XJ XJ8 / XJR ( X308 ) 1997 - 2003

What did you do to your X308 Today?

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  #4421  
Old 06-02-2021, 02:44 PM
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When gas has up to 10% ethanol, ethanol absorbs water in the system, gasoline mixes with ethanol and it all moves through the system So in theory if you do not have fuel standing in your tank for long periods of time, you should not have any water in the system.

Yes, keeping the filler drain clear is a regular cleaning maintenance item with a vacuum and a water hose, and I run a flexible fiberglass rod through mine about every 6 months, and keep the screen clean of debris.

How much water did you actually get out of the tank?
The fuel cap should - if functioning properly keep any water out of the tank even if the fuel filler area is flooded unless it is opened or not sealing. Areas with emissions testing fail your car if the fuel cap does not seal emission vapor.
 
  #4422  
Old 06-02-2021, 07:40 PM
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I'm not sure exactly how much I pulled out - when I was pumping out the bottoms of settled liquid, I pumped out a bit of gas as well to be safe. I'd guess somewhere between 1/2-1 gallon of water, I poured the remnants (about 2gal total of mix) into a proper jerry can for longer term storage until I dispose of it, so it's hard to see inside it. I might check on that at some point in the future just to know for sure.

The filler area was completely full of water when I noticed - drain totally clogged. After clearing that and unclogging the drain, I pulled the gas cap off and it had a bunch of fluid sitting in it as well - unsure if it was gas or water. Looked watery. Sucked that out before poking around further near there.

Car was barely starting, or it would start then stall, or stumble like crazy... Hooking up a drain tube to the fuel rail, and running fuel pumps let out a milky white fluid. I pumped a bit of that out, and eventually got the car to start and warm up... lots of steam in the exhaust, much more than usual even for these cars. Fuel trims all pegged at +14/+20 LTFT/STFT both banks.

After doing this drain and separation, things seem much more reasonable. Idle and off-throttle fuel trims are still a little high, but that may be unrelated to the gas. I'm going to try and burn through as much as possible before refilling, this time from a different gas station.
 
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  #4423  
Old 06-04-2021, 12:23 PM
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Actually it was yesterday when I discovered that my car has bad air mass meter. Airduct from the cleaner is ok. Ordered new genuine.
 
  #4424  
Old 06-05-2021, 07:35 AM
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As it’s nearing 50k miles, I figured I’d go ahead and attempt to replace its spark plugs with NGK IFR5N10s. I was graced with a little surprise, which turned a simple job into a slightly less convenient one: valve cover gasket & spark plug tube seal replacement...


Yippee!


Ended up splitting a stubborn ignition coil boot during retrieval, so I went ahead and replaced both the destroyed & oil-soaked/soggy ignition coil boots with an NGK part (CPB-EU018), since Denso annoyingly doesn’t sell them as singles.


I elected not to use the NGK-supplied resistor springs for whatever reason.


I decided on the ‘Fel-Pro Valve Cover Gasket Set’ (VS50724R) due to convenience and great feedback—$44 isn’t much to complain about, either! Fel-Pro’s set seems to be of great quality, but their VC gaskets aren’t as ‘girthy’ and nicely crafted as the OEM Jaguar part. I’ve no complaints about their tube seals and grommets, though... I suppose we’ll see how the set holds up!


Oddly enough, Fel-Pro’s catalog says this set isn’t compatible with our cars, however, their packaging says otherwise...


Should’ve taken comparison pics with the gaskets & seals mounted on the VCs, but something’s better than nothing.






All’s buttoned up and running exceptionally powerfully and smoothly! The left bank was the more tedious one, with a coolant line and two coolant hoses (attached to the supercharger’s left manifold) needing to be unfastened and managed so that absolutely no coolant will leak into the motor with the valve cover removed... Moving the dipstick tube wasn’t any trouble at all, as I had practiced pulling and pushing it in and out (with the dipstick in) more and more each time until I knew exactly how much ‘controlled force’ is required to move it just off of the valve cover’s stud. I didn’t start the motor for at least 48 hours to ensure the RTV sealant placed on the (4) joints between the cam covers and heads had fully cured. Lastly, purging air out of the cooling system then topping it off completed the job.

