She's in the garage!

The car made the 90 mile drive without any problems, except for the high fuel trims of course. They were much closer to normal when the engine was under load.

There is a "bumpiness" to the front wheels that seems a bit too much, shock bushing maybe? It only seemed excessive at higher speeds. I'll have to investigate. It could be a comparison problem, I drove my wife's 04 XJ8 to pick it up, and say what you will about the air suspension problems, but it sure does ride nice.

The engine and transmission were very smooth, and an hour after parking it in the garage, no wet spots underneath...so that's good.

The paint is not quite as good as on my other cars. It desperately needs polishing, so that will help, but there are about 4 small dents on the car (dime size or smaller) and a couple of places where it appears a car door made contact and scratched off the paint. It's really minor, but I'm used to the near perfection of the other two Jags. Maybe my body shop friend can help me with those places down the road. For NOW, I've got my hands full. UPS and USPS left a total of about ten packages on my porch while I was gone. I will be working 50 hours a week for the next two weeks, so time spent getting this car ready will be rare and precious.

 

Check tire pressures.
Manual has specs for "comfort" and for "economy".
Couple pounds over in the front makes a big difference with mine.
If you don't have get a good digital gauge.

 

Congratulations, 5 pages on and you got it!
Keep the updates coming every once a while.

 

Good call on the tire pressure, they were close to 40psi. I have the battery out and everything now so I won't know if lowering the pressure makes a difference for a while.

By the way, it's a 2003 XJR with 114,511 miles and I am the third owner. First was a corporate lease for 3 years and then a casino executive for 10 years. He was asking $6,800 but dropped his price to $6,000. I submitted my list of repairs and offered him $5,200. He accepted. It seems like a fair price, doesn't it?

 

Yeah 40 lbs will ruin the ride..
26 lbs front and 28 lbs rear for max comfort..
I'd say you did fine.

 

Seems a fair price for a basically sound car, that with a bit of TLC will be a great car.

 

Sent you a PM, I might be interested.

 

Cars for Sale: Used 2002 Jaguar XJR in , Los Angeles CA: 90049 Details - Sedan - Autotrader

 

Ok, so I've already done something stupid. If someone could please advise me on how to get out of this pickle.

I was removing the differential fill plug with a small adapter and a ratcheting wrench, just like I did for both of the XJ8s. Apparently the XJR fill plug is much longer/deeper, either that or there is less clearance. While cheerfully ratcheting out the fill plug I realized the apparatus (adapter and fill plug) got jammed against a suspension bar of some sort. Since the wrench is ratcheting and not reversible, I can't re-tighten the plug to allow clearance to remove everything. It's almost laughable, but I'm stuck!

Unless someone knows a magic trick, I guess I need to know the most efficient way to move that suspension bar out of the way. What do I need to disconnect and how much trouble will it be to reconnect everything?

It's amazing, when I'm feeling the most competent is when I do something stupid.

 

I believe the diff can be lowered by removing the two bolts from the mono strut..
Support the body and place floor jack under diff.

 

You are a genius, that worked! You have been such a huge help to me, Convincor. The parts you sent arrived today, the lens fit perfectly of course. I will address the rest of the items later.

So, now I will change the differential fluid after I figure out the proper torque and replace those mono strut bolts.

Thanks again. You have to visit NC and have a steak on me.

 

No, I just have a repair manual.
Torque spec is 77-103 nm for the lower bolts

 

Harvest 14, I use a 3/8th square drive ratchet, short extension going to a 3/8th - 1/2 inch adaptor.


This set up clears the anti roll bar and allows the plug to be fully wound in/out. It did take me longer to arrive at this combination than it did to do the oil change.


A long length of clear tube that fits into the diff plug hole and reaches out of a rear wheel arch terminating in a funnel makes for an easier, more comfortable way to refill the diff.

 

Thanks Andrew, when I get home from work this evening I will try that combination for re-tightening the fill plug. Since I had to get up early today I just hand tightened the mono strut bolts and the fill plug and went to bed. I will change the fluid and torque everything tonight.

Convincor, thanks for the quick answers. At least 99% of what I learn on here is from hours of searching and consulting the large folder of PDF files I have accumulated. But, when I am under a car with grease in my hair it's nice to have someone who will just provide an answer, rather than saying "the search feature is your friend". Haha - although, to be honest, I have said that to people too...

 

Or you get a reply "go buy the manual".
You would think they were in bed with the publishers...
I come to forums to help when I can, and get help when I need.
So far this one has best.

 

No, not mine. They are asking a pretty penny though! Funny I posted that offer to harvest14 on a total whim, and already received a pm. I'm in love with the car, not sure I could actually let it go.

 

There are absolutely beautiful car that cost a LOT of money new, but resale is pitiful.. So if you feel that way now, hang onto it. There isn't a manufacture out there making anything like it and you won't be able to replace it.

 

I finished the differential service tonight after work. It took almost 2 full quarts of the Redline gear oil so I think I got most of the old fluid out. Everything is re-torqued and I even removed the breather from the top of the differential, cleaned it with Carb cleaner and blew it out with compressed air. I re-installed the breather and checked the differential off of my to-do list.

I also found four grease points under the car, one on either side of each rear half-shaft. It was very difficult to get a good connection to these, but I managed to fill three of them before I ran out of grease. I'll buy another tube of grease tomorrow and grease the fourth one. Are there others on the car as well? I looked in the U-joint area but didn't see anything.

I moved to the valve cover gaskets, but there is a lot more in the way than was the case on my XJ8. I was apprehensive as to how to proceed so I came in to do research. Amazingly, I can't find a valve cover how-to that applies to the XJR, all seem to be XJ8. I'll keep looking. Incidentally, I took the coils out on the drivers side, all four plug holes had oil in them. Those valve cover gaskets are shot!

 

The valve cover replacement is exactly the same.

 

The supercharger coolant hoses and those brackets attached to the upper cover bolts will move enough to remove the valve cover?

That's a relief, because the XJ8 cover was very easy to remove, I was hoping the XJR would be the same.

As long as I am posting, I noticed this XJR runs between 184 F and 195 F , at least during the 90 mile drive home. That's a good 10 degrees cooler than my XJ8. Is that normal or do I need a new thermostat?