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Jaguar XJR6 Double Madness - Double Sold


Broadsword

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I spoke to one of Jaaag's chassis designers about the tramlining issue with XJRs when I owned mine. He reckons it's entirely down to the front tyres being too wide, said the XJR chassis was designed for 245s at the front but that marketing at the last minute insisted on 255s, and it was too late to sort the chassis.

 

I loved my XJR, great car, but the tramlining was a PITA.

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Thank you all! I'm really quite happy the turquoise car has a fully a functional engine warp drive again, and pleasing to know I managed to fix it, where all a specialist could be bothered to do was plug it in a computer, retrieve some meaningless codes, half for modules not even fitted to the car, and charge the owner £60. I think over the course of all the diagnosis work most of the possibilities were covered for what might stop one of these with the possible exception of collapsed bits in the exhaust, say collapsed catalytic converters, thankfully not the case with my car.

 

I've driven the car around as much as practical local to reintroduce it to moving around on the open roads, and just to loosen things up a bit. It drives really rather ok, showing 4.9 MPG right now! Just like ELA it is constantly trying to break traction when you are slightly care free with your application of the throttle, and roundabouts on icy days such as today can be quite exciting. I think the limited slip diff does it's thing since the big cat always seems to pull itself back in line, just don't panic. I rigged a switch on my jumper wire for the auxiliary fuel pump so I just switch the secondary pump off when I stop. It still won't run properly on a single fuel pump.

 

I didn't attempt to change the fuel filter yet because it's very cold, but that is next. I rang every Jag spares specialist within about 80 miles of my location for a spare turquoise bonnet. No luck. One place in Bolton said they would get one of their bonnets painted in the correct colour for a reasonable price. Looks like we are all systems go for that to happen so I might have a tidy bonnet to go on over the next week or so. This will greatly enhance the appearance. Once it is running reasonably happy I will tidy it up to a standard, fix anything that can be fixed easily and then take a view on the car as a running concern. With a car like this I think presentable should be the aim, within reason.

 

I can't help keep looking at some of the XJR6s currently going through on eBay, which are competing with ELA. There is one on there now with no MOT, been off the road for 18 months, no N/S floor, and V5 in the post M8 which is currently sitting at £1300 and will probably make more. It might look shiny superficially, but it makes more sense to buy a honest example that has been kept running on the road in my opinion. There is another on there for £1950 with the seller saying it will need new rear lights and a rear bumper because it had been on fire. One for the eBay tat thread I think. :D

 

Today's bonus video footage is for all you folding mirror consensus (subcategory of exotic wiper mechanism enthusiasts). The video shows the electric folding mirrors in ELA with the brilliantly placed switch. The most amazing thing perhaps is that they work perfectly!

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Another part of the fuel system was ticked off today with the fuel filter getting changed. Getting at the filter is a bit of a faff, because the rear union is a bit difficult to get a spanner on. For some reason the union at the front is 16 mm, the rear 17 mm. Maybe the front has worn down. The old filter was a MANN. Old but not blocked or anything. A new one went in without too much trouble. No need to mess with the bracket, the filter slides in an out on a rubber sleeve. I had to replace an O-ring obviously to stop it leaking fuel, but it is fine now.

 

Once again it still won't run properly on one fuel pump. Next stop is the fuel tank to inspect the pumps. My approach will be the easy way which is from the parcel shelf area. I've already removed the rear seat and parcel shelf, but will need to cut an access panel to have a direct view of the tank top and get everything out. Sounds drastic, but it is a real problem removing the tank entirely, apparently, because of the fuel lines on the bottom of the tank damage easily and are difficult to remove. Let's hope there is a conclusive answer in the fuel tank.

 

The rear seat is very easy to remove by the way. First remove the two kick panels at the bottom of the seat. Once screw each. Fuses and relays are behind those covers. A few screws hold the seat squab in place, it just pulls out. Another few screws at the bottom of the seatback hold that, and again it just pulls out the car. Finally the parcel shelf just pops out. Just remember to unplug the tweeter speakers.