As always, many thanks to all forum members who provided such valuable information and for making the job that much more simple!
 

Last edited by crash1121; 06-05-2021 at 07:46 AM.
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  #4425  
Old 06-09-2021, 10:10 PM
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Replaced air mass meter. Now it works.
 
  #4426  
Old 06-10-2021, 08:17 PM
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Found myself a headunit! Will start pulling the car apart this weekend so I can run new RCA's from the front to the back, replacing the old cheap ones that I used in the past.

The unit is an Alpine iLX-702D. It's no longer current, but should still be easy to find. Has all the nice new features, Android Auto, Apple carplay, camera inputs, DAB etc etc. Gimme a couple of weeks and I'll let you know if the install is as easy as I'm hoping, given the shape of the back ot the unit

Alpine


From what I can tell, other than the fact nothing is ever plug and play, so there will be a little work required to make it fit perfectly, I think the only difficulty will be getting steering wheel controls to work. But I'll do more research and see if I can come up with anything.
 
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  #4427  
Old 06-11-2021, 08:26 PM
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Default First Jag! Let the dance begin!

2003 XJ8. 108,800 miles. Bought about two weeks ago. Third owner.
Changed the oil and filter. New oil pan plug as well.
Sprayed degreaser on oil pan. Hoping it was just coming from the old plug.
Old oil filter was marked as being changed in 2016!
Changed the air filter.
Cleaned the throttle body and MAF sensor.
Flushed the coolant. Got rid of Green, went with Blue.
Replaced upper shock mounts.
Washed windshield.
I am absolutely in LOVE with this car! I cannot believe she’s mine!

Vincent’s Jag!
 
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  #4428  
Old 06-12-2021, 12:37 PM
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If the oil filter was last changed five years ago, I think I would change the oil and filter AGAIN to remove anymore sludge . . .

The car is lovely.
 
  #4429  
Old 06-13-2021, 10:25 AM
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Default Welcome !

I also have a 2003 (Sovereign edition) and I still love it after 13 years! I have never had a car that made me feel so
good just sitting in it, the ambience is so relaxing. The best tip I ever got from these boards is make sure your battery
is healthy. I use a battery maintainer every few days now. These cars are very sensitive to low voltage and will set off alarming
false warnings, even the dreaded limp home mode. If you do get a warning (or several) check your battery first!
Also, search this forum for 'hard reset', this has got me going a few times until I got a new battery.
Cheers,
Andy
 
  #4430  
Old 06-17-2021, 08:28 PM
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Made an appointment w/ the best local indy import shop owned & operated by a former formula one guy to get to the err bottom of my rear end noise lol. She goes in Tuesday morning, I'm ready for it to be remedied for sure.

Maintenance wash & went over the dash.








 
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  #4431  
Old 07-23-2021, 03:56 PM
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Originally Posted by King Charles
Made an appointment w/ the best local indy import shop owned & operated by a former formula one guy to get to the err bottom of my rear end noise lol. She goes in Tuesday morning, I'm ready for it to be remedied for sure.
Car's been in the shop for a month now, he finally gave me an update this week , it is indeed a rear sub-frame bushing & he's going to replace whatever's in need while he's got it dropped & in the air. The owner/operator of this shop is a really eccentric head. He scoots around his lair in a monocle & white lab coat. Semi-wild silver hair, he looks a lot like Doc Brown from "back to the future" w/a beard lol.

If you ever drop in unexpectedly for a progress report you'll catch'em in his monocle w/ pipe mulling over old diagrams lol. As you leave he always utters "The game is afoot,,,"
 
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  #4432  
Old 07-23-2021, 06:17 PM
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Originally Posted by King Charles
If you ever drop in unexpectedly for a progress report you'll catch'em in his monocle w/ pipe mulling over old diagrams lol. As you leave he always utters "The game is afoot,,,"
LOL!!! Sounds like the perfect Indy mechanic
 
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  #4433  
Old 07-24-2021, 08:42 AM
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Washed and put a coat of soft99. Balanced tires AGAIN. Have been having vibration specifically in 80-100kmh speeds only. One wheel required snifigantly more weight to balance. To my eye it seemed slightly egg shaped too. Rims all four are round and good. This set of continentals will be last ever in my cars. Looks like I have to go to the summer trip with my allseason beater Volvo. Dang it.
 
