XJ XJ8 / XJR ( X308 ) 1997 - 2003

What did you do to your X308 Today?

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  #4581  
Old 05-21-2022, 04:54 PM
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Originally Posted by StagByTriumph
I am now chasing the same issue on my 2005.
​​
The x350/356 XJ’s were notorious for lean codes due to the 8 o rings between the upper and lower intake plenum leaking air. If you look up a Range Rover 4.2 engine, they list replacement o rings. If you look it up for a Jaguar, they’ll list an entire intake plenum to buy.
 
  #4582  
Old 05-21-2022, 09:33 PM
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Default Lean Bank and Restricted Performance

Originally Posted by Addicted2boost
The x350/356 XJ’s were notorious for lean codes due to the 8 o rings between the upper and lower intake plenum leaking air. If you look up a Range Rover 4.2 engine, they list replacement o rings. If you look it up for a Jaguar, they’ll list an entire intake plenum to buy.
Thanks, that is my next task. When I replaced all the hoses on the AJ33, like an idiot I did not rebuild the complete intake manifold and all the O rings and seals, mainly because the DPM/DPO GLUED the electrical connectors onto the injectors!!. More on that over to the X350 forum
 
  #4583  
Old 05-21-2022, 11:28 PM
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Yesterday I removed pieces of foam from the left heater blower motor wheel. Common thing I suppose. Foam dropped from the air recirc flap. I'm glad that the noise was only that and not the motor itself. Vacuumed all of the foam off from both blower mototrs and flaps. At the same time I removed the added rubber discs from the front support arm rear bushes. They did not work as expected at all. I'd guess they will work if v mounts and the rear bushes are nearly gone.
 

Last edited by Vauxi; 05-21-2022 at 11:32 PM. Reason: a lot of bad writing..
  #4584  
Old 05-31-2022, 08:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Vauxi
Yesterday I removed pieces of foam from the left heater blower motor wheel. Common thing I suppose. Foam dropped from the air recirc flap. I'm glad that the noise was only that and not the motor itself. Vacuumed all of the foam off from both blower mototrs and flaps. At the same time I removed the added rubber discs from the front support arm rear bushes. They did not work as expected at all. I'd guess they will work if v mounts and the rear bushes are nearly gone.
Tell me please Vauxi, what difference were you hoping to get from the rubber disc? Was it the groves in the road you spoke of earlier, trying to make the tires not follow them to such a great extent?
 
  #4585  
Old 06-11-2022, 08:27 AM
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I soldered the ABS modul and fixed the traction/stability/ABS warning for good. Was actually a really easy and smooth operation. I didnt bend the brakelines , instead I released them from the ABS housing and did a full replacement of the brakefluid while I was at it. Also took the time while bleeding the system to replace all the bleep-nipples on the calipers. I bought a set of 17" XK rims that really looks great on my x308.


My new wheels, had to replace the tires thou, the P-Zero were old and hard as hockey-pucks

Re-soldered

Was no problem getting the box out when realesed the brake lines.
 
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  #4586  
Old 06-11-2022, 11:57 AM
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Default Checking Fluids


While checking fluids this morning, the rubber gasket for the coolant cap fell off and into the engine compartment.
It was if it disappeared! I got my best flashlight and looked everywhere I thought it could possibly go. To no avail.
I moved the Duchess back out of the garage and looked where she had been.....still nothing. I looked it up online
and can get one delivered for about $12 US which is not too bad, but I decided to make one out of some cork
gasket material I had on hand. Hopefully, it will seal well enough and not be overwhelmed by the pressure.
 
  #4587  
Old 06-29-2022, 03:35 PM
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handed to car over to the workshop for them to check it through before the inspection. The penalty of not having a lift to work on is all to evident now. Brakelines, welding at the back, clean up underneath. With the standard new plugs and probably a set of tyres the black beauty might get through.
 
  #4588  
Old 06-29-2022, 03:42 PM
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if my ABS error message persists, thats what I am faced with too.
Replacing the nipples was a good idea.
Thanks for the pics..Something I didn‘t want to do was disconnect the lines …as it‘s a new deal moving around the brakes.However, I might not have a choice ..
 
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  #4589  
Old 06-29-2022, 08:28 PM
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Default New Alternator, X308 time to go

Ordered an alternator from DB Electrical In Tennessee. I'll let viewers know how successful it was, but no core exchange, so I can take my time to locate a quality minded local rebuilder in the Dener Area. Then once it gets back onto the lift, I'll tweak any maintenance items.

BTW, I am a thinning the herd as the wife no longer can drive and I only have one driver in the family with 4 cars and a CB900C, so this one is for sale to a good home.

129k miles, chains and tensioners done around ~70k with transmission cone work (in Alabama with over $10k in receipts for work and upgrades from the Previous Owner I bought it from in 2015), shocks and bushings at about 90k, it is what I would consider good condition, runs and drives great with no DTC's, no rust in dry Colorado. . PM me.
I actually like it better than my x350 in the background - touch wood as I am working on that one tomorrow through the weekend, maybe I'll sell that one instead

I will get around to listing it on the classifieds if someone does not like it being here


 
  #4590  
Old 07-02-2022, 04:05 PM
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Thumbs up Alternator - US J&N brand

In a previous post I said my Alternator had given up and I ordered a replacement from D&B Electrical in Tennessee USA. Well it arrived today 3 day free shipping to Colorado USA.

This is a Brand NEW unit with all new parts, not rebuilt anything, appears to be manufactured by J&N Electric Alternator which has been in business since ~1954 making all sorts of automotive and industrial electrical components.

