XKR Suspension Repair

So after a little a little looking around I managed to find a supplier that had everything I need in in stock. I ordered them from British Parts uk . I was a little confused over some of the part selection options as it says things like XKR and not the R option? Apparently the R option is the Brembo brakes upgrade which my car has and also the CATS suspension option. The CATS option means you need to be very careful when removing the nut on top of the damper. You use an Allen key to hold the shaft still while undoing the nut. The problem there is that inside the shaft is the two pins for the electrical connection and they can be easily damaged if you push the Allen key in too far! So after a couple of days waiting for shipping the following items arrived

New parts
New parts

The strut with the broken spring and spring pan was relatively easy to disassemble due to the break. I decided to assemble the replacement prior to removing the other side. I spent a few hours struggling with my spring compressors to do the job. Due to the length of the spring and the fact it tapered in as it went down I just could not get enough compression to put the strut & spring assembly together. Then I had an idea, my local garage Station Garage are very helpful and willing to help out. I removed the other strut and dropped everything off for them to do it for me. They are always extremely busy however I was not in a rush. A couple of days later I got the call that they were ready for collection. They agreed that the taper caused a bit of an issue but they managed it and only charged a token amount. Many, Many, Thanks guys.

assembled struts
Assembled struts

At the weekend I got to work putting it all back together. It went together fairly easily to be honest, I thought it was going to be a bit of a pig but pretty straight forward. I have also replaced one of the damper bushed at the rear and the other side needs replacing too. Just ran out of time and energy 🙂

Till next time

XKR Front Suspension Failure

Working the XKR today, I was having trouble setting up the rubber blocks on the lift so I could swap out the rear damper bushes. I then noticed the drivers side front wheel was way, way up in the wheel arch touching the inner wheel panel. My immediate thought, oh no not another broken spring! Over the last few years I have changed out broken suspension springs on the following family cars:

1994 XJS
2006 X type estate – 3 times!
2011 Peugeot 207

Now its the turn of the XKR!

Front Broken Spring
Front Broken Spring

At the same time the Spring pan has rusted through and also the Damper looks a rusty mess too. I checked the other side and it is all much cleaner and less rusty so I think that side must have been changed already.

Rusty bits
Spring Pan

On removal of the offending parts, I also noticed the top Shock Absorber Mount also does not look too good.

Faulty top mount
Faulty top mount

So quite a shopping list. As it is an XKR, a convertible and has the CATS suspension, it takes a little while to dig out the correct part codes needed. Not many shops answering their phones today 29/12/2021 so will try again tomorrow.

Top downwards:

Top suspension mounting MJA2166BC
Shocks MXD2140AB
Spring set JLM20706
Spring Pan MJA2166BC
The gaiter and the Spring assister look fine so I will reuse those.

More details when I have the parts and install them

Happy new year to all and I hope 2022 is good for you all 🙂

XKR – Fog Lights and Automatic lights on

XKR – Fog Lights and Automatic lights on

The XKR was due for its annual MOT and so I did a quick check of the usual items, lights, horn, tyres etc. It turns out the front fog lights did not want to come on. This is an MOT failure so needed to be fixed. I started debugging by looking at the Fog Lamp relay. It had power and if I connected the drive to the relay coil to ground, on came the lights with no issue. Obviously it was the switching side of things. I took the centre console out and then the switch assembly. It looked fine and I confirmed that the switch (a momentary short to ground) was working fine. I then turned my attention to the Body Controller unit which is behind the passenger side “cubby hole” it was a bit if a pain to get it out. Once out I took it apart looking for signs of dry joints, heated components etc. No such luck so I tested the continuity of the wires involved and all seemed OK.

I put it all back together and went for a drive, still the same. A few days later I drove it at night for the first time in a while and noticed that the dashboard lights went off when the headlights were turned on. Side lights were fine, dashboard lights worked when they were on. So this led me to believe there was an issue with the indicator/light stalk. The auto function had never worked since I had owner the car and now it looked like there was a secondary issue with it.

A quick look on youtube followed, on how to remove the covers around the steering column and then worse case, take off the steering wheel. Having removed the covers, it was immediately apparent the issue was due to two wires no longer connected to the switch as per the photo. There was no easy way to tell where they came from so I had to take the steering wheel off and get a better look.