  #4434  
Old 07-26-2021, 07:20 PM
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We drove them both home from the south of the island, from a friend's repair shop there.

The VDP's A/C pressure switch blew again some weeks ago (2nd time in 2 yrs).
After some thorough investigation, we found it to be caused by a blocked condenser, running the high pressure part very very hot.

By replacing the stuck condenser, the dryer, a suspicious looking pipe and the pressure switch, and with new compressor oil, and a complete conditioning, the A/C is icy cold (7C at the outlets @ summer temperatures).

Need to do the front shock uppers today after the 1/2 r inspection, then she will be better than new again.



 
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  #4435  
Old 07-28-2021, 04:21 PM
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Originally Posted by King Charles
Car's been in the shop for a month now, he finally gave me an update this week , it is indeed a rear sub-frame bushing & he's going to replace whatever's in need while he's got it dropped & in the air. The owner/operator of this shop is a really eccentric head. He scoots around his lair in a monocle & white lab coat. Semi-wild silver hair, he looks a lot like Doc Brown from "back to the future" w/a beard lol.

If you ever drop in unexpectedly for a progress report you'll catch'em in his monocle w/ pipe mulling over old diagrams lol. As you leave he always utters "The game is afoot,,,"
Car's back

Evaluation Report :
Found rear strut caps loose - Secured nuts on strut tower

Popping in rear bushing area - Bushings have been beat out or old pads installed on new shocks w/ sub frame bushing deterioration.

Work Performed : Full rear bushing kit installed.

Labor was high as anticipated but she's supremely quiet now, feels good knowing everything back there's new now.
 
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  #4436  
Old 08-01-2021, 11:03 PM
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Iterated on my cupholder. Now it fits cans better, and holds the bottom of the cup in place a bit more reliably.

The cupholder itself is sized to the center console and fits in perfectly snug, using the lip on the bottom of the back half for an extra bit of security. The taper of the center console is enough to hold it in place even without that though.

The open back allows for usage of more of the center console storage if not using as a cupholder (something I specifically wanted to retain, not much storage spaces on these cars).






***Not for drinking and driving, I just grabbed the first (empty) can I had to test dimensions and get photos.
 
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  #4437  
Old 08-03-2021, 05:51 PM
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Default Drive shaft replacement and more

Spent most of July under the Jag, avoiding the rain :-)
Had been chasing a drive line vibration and thought I might as well swap out mine (maybe 200k miles) for a nice used one from eBay. That proved to be hard work what with dropping the whole exhaust and the diff at the same time to place the sponge shock rubbers. Had to refurb the handbrake arrangement as it was rusted quite badly, and did the same to the support plate to the centre bearing. I use Fertan on any rust as it's been quite good for underbody areas over the years.
​​​​​​ Replaced the front right upper ball joint next as that had deteriorated over maybe only 3 years. Just goes to show, don't install the cheapest parts, go for nearest OEM equivalent.
Then once I thought I had done the worst of the jobs, the front left brake piston seized, and I had to rebuild that too. Greased up the front right too just in case.
​​​​​​After all that, the drive line vibration at 1800rpm remained and it was only after a brain wave that I realised the rear u joints hadn't been greased since the new install some years ago. A Relatively quick greasing solved most of the vibration.
Following that, I kept getting p0172 & p0175, with stft too high, Ltft too low, except under load. Did a catalytic converter clean and all sorted.
Then went on to do my first ever complete polish with a rotary polisher from eBay, using meguiars ultimate compound followed by the ceramic wax. And she looks very good now! Splashed a bit of autoglym tyre shine to finish her off.
​​​​​​Finally, quiet Jag. Glides like it should. Nice 😁



 
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  #4438  
Old 08-03-2021, 07:21 PM
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Default Both 2000 VDPs Jags Got Worked On Monday

Hello,

I have two Carnival Red 2000 VDPs. Two different issues on the cars; Jag #2 has had a small water leak and occasionally drips a drop or two of trans fluid on the garage floor. Jag #3 does not accelerate from stop as well as Jag#2.
Removed the throttle body from Jag 2 to access the trans oil cooler line and the water system. The fitting where the transmission hard cooler line connects to the rubber section had a tiny leak. Cut the metal crimp off with a Dremel tool and installed two screw hose clamps. As for the water leak, I had ordered the two water hoses that connect to the throttle body and was in process of installing them when the small outlet on the three way water connector broke off. Upon inspection, it appears that it where it was slowly seeping coolant. Happened to have one on hand that I installed with the new hoses. I replaced the two coolant hoses under the intake manifold two week ago so at this point, apart from the octopus hose, all of the hoses are new.

