened metal L brackets and screws to secure it back down and covered the seam with metal tape. Uglier than sin but hidden by the back seat folded down.

I never posted pics of my wagon's flap as I was embarrassed of my hillbilly work but I never regretted doing it either because it felt more correct than stock. Way, way faster and easier... no comparison.

On an Impala site there were some guys who did show car jobs with rolled edge covers, nice rubber gaskets and threaded inserts for bolts.

A nice way would be to take a donor car and cut a 1" around larger hole out of it to use as a cover and you'd have the same sheetmetal bends. Old computer cases are a good source of sheet metal.

 

hillbilly engineering (ie. common sense) is a time honoured tradition

 

I put in a new fuel pump and it started right up

The bad is that it wants to idle slow. I had to play the gas and rev it (maybe 1500-2000 rpm) and I did that for a few minutes to see if would relax and not feel like it would stall. When it was reving high it did sound smooth though.

Then I let my foot off the gas and it stalled as expected.

My first thought is to go over the intake and make sure everything pre-throttle body is clean.

Yes, I did cut a hole and install the new fuel pump from the inside. I will post some pics. It isn't pretty but it was easy and not hard access at all. It will be fine when I put it back together. I just want to make sure it runs ok before I do that.

I'll search for ideas why it might be idling so low and if anybody has any pointers I'd appreciate any comments.

Update: I just tried again and it restarted but idles rough and smooths out when I rev it. I rev'd to 4k rpm and it sounded smooth, but when I slowly let off the gas it went too slow and stalled, and then I got the message "battery not charging". Reminder I just put a new O'Rielly battery in the other day.

 

NOTE: the connector starting in post 35 I was testing is not the fuel pump connector, all the tests I did at that connector were wrong.

I just tried again, didn't get the "battery not charging" message but the car just ran a bit then died. If it were an old Chevy I'd think a spark plug wire wasn't hooked up.

Funny feeling: I had the coil packs out the other day...

When you put a coil pack back in the long hole,and the little spring contacts the top of the spark plug, is it possible for a spark plug boot to not engage properly ? I have a funny feeling that there's a possibility that could have happened. Maybe the hole in the end of a spark plug boot didn't go over the spark plug. The edge of the end of the boot hit the end of the spark plug and one plug isn't connected. Can that happen?

I think I will check the spark plugs tomorrow. I was just wondering if anybody had come across that before, or if it's not a possibility.

All comments appreciated.

Update: removed MAF and it looked real clean. Cleaned the breather hole with the small drill bit and as before it was totally clean.

Also, when I attempted my tensioner replacement, I put that bank back together with the original gaskets. I have new gaskets, but wanted to save those for when I got the new tensioners in. Could reusing the old gaskets cause oil to go down a spark plug hole and cause a plug not to fire?

 

I feel like this car is ruining my life.

 

Try doing a ECM reset. Then key to position 2 to let the throttle body calibrate, when all is quiet, start engine. It should go high, go low, almost die, and then recover.

 

Hi Ian,
Re car is ruining my life, I know how you feel, I've had my 3.2 for just over 12 months and in that time I've had no end of problems....Low coolant warnings ( O ring at base of coolant tower failed, new alloy tower fitted), miss firing ( oil in spark plug tubes, new gaskets fitted) cutting out going over bumpy surface, failure to start etc. etc. ( faulty multiplug in passenger footwell). I have now fixed all those problems and the car runs like a proper Jaguar and is without doubt the best car I've ever owned.

I think once you get your problems sorted you will be more than pleased with the car.
Best of luck with the work.

 

If you want to see a Jag in really evil mode look at this poor guy's suffering
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...le-lead-79384/

 

By ECM reset, do you mean disconnect the negative battery cable for say 30 sec?

thanks

 

thanks v8mad

No, I don't want to, not really.

The secondary tensioners, the bore wet down N problem, the A drum issue, and the gas tank mounted 12" away from a passenger's head with no metal firewall. Those are massive goof ups.

It's 4:22 am Hawaii time, I will try plums idea in awhile.

Any other ideas appreciated.

 

Disconnect battery ground lead, touch ground lead to batt +ve terminal for a few secs, reconnect ground lead.
That discharges all the capacitors in the various modules and forces them to reset to default.
You should read this
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...connect-74146/, particularly the pdf
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...connection-pdf
I won't promise it will fix things but at least you know you've done a proper reset.

 

You short the battery to itself? Doesn't that cause sparks and possible kaboomism?

And thanks for the pdf's, will read.

 

No, you've got the -ve lead off the battery, so nothing connected to the -ve battery post.
You touch the lead to the +ve battery terminal and that drains everything down to 0v.
You're not shorting the battery - -ve post isn't connected to anything.
What you're doing is draining the modules.
No kaboom, honest.

 

You're saying you make a connection between the + battery post and the chassis of the car, with the - battery post not attached to anything?

I would have thought that to be a no no although with the car sitting on rubber you are not grounding the battery. I would have thought that just the capacitance would have done a nasty somewhere.

Will do, thanks.