Loose Wires

I carefully removed the airbag having disconnected the battery and shorted the live to chassis to discharge any residual current in the system. Removed the two screws holding in the switch and then I could clearly see the pins and wires. A close look with a magnifying glass revealed two contacts on the switch showed signs of the remains of broken wires. I did spend a little while trying to identify which wire went where. I also did some internet searching as well but failed to identify which way round they went. The circuit diagrams do not go into the level of detail between the stalk and the external cabling plugs.

Well there were only two wires so not a lot of choices. I decided the longest wire, the green one went on the outside and the other went to the inner contact. I soldered these on and hey presto, the front fog lights now worked. A few hours later I tested it in the dark and I had also fixed the dashboard lights and the auto function also worked!

 

Wires Soldered On
Wires Soldered On

Later that evening I logged onto my laptop and started to close down all the various windows I had opened during my searches. There was one PDF about interior lights dimming when the indicators were used. Sure enough there was a picture in the PDF that clearly showed a wire broken off of the same indicator stalk. At least it proved to me that the wires were now in fact in the correct place but I could have done with seeing it earlier 🙂

XKR – Green Shower

XKR – Green Shower

Some of you may well have heard about the “XK Convertible Green Shower” issue. It is caused by the hydraulic pipes that drive the convertible roof latch degrade over time and then leak. This then drips/pours through the grill in the overhead console and covers mainly the gear lever/centre console and splashes you too. I had heard of this and I had seen a pipe replacement and a pump replacement in the service history for my car. Well it turns out they only changed one of the pipes and the second failed a few years later as per the images.

Failed Pipe
Failed Pipe

Failed Pipe
Failed Pipe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The previous repair was to swap out only part of the pipe rather than the whole pipe. This allows for just the removal of the windscreen surrounding interior panels rather than the major job to replace the whole pipe/s. This was an official repair option which jaguar later stopped supplying.

Inital Jaguar repair option
Initial Jaguar repair option

Having done some research on the various forums I tracked down a replacement set of pipes with a higher pressure rating than the Jaguar ones. I decided this was a better option as I did not want to use the Jaguar ones again plus these were also higher rated and cheaper.

The ones I purchased were from CRH https://www.cabriolet-roof-hoses.com/ and I just went for both front hoses at £109:98. I also purchased the some replacement oil from amazon “febi bilstein 06161 Hydraulic Fluid (Green) 1 Litre” You only need one Litre.

I also watched all the 9 episodes of a DIY repair on youtube https://youtu.be/5DuIuveFbHE there are 9 episodes. If you start watching these you will also see one pop up in the viewing list with a warning trying to tell you it is not an easy repair and to call him to do it for you. Sure, are you coming over to the UK to do it for me?

I agree it is quite a big task as you do have to remove a lot of interior parts to replace the pipes but none of it is challenging, it just takes time. The steps are as per the youtube video 1-9 but summarised for a UK right hand drive car as follows:

  • Remove the trim around the windscreen and A pillars
    • This is where the first pipe repair was situated
  • Remove centre console
  • Remove Passenger seat
  • Remove rear seat lower squab and then the back
  • Remove the various rear seat side trim panels
  • Lift the roof about 1/3 to get access to the exit hole into the boot
  • Pull out the old pipes and replace with the new ones
  • I eased the pump out so I could refill the fluid. There is just a cm or two above the hole when in place but you can fill in place using some kind of pump and pipe setup
  • Rerun the pipes following the same route
    • I would recommend attaching the pipes to both ends before putting the interior back as I needed to lose a little bit of slack. I did this alongside the centre console rather than in the foot well.
  • Once fitted I did a few open and close sequences and it works fine.
  • Put the various interior parts back in taking the opportunity to clean those parts not easily accessed when fully assembled.
  • Open the roof and take a well earned drive in the sunshine with the wind in your hair

If you are reasonably handy then I would definitely recommend attempting the repair and watching the Youtube video.

Just Go For it 🙂

Jaguar Jobs

Jaguar Jobs

Its been 10 months and I have not been able to do anything to the XJ6 other than pile stuff up on it! I have made some drawings and discussed with the local planning office what is an acceptable option regarding expanding the garage. More to follow once I get planning approved.

