XJR makeover.

[J44EAG]

I make a point of always asking my insurers before doing performance mods.

As regards a bit of paint and a dollop of fibreglass as fitted my early 350 type and then to a later car as standard with an identical insurance group, I don`t think my grill mod would make any difference at all. I was pleasantly suprised that my supercharger mod only increased my premium by £52 and that mod really does change the likelihood of an accident if in the hands of a young or inexperienced driver.

I consider ideally insurance should really be based on an individual drivers claims and accident history rather than on the type of car which is driven. Most modern cars are capable of reaching 100mph and that being the case, I don`t understand how insurers can differentiate between the potential for a small cheap wizzer of a car or a luxobarge like a 350. OK, the cost of repair for a large well speced car is likely to be greater. I can understand that. As regards acceleration potential and its bearing on whether a car is more likely to be accident prone as a result, I find hard to quantify in everyday conditions. If a driver misuses a powerful machine, then it is the fault of the driver, not the car itself.

Insurance groupings and they methods used to determine risk grade have always been strange. They also vary between insurance companies. Would you believe that my fairly well twerked S-type at one time became more expensive to insure than the somewhat faster STR version. I had to do some insurance shopping to get that annual premium down to a sensible level. Having changed from the Paramount S-type V8 to this 350R, I also changed insurance companies. There was only one insurance group different between these two cars, kept and operated in the same perameters. I expected the R to be more expensive to insure than the old warhorse S-type. Not a bit of it. Exactly the opposite. A £200 saving achieved by changing from the S-type to the X350R and changing insurance company.

A friend changed from a nice 54 plate Skoda to a 2.2D X-type. His premium fell by £110 annually. The explanation given was that a Skoda had a high accident classification due to many being used by private hire taxi operators. Quite why that should influence premiums in the normal domestic insurance market place is certainly curious and again highlights the diversity of actuarial thinking and application.

I`ve worked for an insurance company selling amongst other products, car insurance. Even when I was within the industry, operating methods often caused me considerable head scratching and would lead me thinking that there appeared to be little rhyme or reason to many quotations.

Good points though, Barry.

Mike

[J44EAG]

The badge finally arrived and has now been fitted. 4mm deeper than I envisaged, the badge was fixed using the supplied double sided sticky tape. This left an unsightly depression between the radiator plinth and the back of the badge.

The answer was to once again remove the grill and rework the plinth and badge together. A bit more epoxy, cotton fibre and easy sand filler mix, soon had the mismatch sorted. A quick repaint, flat and polish had it done. Yes, the badge is a tad longer than a true 358 grill. Someone asked me why I didn`t buy a genuine part rather than make my own fake. The answer is that a new genuine X358 grill is around £300. My fake cost around three quid plus a few hours effort.

Thats what my car got for Xmas.

Mike

[barrywi]

Did you get wet clothes and frozen fingers for Christmas?
Well done Mike you should be an artist!
I got a tickly throat and a muggy head plus a Christmas day visit to one of our kids for Xmas. I hope to survive the noise and madness from the grand kids and they will get loads more presents than me .However its my own fault for buying my own presents earlier in the year, a good way to get xmas present satisfaction though.
Have a great Xmas Mike , thanks for your efforts, a brilliant boost to the X350 posts.

[jeff1954]

All good interesting stuff Mike and she's looking great. But apart from driving her back from Rochdale, have you drove her much.

Jeff

[J44EAG]

A couple of thousand miles now covered. Its been a learning curve getting used to the extra size and the new technology. Feel as if a corner has now been turned as the wonky front suspension sorted and various other minor issues attended to.

This afternoon I hurtled from Caterham on the M25 to Dover to collect the better tempered of my two daughters. Back to Caterham but on the way near Ashford, the trouble started. Full blown, into the red, apparent major overheat condition. "Oh yes" I thought. "I bet the sender has gone. Good job I have a new one in the ash tray"! A quick look under the bonnet with coolant temperature fine, but the MIL lamp still on. So off we went again with a repeat every twenty minutes. Finally back at my parents place where I showed my daughter how to extinguish the MIL lamp with my iCarsoft 930i. She said that was the best Christmas present ever. I must be back in favor.