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Right, finally got to the bottom of the running issues on the Turquoise XJR. The previous suspicions of fuel starvation were indeed correct. Fuel filter and fuel pressure regulator were changed, but that was not the problem. With access to the top of the fuel tank I was a little disappointed to see that, on the surface of it at least, all seemed to be ok. Both fuel pumps were working. There was a very small amount of dirt on the prefilter for the primary filter. I had a new fuel pump, so I put it in. The car ran slightly better, but then popped off the rubber fuel line from the pump which saw the car die on the road. Luckily it was a few hundred yards from home. Amazingly a Citroen Xantia tugged the Jag no problem.

 

So I had to think a bit harder. More attention was turned to the rubber hoses in the fuel tank. They were soft and starting to split. With the hoses removed completely it became apparent they were totally disintegrating and not holding pressure. A trip to Halfords and I had about a metre of new fuel line (for reference it's 8 mm internal diameter). I hate working in the fuel tank. It's hard work delicately threading your hands around the two pumps and the Y-piece the rubber hoses go into from the hole at the top. Anyway with the job done the car started well, spluttered for a bit while it cleared the air from the lines and a quick drive revealed all the power was there. The reason it ran better previously with the secondary fuel pump hotwired to run continuously was because it was just about getting enough fuel through the bad fuel lines with two pumps working continuously together.  A photo from the hole where the sender unit lives shows the problem. You can see the wet where fuel is leaking out a split in the hose. This was the underlying problem with the car, fixing it cost £4.30. Remarkable really.

 

A few full bore runs showed the car can really shift. It blew quite a lot of clag out the exhaust initially, and now is getting much happier. A little more fettling, mainly with the exhaust and an extra throttle return spring and things will be pretty good. It steers nice, accelerates well and stops well to boot. No knocking from the suspension that I can hear, just a blow in the exhaust somewhere in the mid-section.

 

In other news during a recent trip to U-Pullit I struck gold. They had a 95 XJ6 3.2 Sport in exactly the same colour combo as ELA. It was almost completely untouched so like a man possessed I started stripping it down. Annoyingly I was only there with light tools, since I was not planning to get much that day. In about an hour I had a wheelbarrow full of really, really useful stuff. Coil packs, fuel injectors, MAF, air box, crank position sensor, fuel pressure regulator, relays, interior bits like the ski slope, dome light, ash tray and arm rest, body control module, rear view mirror, full mat set, all sorts. Importantly the driver's side front wing was solid and undented, which would make a sizeable improvement to ELA. The front bumper was also good, but I couldn't get if off there and then. I went back and got that the next day. There is nothing wrong with the front bumper on ELA but the chrome is slightly buckled. It is actually easier to sling the replacement bumper on for what it cost. All the bits I got combined came to about £75.

 

Now that it actually works, tidying up of the Turquoise Shed will commence tomorrow. Still hoping to get a bonnet. No real interest in ELA, so might need to change selling strategy.

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Yes, the collapsing fuel line was basically almost all that was wrong with it. Taking the throttle body off and cleaning it was not a wasted job however, it was seized and had to be sorted. Same goes for cleaning up the ECU (remarkable that it appears fine). I put the parcel shelf and rear seats back in today, tidied up the boot and the engine bay, then gave the car the first wash during my ownership. It's not too bad compared to many other out there. There is some corrosion here and there but nothing has go though. The front wings are pretty solid, definitely not the originals, but solid. The jacking points have gone on the nearside, but the floor is fine. I'm not sure if they are an MOT failure or not. I would just cut out the remnants and reconstruct something similar.

 

I'm still on course to get a bonnet for it, but it looks like it will take another week. Definitely worth the effort of putting it on. Tomorrow I will try and rummage through my stuff and find a suitable spring for the throttle return to to get it perfect. I will also try and sort out the minor exhaust leak. Driving it more and more, the engine is getting smoother and smoother. In short within a week or so it will be prepped to a fair standard. A good 10 yarder I would say.

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Did ELA sell? 

 

If anyone wants the red one I'll drive it wherever for you for train tickets since its only around the corner from me anyway. 

 

 

Snap his hands off at £2800.

No, it really doesn't look like it's going to sell at the moment. Zero interest on the open market as well. Maybe ELA wants to stay. The turquoise car might appear on a popular auction site soon, one has to go before financial oblivion catches up!

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No, it really doesn't look like it's going to sell at the moment. Zero interest on the open market as well. Maybe ELA wants to stay. The turquoise car might appear on a popular auction site soon, one has to go before financial oblivion catches up!

