Jags & Jags ...has anyone here ever owned or lived with a Jaguar XJ6 X300 (1994-1997)

Arhhh what a beautiful drive, really smooth and cosseting. Just wafting along listening to Eve Cassidy's Autumn Leaves on the Alpine Premium stereo (I've never heard the standard one so I have no idea how they compare) ...I felt like I had come home, I was back where I should be.

There were no problems, the brakes feel better now they have been used properly but they still feel rather past their best to me, I've heard the odd little chirp out of them too, when you're alone in the car and it's all quiet you start to pick these things up ...so I'll have a look at the brakes at some point. They are ok for now though. Otherwise, perfect :) ...no troubles at all so far. Smooth as silk really.

Driving the V6 is kind of odd for me now, I'm used to V8s ...of course it sounds different but I certainly notice the low end torque reduction ...but really there isn't a whole lot of difference between the 2 Jags I've had ...obviously comparing it to the 540i the Jag gets left dawdling in the dust ...it's not a slow car though, it's more willing to kick down than the V8 I had and when you do drop it down although it doesn't feel at all fast the speed is rising at perfectly fair old rate, on the move I'd say it's absolutely comparable to the ST220 ...it just 'feels' slower and it's much quieter. The engine has quite a sweet note actually, it does sound a bit like an ST220 that's had a load of extra sound proofing and a quieter exhaust fitted, but you can tell it's the same core engine ...it's got a nice slightly naughty rasp to it when you poke it a bit.
 
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Sounds good. Wouldnt mind testing a V6 model myself after reading that. I never drive fast, sounds like it would suit me actually.
 
I reset the trip and did some very mixed driving, including putting my foot down a bit to 'test' it ...worked the J gate manual mode a bit too, I still averaged over 28mpg :D ...the other trip on the car was reading 31mpg from the guys that bought it up here and the road-test the mechanic did etc. That's impressive to me, the 540i would have shown ...20-21 probably.

It's certainly worth a try Jez, however given your budget and such, I'd have the 4.2 NA V8. Although the 3.5 V8 isn't really much quicker than the V6 just more muscular really, the 4.2 is, and it's the one to have if you can afford it. However no doubt the V6 will save you some money, it's also group 15 insurance, the 540i was 19e ...the 3.5 V8 XJ was ...17 or 18 I think. I wasn't really bothered by this in the least, but it's nice all the same, and does save some money.
 
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Well indeed. I do not need a luxury car to set my pants on fire, it just needs to be effortless and smooth, ie, i do not want to "notice" the engine is even there. If the V6 facilitates this then it is the engine to have.
 
If the 3 litre 6 is enough you will get a later lower miles car as well for your money.

I think the 3 litre drives very well.
 
Damn and blast it, the problem is back ...I've been in and out of it several times today, turned it on and off and driven it about 30 miles total ...it was fine and then I get back in and switch it on and the battery light comes back on.

Checked the battery with a gadget my Grandad has from his auto-electrician days, with the engine off and on and with some revs ...certainly not charging.

Anyway I got back on to the mechanic at the dealers and he said he'll fit a new alternator ...they are coming to pick it up tomorrow morning and they have promised me they will turn it around as fast as they can. Something tells me I wont have it back and 100% on Saturday though, call it cynicism if you will ...I prefer to call it experience.

I had a look at the alternator, battery and leads and such myself though today with my Grandad there. Now he tells me that the starter motor has a live feed directly from the battery in all the cars he has worked on in the past (talking 1990s here) and the feed for the alternator can either come directly from the battery or be taken off the start motor ...well there are 2 cables coming off my battery, so it would seem that the alternator draws it's feed off the starter motor ...which you really can't see from above.

Anyway looking at the alternator from above I can see the cable with the pins that snaps into the back of it ...the one the mechanic was talking about I assume from what he said. Well it's a relatively thin yellow cable with a green tracer ...and my Grandad said that is for the battery light on the dash and would normally be connected to one of the brushes in the alternator. However, he said that if there was a problem with this cable or connection then the light wouldn't work properly ..or if the connection was broken it wouldn't work at all.