Some of you will remember my S-type performing a similar stunt at Weston Park some years ago at a similar mileage of around 80k. So subject to confirmation tomorrow, this X350 has copied its older sisters antics to a tee.

I was going to install the new sensor in the X350 earlier this year but I was persuaded to leave the old one in place until it failed. From now on, every time I buy a V8 Jag, it will have its coolant temperature sensor changed immediately I get the car home. £13 for an after-market part with a one year warranty or £28 from a Jaguar Main Dealer. Fortunately, I now hold one of these units in stock.

Mike

[J44EAG]

Here it is by the Christmas Tree. I`ll bet I have the only XJR in the JEC to have been given a cylinder head temperature sender from its owners extensive mobile stock. This is why I like a car with a big boot. Can`t have enough spares to hand. Call me Santa!



Mike

[J44EAG]

Swapped the part out and installed the aftermarket sensor. Worked for a bit then gauge went full red deflection. Cussed a bit as my diagnostic unit didn`t give me much more of a clue.

Just ordered an AJ8 10031 which is the correct sender for the job. I`ll wait for it to arrive but in the meantime have once again to enjoy a car with the temperature gauge in the red! Nothing new with these cars.

Mike

[Brakebuster]

i get the feeling you wouldn't enjoy driving it as much if you couldn't work on it every weekend



loving the saga ( journey )


BB

[barrywi]

Do I remember someone somewhere saying that petrol X 350s were more reliable than the diesels?

[Brakebuster]

reliability comes with frequent maintenance ,

not matter the fuel , lol

once a car has left the showroom nothing is ever the same again between each and every one of them,

BB

[barrywi]

There is a lot to be said for keeping a car in your house just after it leaves the showroom. I think driving is over rated especially in todays traffic. Dont tell my wife I just wrote that

[J44EAG]

It matters not whether it is petrol or diesel. Parts fail when any car is used...and sometimes when not.

This electrical sender issue is no newcomer to us. 80k on the last one, then replaced. The same on this one. The sender is probably the same unit on a diesel.

Interestingly, I left the car for an hour after my last post and then ran two DTC clearances one immediately after the other. The car now appears back to normal again with temperature mid gauge, MIL light off and restricted performance message now clear.

The next couple of days will see whether this glitch has cleared.

Mike

[J44EAG]

I`ll write a separate thread about this issue shortly, but another quick update.

I lost a little coolant this morning when I changed the coolant sensor for a new one. Tonight the MIL light came on again with restricted performance. Noting a slight drop in coolant level in the header tank as a result of fitting the new sensor, I topped the tank up an inch or so with antifreeze, ran the car until the stat opened and squeezed a couple of hoses to eject any trapped air. The coolant level dropped a tad, so I then replaced the header tank cap and cleared the DTC codes with my iCarsoft unit.

After a five mile run just now, all would appear to be well again. Crossed fingers. The run back to Portsmouth in a couple of days should soon tell me where I stand.

Amazing how just one sender can cause such minor mayhem. Glad I`ve seen the issue before which gave me a head start with the repair. Best advice would be for anyone running a V8 of any age or derivative, is to get hold of a spare temperature sensor and fit if like my two examples of this fault, at 80k miles. Both of mine failed around that mileage. 19mm spanner to remove and fit the sensor to the manifold.

Mike

[J44EAG]

So after a month of glitch issues which are now fully sorted, it came to the first MOT in my hands this morning.

Bright and early at Halfords in Gosport, the car went up on the ramp. Two items require attention. The electronic handbrake needs a full set of pads to be fitted which I have in stock and curiously the front off side small bore stainless mesh sheathed flexi brake pipe to the caliper is leaking.Not cheap that brake pipe from XJK at around £60 but necessary.

I`ve ten working days to get these repairs done and then back down to Halfords again for the retest. Could have been a lot worse.

Hopefully some good weather over the next few days, then I can get this done.

Mike

[Charlie1080]

Hi, I'm new to the forum, this is a great thread, although I notice it's a little old, if you still have J44EAG, how did the painted chrome stand the test of time?
Cheers
Charlie