I have however been carrying out a number of repairs and maintenance tasks to the family cars since my last update. Also fitted a kitchen and all sorts of other non car related tasks!

  1. XKR larger jobs
    1. Changed disks and pads all round and upgraded to red stuff pads. Seems very similar to the previous standard pad but does produce less dust
    2. Had a weird issue where the fog lights stopped working – Story here
    3. Had the well known “green shower” issue- story here
    4. Replaced the coolant header tank to fix the “low coolant” error message
    5. Replaced the anti roll bar rubber bushes as they failed and caused the roll bar to clonk against the chassis at the slightest bump
    6. I still have a fairly regular “restricted Performance” error message. I have twice looked though all the intake piping for leaks but struggling to resolve this error.
  2. X-Type jobs
    1. Changed disks and pads all round. A week later the brake fluid level light came on and further investigation revealed I had a leak from the drivers side rear caliper. I replaced the caliper with a refurbished one from a local auto factors however it had an issue with the automatic handbrake adjustment. After a few miles and applying the hand brake a couple of times, the pads remained pushed up against the disk. This caused binding and overheating. I rewound the caliper back in again and went on a long trip to Le Mans without using the handbrake. Whilst there it started to bind up again. I removed the caliper and wound the piston back in and it was OK for a few miles then did the same again. I then wound the piston back in again but this time left the handbrake cable disconnected. We drove back from France quite happily. After about a week of driving without issue I reconnected the handbrake. 5 miles later, binding again. The Auto factors were great and swapped out the faulty one without issue. We drove the car for a further couple of weeks without issue before returning the original old caliper to get the deposit back.
    2. We were getting ODB” error messages pointing to one of the 02 sensors. Because I was so busy with the house, we dropped it off at the local garage. They changed an 02 sensor and it worked for a couple of days but the error returned. The garage said they used a “replacement” part and swapped it out for a genuine Jaguar part. It lasted another two days before the error came back again. The garage then looked at it and said there must be an error with the loom so take it to a jaguar dealer. I decided it was time for me to get involved and noticed that the error message was different to the one we initially had. It too, pointed an 02 sensor, bank 1 upstream. I took of the connector and measured across the heater pins. It was reading ~1.6k ohms where as the bank 2 sensor was reading just an ohm or two. I ordered a replacement from S & G Barratt part number C2S51801# which is an alternative (SNG Barratt recommended) part. It costs £75 +VAT compared to £134 +VAT for the Jaguar original. It was a bit of a pain to remove the old one but managed to get there and problem has been resolved for over a month now.
  3. Having attended the Le Mans Classic with me for the second time, my daughter decided that she wanted a classic car as her first car. We ended up with a 1976 MG Midget 1500. It is a little rough around the edges but nothing a little finessing from me cant resolve. Yet another car to add to the endless list of jobs. Especially with a front suspension requiring a grease every 1500 miles!
  4. Replace disks and pads on sons Renault Clio. Nothing else really to say about that

Can’t wait to build a new garage with a two post lift 🙂

 

 

 

XJR6 – Moved house and Garage

XJR6 – Moved house and Garage

We have moved home and that also meant I had to move my garage and all of its contents. There was no way a removal company would touch moving all of the junk I had spread across three garages. To give you an idea, this is what it looked like with a week to go to the move. I quickly attached the doors and wings to the car so I had less items to move. The bonnet was attached the next day. The mountain of items and boxes to the right of the car were those I had already packed. There is a long length single garage attached to the right of this double that also had a lot if items in it.

Garage part packed
Garage part packed

The process I decided to follow in the end was to rent a 20 foot container about 3 miles away, move all the stuff there prior to the move with a Luton type tail lift truck. I then emptied the container using another truck a couple of weeks later. All in all it was a total of 6 journeys using the biggest Luton available. My brother has an “A” frame towing device which we used to tow the Jaguar to its new location. There is no prop-shaft installed at the moment so no issues with towing with an automatic gearbox. The Jaguar arrived in its new home unscathed although there was a nasty squeak coming from the rear end. Something else to look into when things get a little more organised.

I only have a two reasonably wide single garages at my new house so I have plans to modify them significantly. Ideally I want to make it into a much bigger double with the extra height to have a couple of lifts installed.