With this series of XJ having been under the Ford and Brownslane cooperative engineering, it is no surprise to me to find that some parts were standardized from existing Ford logistics supply chain.

This is a model specific direct plug compatible unit, manufactured in China at a J&N manufacturing facility, like with most electrical components, supplied with a full quality dynamic test. 3 day free UPS shipped to my door was $136 USD.

Not DENSO, but definately looks exactly OEM and all new components.

I should have installation results within a week or so.


New Alternator for my x308 - J&N Alternator rear with computerized dynamic test

J&N Alternator side view, complete with correct belt pulley


 
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  #4591  
Old 07-03-2022, 09:59 AM
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Originally Posted by RandyS
Tell me please Vauxi, what difference were you hoping to get from the rubber disc? Was it the groves in the road you spoke of earlier, trying to make the tires not follow them to such a great extent?
That exactly. As we know the front subframe is installed with soft bush fixings and practically none of other car manufactures do that anymore. That made me try out that. And it did not make it better. Maybe because it was now stiff on sideways movement only in rear of the subframe. So the whole subframe may have now moved only at the front as without discs whole subframe can move sideways.
 
  #4592  
Old 07-03-2022, 12:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Vauxi
That exactly. As we know the front subframe is installed with soft bush fixings and practically none of other car manufactures do that anymore. That made me try out that. And it did not make it better. Maybe because it was now stiff on sideways movement only in rear of the subframe. So the whole subframe may have now moved only at the front as without discs whole subframe can move sideways.
Well, that certainly makes sense. I always thought it was the tread design that caused
one car to react differently to grooved pavement than another.
 
  #4593  
Old 07-04-2022, 11:11 AM
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It is combination of suspension design, tire width, track width, scrub radius, wheel aligment, wheel offset and how deep and how wide are the road grooves. And of course tyre design and type.
 

Last edited by Vauxi; 07-04-2022 at 11:13 AM.
  #4594  
Old 07-08-2022, 09:03 PM
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Vauxi, I'm probably the "other forum member" which you got your idea from - I did the same thing recently (and posted about it a few months ago) trying to solve a highway vibration issue. Used some Mcmaster abrasion-resistance PU rubber on one side as an additional stiffening plate to try and stiffen things up, in my case trying to address highway vibes were a vibration mode of the subframe... No go on that (think it's bum tires after all) but it did very slightly help with my tramlining and road crown pull. Not a magic bullet though, and both my V-mounts and subframe bushings have been replaced recently enough that it's not either of those.

On topic post though... Did the big blower service! My blower coupler died (took it apart, turns out the main spring itself broken in half) so I replaced it with an overhauled GenV blower. While in there, replaced the valley hoses (a member called them "suicide hoses" and I understand why), EGR gaskets, charge cooler gaskets, TB gaskets, brake booster vac line O-ring, cleaned the area, installed the GenV blower elbow gasket with some black sealant gunk for good measure, and replace the aux heater pump with a less-worn junkyard part while coolant was drained.

Nothing exploded when put back together, and put >500 miles on since then, so huge win for me. No noticeable power difference with the GenV blower, I didn't expect any, but I definitely notice the reduced noise due to helical cut gears... Hard to explain. There's a sort of always-present but comforting whine with the old blower, which is now reduced, but not missed... It still sings when pushed. Now to address the 50mph diff howl.

Oh, also mostly solved my issue of sunroof rattle when going over bumps. There's still play in the system, can't be solved without replacing the tracks, but globbing a ton of grease into the tracks, esp the area where the sunroof rests closed, seemed to adequately damp the rattle for very little effort.
 
  #4595  
Old 07-08-2022, 10:52 PM
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Nilanium. Ah it was you. I 've been thinking too that when this original blower blows it's last air. I'll go to the gen V too. Nice to know it really nothing else than different elbow gasket. Mine have solid coupler so noise is pretty loud when pusing and especially loud blender sound when engine is cold.
 
  #4596  
Old 07-15-2022, 08:50 PM
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knock sensor
I was looking for Knock sensors for my 2003 XJ8 and thats what I just ordered.
pretty cheap - $46 with free shipping if order 2.
 
  #4597  
Old 07-30-2022, 01:43 PM
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Thursday, drove the XJR into work. Along the commute there's a gold x308 I've seen parked at one of the houses, today it happened to be driving past me in the oncoming direction. Waved, and got a slightly surprised wave back! Maybe a silly small thing, but it got me pretty excited that morning.
 
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  #4598  
Old 07-31-2022, 07:23 PM
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Originally Posted by nilanium
Thursday, drove the XJR into work. Along the commute there's a gold x308 I've seen parked at one of the houses, today it happened to be driving past me in the oncoming direction. Waved, and got a slightly surprised wave back! Maybe a silly small thing, but it got me pretty excited that morning.
It’s the little things that make us smile.
 
  #4599  
Old 08-01-2022, 08:58 AM
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Filled last two door seals with 6mm thick round rubber extract. I'd say there is clear difference in the wind noise. I don't think that next size up will fit anymore. It will fit to the seal but closing the door may be then difficult. Due to seal be too thick/strong.
 
  #4600  
Old 08-06-2022, 06:43 PM
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Right side valve cover gasket kit installed, seems ok so far.

Also got my new/used gearshift installed and calibrated, the dual linear switch that my car came with failed not 10 miles into my first drive after I bought it a few weeks ago...been chasing the issue for a couple weeks. Took her for a short drive and it was great.
 


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