OK cool, well the offer is still there for anyone who wants to buy either... do the deal, buy me train tickets and ill drive it anywhere you like. I am, after all, about 5 mins away from you!

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Well someone did come and look at ELA today, but when the opening offer was asking £1000 off the price, I switched off. Conditions too much like the Arctic today to scrabble under cars, but I did go back once again to UPI for a final sweep of Jag bits. I have quite a collection now. Shame the rear ABS sensors are impossible to get out. They would have been pretty neat to have.

 

There is one common thing people seem to be misunderstanding about the XJR6, and that it is a very different car to the V8, and it takes more effort driving at full tilt. It's not because there is a problem, they just are like that. Tramlining is a big part of that as I have mentioned before. I have driven three of these now and TADTS. It's much more of the old school the X306.

 

I'm still trying to get a consensus on what are the best tyres to fit on these cars. To tackle tramlining issues there is talk out there regarding fitting 235/50/17 tyres or 245 or 245 front, 255 rear. I've tried posting on a few places asking, but opinions vary a bit too much to come up with a convincing answer.

 

In other news, the very broken looking electrochromic rearview mirror on the turquoise car has been replaced with a regular one, easy enough. Seems all the X300 have the wiring for the fancy but pointless electrochromic mirror.

 

Today's bonus footage is of this car that keeps trolling me and checking out the Jags.

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I've been reading about tyres too, X308s are known to tramline as well. It seems to depend on make more than size, but I can't recall which ones are suggested as good.

 

My XJR tramlines a lot worse than yours, but I think my front subframe bushes are shot. It's one of the things I'm asking the specialist to look at on thursday when I drop it in.

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Yeah there is, of course, worn suspension components to contend with, but ELA has had new rear subframe bushes, a thorough MOT and I've poked around with it on the ramp so nothing is obviously massively worn out. The X308 R1 I had, even though it was always destined to be chopped for parts, drove perfectly straight strangely. Of course the wheel bearing design is different on X300/X308 which apparently has an effect, not much that can be done with that. I did see someone mention tyre brands when I asked on a user group, he said that ironically the worst for tramlining were Pirellis and Dunlops, but no idea what are good.

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I think I saw michelins suggested as good, but I honestly can't recall as mine has Pirellis with loads of tread so won't get changed for ages.

I've read about the wheel bearings too, it makes sense. I wonder if a full alignment would help? there are lots of adjustments on these cars after all.

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Well someone did come and look at ELA today, but when the opening offer was asking £1000 off the price, I switched off. Conditions too much like the Arctic today to scrabble under cars, but I did go back once again to UPI for a final sweep of Jag bits. I have quite a collection now. Shame the rear ABS sensors are impossible to get out. They would have been pretty neat to have.

 

There is one common thing people seem to be misunderstanding about the XJR6, and that it is a very different car to the V8, and it takes more effort driving at full tilt. It's not because there is a problem, they just are like that. Tramlining is a big part of that as I have mentioned before. I have driven three of these now and TADTS. It's much more of the old school the X306.

 

I'm still trying to get a consensus on what are the best tyres to fit on these cars. To tackle tramlining issues there is talk out there regarding fitting 235/50/17 tyres or 245 or 245 front, 255 rear. I've tried posting on a few places asking, but opinions vary a bit too much to come up with a convincing answer.

 

In other news, the very broken looking electrochromic rearview mirror on the turquoise car has been replaced with a regular one, easy enough. Seems all the X300 have the wiring for the fancy but pointless electrochromic mirror.

 

Today's bonus footage is of this car that keeps trolling me and checking out the Jags.

 

jan (next calendar) pic ftw

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Damn it - I love these cars………… excellent work and the U-Pull-It haul looks and sounds like a bloody bargain.

PM me how quickly you need shot - I'll see if I can default on food for a couple of months - or become a temporary rich-banker/drug dealer/catburglar/jewellery master thief……….

 

Seriously sorry I can't take it off your hands right now dude. You cannot fathom how gutted I am!

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liking the sudden influx of Jag XJ stuff on here recently :)

 

im curious what was wrong with the U-pull-it Car? (ie how/why did it end up there?)

All things XJ are good in my book. The car at UPI wasn't in terrible shape. Looks like someone side swiped the poor thing. This is only the third X300 I've seen in the yard. I did see a X350 once as well ages ago that had had a massive head on impact.

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