The empty garage looked a bit sad, so was I having built it about 20 years ago. Many a fun evening spent pottering around in there!

Garage empty
Garage empty

Garage empty
Garage empty

 

XKR- Brake Switch Repair LJB6420BB

XKR- Brake Switch Repair – LJB6420BB

Recently I started getting an error message scrolling between “Check Rear Lights” and “Cruise Control not available”. It turns out after a little research that this is due to the Brake Switch. This switch is a real pig to change. There is very little room to remove and refit the part plus you have to lay upside down in the foot well to get any chance of reinstalling it. Following the various posts on the Jaguar forum it appears that this is a common issue. On removal of the switch, I found that one of the metal levers on one of the micro switches had snapped off, probably due to fatigue.

Rear of Brake switch
Rear of Brake Switch

Missing/broken hinge
Missing/Broken Hinge

I found the missing piece in the foot well but as it had snapped off, there was nothing to do except replace the switch. A quick look around on the various suppliers plus that well known auction site I found them available but at a high price. Jaguar spare suppliers were around £115 plus delivery and second hand around £50. Well I thought to myself, the micro switches are just soldered in so if I could find a replacement then it would no doubt be much cheaper! The original  ones were manufactured by Cherry and had A2 42 printed on them.

That did not seem to help much, however reading the posts on the Jaguar Forum page a little closer and a very helpful member called Jima had posted a suitable replacement part. (Omron D2HW-A211D sub-miniature micro-switch). These are available from a number of places but I used RS components The micro switches were only 98 pence each so I purchased three of them just in case. The picture on tier website did not look correct as it had three cables connected but they were in fact perfect. The hinge is not the same design as the originals but they work fine. I did put a slight bend in the end of the hinge and also spent a little time fine tuning them once installed to get them both to click on/off at the same time.

The image below shows the slight bend I put into the hinge.

Switches Replaced
Switches Replaced

Getting the switch back in place was the real challenge. A tip on the Jaguar forum mentioned using some thread to help align the bracket. I did try using some fine wire wrapped around the two threaded pins and though the holes in the bulkhead. This on its own failed to get it lined up properly. In the end I had to remove the drivers seat and lie upside down in the foot well. Using a light shining into the engine bay I could see roughly where the holes were. Using the wire and the light I eventually managed to get it back in. I checked the positioning of the adjuster in the switch which you can see in the image of the “Rear of the Brake Switch” above.

A quick test drive and all was working fine. All in all a great result and best of all it only cost less than ÂŁ5 to fix it. There was however one slight drawback. I did the work outside so I could have the door open and roof down to get better access. The local mosquitoes/midges took a liking to my midriff and I now have a large number of very itchy bites. The suffering we have to go through to keep our beloved Jaguars on the road!

Goodwood 2017

Goodwood 2017

As a long term Le Mans 24 hour visitor I gave it a miss this year and decided to take my wife to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It was a great event which we both enjoyed. We attended both the Saturday and Sunday. There was beautiful weather and fabulous cars, what more could you possibly want. There were a a few highlights, Jaguar winning the hillclimb event in a XJR-12D in a nail biting finish. My second favourite was seeing a rather unusual looking 1911 Fiat. It was built around a really tall and narrow engine with just what looked liked vents coming out of the side for exhausts. Seeing flames pour out of the side as it made its way up the hill was a sight to behold. I also happened to be standing next to the Williams Renault of Nigel Mansell when they started it up and showed off the amazing active suspension system (see the video).

Williams Renault video

 

The weather was great, this was taken on the way to the hotel on the Saturday evening at around 6PM so still very pleasant temperature with the roof down in the XKR.

 

Goodwood radio
Goodwood radio

 

If you haven’t been I would recommend it at least once 🙂

I would suggest you also go for the Grandstand seat option. We had done for the second day. You can go in any one of the public Grandstands assuming you can find a space. (There are a few company ones that you cant go in) We sat in one along the straight in front of the house for a while. you get to see some of the cars doing doughnuts there and generally hooning about. For the close of the day we went further up the hill at Molecombe Corner and watched them enter the bend trying desperately to scrub of some speed.

Loved it!