While I had the throttle body off Jag 2, I installed in on Jag #3, It preforms like Jag #2 so it appears there's something amiss on the J3 throttle body. I had another throttle body from Jag#1, (wrecked and gone) that I installed. The car runs accelerates much better now.

I was driving J3 it this afternoon and got a code P1121 "Throttle position sensor inconsistent with mass air flow sensor". I reset it and checked the sensor position with the OBD device. It had a weird reading on one of the position sensors. I checked the same readings on the J2 and took a photo. When I stared J3 again and checked the readings, that particular reading was similar to J2 so all the throttle & pedal position sensors from both cars are reading similarly at this point.

The throttle position sensor on this particular body has a crack in it. I think I should order another one though I'm not sure exactly how to set it. So at this point I'll drive tomorrow and see if a code pops up. More later

 
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  #4439  
Old 08-04-2021, 08:22 AM
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Originally Posted by chris-jag
Spent most of July under the Jag, avoiding the rain :-)
Had been chasing a drive line vibration and thought I might as well swap out mine (maybe 200k miles) for a nice used one from eBay. That proved to be hard work what with dropping the whole exhaust and the diff at the same time to place the sponge shock rubbers. Had to refurb the handbrake arrangement as it was rusted quite badly, and did the same to the support plate to the centre bearing. I use Fertan on any rust as it's been quite good for underbody areas over the years.
​​​​​​ Replaced the front right upper ball joint next as that had deteriorated over maybe only 3 years. Just goes to show, don't install the cheapest parts, go for nearest OEM equivalent.
Then once I thought I had done the worst of the jobs, the front left brake piston seized, and I had to rebuild that too. Greased up the front right too just in case.
​​​​​​After all that, the drive line vibration at 1800rpm remained and it was only after a brain wave that I realised the rear u joints hadn't been greased since the new install some years ago. A Relatively quick greasing solved most of the vibration.
Following that, I kept getting p0172 & p0175, with stft too high, Ltft too low, except under load. Did a catalytic converter clean and all sorted.
Then went on to do my first ever complete polish with a rotary polisher from eBay, using meguiars ultimate compound followed by the ceramic wax. And she looks very good now! Splashed a bit of autoglym tyre shine to finish her off.
​​​​​​Finally, quiet Jag. Glides like it should. Nice 😁


Hello, Nice shine on the Jag! Very professional looking. Nice wheels as well.
I saw that you mentioned a Catalytic converter clean and that solved your problem with the P0172-0175. What was that treatment? Thanks! Dave W
 
  #4440  
Old 08-05-2021, 06:51 AM
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Originally Posted by David N. Warner
Hello, Nice shine on the Jag! Very professional looking. Nice wheels as well.
I saw that you mentioned a Catalytic converter clean and that solved your problem with the P0172-0175. What was that treatment? Thanks! Dave W
Dave, I use a couple of Mannol treatments mainly, German company I think. 9201 Catalytic System Cleaner is the main one, which involves a drip feed into the throttle body over maybe thirty minutes at around 1500rpm. Bit of a game setting it up, I've resorted to inserting the tube with a clothes hanger, but maybe try removing the intake completely on your first set up.


I also use their 9873 intake valve cleaner, but only in very short 1 second blasts, not the 30secs they suggest.
Running both tubes through the breather generally works quite nicely. Damp rag seals the gaps too.
I think both cleaners can dislodge heavy deposits in the combustion chamber and consequently block the cat more, so you do have to be quite judicious in their usage, keeping a close eye during the process.
I also add about 1/2 pint of acetone to the fuel tank, as that's the active ingredient in products such as cataclean. Go for a good drive after that.
I've had a long term oil leak through the valve stems so I think that's the reason why I have to do this at least once per year. Cures my codes though, so at least it gets me half way there.
 
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