The "Questions for Spectre" thread

Spectre said:
Yup, it has Nikasil issues, timing chain issues and while it does not have the $15K Mercedes box of fail to deal with, it has the $4-5K ZF box of fail instead that goes out in the same time frame.
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Does that affect all the X100 XK8s? Are there any years of them that appear to be OK? They look like a lot of car for the money, but I can't help but think they are cheap for a reason.
 
2003-2006 have the more robust 6-speed ZF box and the 4.2L engine that solved all the timing chain and cylinder liner issues, and they have a bit more power to boot. They're also rarer and pricier.
 
Yup, pretty much. Only thing I'd add is that people with the 4.2L X100s usually seem to want to hang on to them.

Either way, yes, of the X100s, the 03-06 had the bug-fix 4.2 and the much more reliable ZF 6 speed auto.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5455273464.html
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5426962655.html

By the way, skip this one. I went to see it some weeks ago for someone else and it's in pretty bad shape - more than the pictures imply.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/ctd/5454760985.html

On the other hand, if this one's as advertised... whoooo.... yeah, that's a deal, IMHO.
http://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/cto/5451713204.html
 
That's too bad, I'm not a fan of the 05-06 facelift.
 
I'd steer clear of northern cars. Too many issues with salt and a Jag can be quite expensive to fix if things have started to decay due to salt. In particular, salt corrosion in electrical connectors can burn out your wallet trying to chase them down in no time flat.
 
'Wobble' when turning and accelerating

'Wobble' when turning and accelerating

I thought about posting this as a new thread, but then I decided that Spectre would be the one with the answer, anyway... :lol:

Here?s a problem I haven?t encountered before. My cousin has a 2009 Chevy Impala, 3500 V6, automatic. In normal, low-to-moderate speed driving, if you accelerate during a left turn, you can feel a ?wobble? in the car. I drove it and thought that the feeling came through the steering wheel, not the seat.

He has fitted new tires, tried different wheels and also rotated the tires front-to-back. We did a rudimentary test for radial and lateral run-out on both front tires and found nothing noteworthy. When we were rotating the front wheels, I could not feel differences in drag resulting from brake disc warpage. There is a tiny bit of play in the left front wheel bearing, but it?s very minimal. I also checked for play in the CV joints with the front wheels unloaded, but found none.

This is a salvage title car. It is possible that one of the front axles could be slightly bent. Barring someone identifying the problem, his next step will probably be to replace one axle at a time. But, I kept thinking that an axle would probably transmit a constant oscillation, not just in turns.

Have you ever run into this problem? It?s a first for me!

Thanks in advance.
 
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I don't think an axle is the problem. I would start looking at suspension components up front. Bushings, tie rods, the struts, the bearing on top of the struts.
 
Jack the car up, put your hands at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock on the front wheels. See if you can wiggle up and down. Next, put your hands at 3 and 9 o'clock. Do the same, repeat on the other side of the car. At 12 and 6, you're checking ball joints, at the other point, tie rods, see what you find.
 
93Flareside said:
Jack the car up, put your hands at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock on the front wheels. See if you can wiggle up and down. Next, put your hands at 3 and 9 o'clock. Do the same, repeat on the other side of the car. At 12 and 6, you're checking ball joints, at the other point, tie rods, see what you find.
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We did that on both sides, primarily as a wheel bearing check. We also did the pull/push thing. The right side was tight, the left side had a TINY bit of play at the 12/6 position. We do this check at SCCA Solo tech inspections, so I'm reasonably knowledgeable on what might be considered 'acceptable' wear.

We're going to stay after this, but - since the car is his wife's daily driver, it may take us a bit of time to run down the problem.

BTW - I wonder where Spectre is? I haven't seen any posts from him in a few days.

SL
 
So the XJR has been emitting a high-pitched whine when I let off the gas pedal; it seems to be related to a vacuum leak, as the pitch does not rise or fall much with engine RPMs. It sometimes goes away when I turn on the AC. Are there any particular vacuum ports that go on these things, or will I have to systematically hunt down every vacuum port on the engine?
 
They don't have much by way of any vacuum ports IIRC as of course it's a blower engine. I suspect you have a *boost* leak, not a vacuum leak. Vacuum is provided by a vacuum pump and not the engine itself and any leak should not track the engine RPM at all. However, it is possible.

You can find the vacuum pump over by the relay farm. http://workshop-manuals.com/jaguar/...ol/component_information/locations/page_8046/
 
Boost leak would explain why it sounds loudest when I listen near the supercharger and is completely inaudible when listening from the exhaust side. My mechanic already fiddled with the vacuum pump and reconnected the loose cruise control connection, so that bumps it down the list.
 
One other possibility, now that I think about it, is the supercharger's front bearing - since, as you say, sometimes when you turn the AC on the sound goes away. Turning on the AC turns on the compressor which changes the dynamics of load on the pulley drive system.

I'd break out the mechanic's stethoscope to localize the sound as best you can.
 
Moonshot: I am looking for technical information on the AJ34S variant of the AJ-V8, particularly the 420HP XKR configuration if there are physical differences.

In particular, sensor and output (VVT solenoid/throttle/etc.) response curves would be of particular use. The kind of information you'd need to drive one with a third party engine management system. I need to see if I can work with the factory stuff or if I need to bodge/translate/replace.

Plus a more normal rebuild manual would be handy, too.

(When your project kicks off with "I can't even guess how much this is going to cost until I find the answers to absurd technical questions" you know you're either insane, an idiot, or quite possibly both).
 
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I could bug one of the techs at our Land Rover dealership, they have essentially the same engine as the Jags, but I can guarantee anything. The two techs I know the best have both left. One retired one moved onto another brand.
 
If it's an automatic (which it seems to be), the transmission is basically made of glass and if it hasn't been recently rebuilt (in the last 40K) it will probably explode (expensively) soon. The 5 speed it has behind that 3.0 is better than the 4 speed, but both are very disappointing and have ruined many owners' experiences in cars they've been installed in. The 4 speed is the CD4E transmission of woe and the 5 speed is the JF506E failbox from the X-Type. Oil leaks from every gasket are also common with the 3.0L V6 variant used in the car. Premature engine failure was also an issue, but at this mileage it would have already been taken care of if it was going to happen. There was a throttle body TSB - don't remember what it was but it was a significant issue IIRC. There were also various recalls, but that's not hard to get done if they haven't been done already.

The automatic transmissions of failure and shame are rather a showstopper as they're not the cheapest to rebuild. It's a shame because from most reports it's actually a pretty decent (for a fail wheel drive car) mid-size sedan to drive if a bit on the small side for the class.
 
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