Yet the light is functioning perfectly and is indicating that the battery isn't being charged by the alternator ...this was confirmed by the mechanic's test equipment yesterday and by the gadget my Grandad used, which had 3 lights on ...and if it was being charged apparently the normal state light should have moved to the charging state ...as the voltage measured would go up slightly ...but it didn't it remained solid.

Anyway my point is this cable the Mechanic was talking about is just for the light, the actual main feed to the alternator from the battery via I assume, the starter motor ...is a thick heavy duty cable with a sort of ring connection that's actually bolted via what looks like a 10mm bolt to the alternator ...this doesn't look like it would have any pins or anything like that it's the wrong type of connector.

So my guess is one of 3 things, the alternator is faulty, the connection on the alternator end of the main feed is faulty ...or the connection between the starter motor and the alternator is faulty on the starter end ...which you can't see from above.

The connections at the battery end all seem solid as a rock and obviously haven't failed to supply the power to the starter at all so far as I am aware.

Now based on what my Grandad has said, it looks to me like the mechanic has been barking up the wrong tree with the connections ...but how could he? ...surely not, he said he was an auto-electrician by trade ...not that, that necessarily means much I suppose.

We will see, only I'm a bit concerned now because of the meet on Saturday and I've been looking forward to it for ages ...and I do not want to be driving a courtesy car down there. Maybe I should keep my nose out of the finer details ...but me being me that isn't likely :p ...I don't want to nag the guy or suggest he hasn't been looking in the right places based on what he told me ...but I am wondering after talking to my ...admittedly very out of date Grandad (he retired in about 1995) and looking myself.

At least it's an easy fix really, (theoretically) ...all it can be is the battery, alternator or one of the connections and I'm pretty sure it's under the bonnet not on the battery end. I'm just concerned about Saturday really, I'm not worried about the car, I know it's not a major issue and it's not costing me anything other than inconveniance ...it's just bad timing. Still it's not an issue that can be ignored either, not at all.

Bleedin 'ell ...I dunno!
 
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I thought you bought this car to avoid problems and yet it is already being batted back and forth from the garage!? :confused:



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Nah, I'm just playing with you ;).

Good luck getting it all fixed. Does this mean that the Meet will be Jaguar-less for sure then? :(
 
I had bad news today too, my XK8 got delivered after the repair, fantastic job.

Except the new dent that has appeared on the leading edge of the bonnet, so back its gone, he aint charging me because it wasnt there before.

The odd thing is this, the dent is actually happened from inside out, so there are pointy dents poking up if you get what i mean.

Anyway that part of the bonnet is double skinned and no sign of damage on the inner side, very odd.

Back on topic, dont be worrying, they will just keep replacing things till its sorted, better on their dollar than yours.
 
Oh yea I'm not worried about the car, it'll be better iff having all these bits replaced anyway ...I just 'reeeeeealy' want it for Saturday.
 
Moeks said:
Oh yea I'm not worried about the car, it'll be better iff having all these bits replaced anyway ...I just 'reeeeeealy' want it for Saturday.
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I cant see any reason why not really, it cant take that long to swap an alternator surely.
 
Unfortunate luck, especially after the lemon e39.... :(

On the plus side, you have a car that you really like and backup from (hopefully) a decent dealer.

I sincerely hope its a happy ending this time Moeks.
 
The alternator will just link to the starter the. The main feed from that goes back to the battery positive. Same way do them today, the fat cable is to deal with the starter cranking current.

The main cable is simply the charging route back to the battery and to sustain electrical loads, nothing goes to the alternator as such. The sensing line which lights the dash light works on the basis that if the alternator output is lower voltage than the battery then it comes on.

With the light coming on it could be a range of things including dry earths, the light sometimes also is integral that a functioning system would stop charging if you took the dashbulb out, it's not just an indication light.
 
DiamondMark said:
I cant see any reason why not really, it cant take that long to swap an alternator surely.
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You would think so yea. At least it's all easy to get at on on the Jag, there's plenty of room to work ...the mechanic was telling me that some of the smaller French cars have to be virtually disassembled at the front to change simple things like starter motors and alternators.

Provided he gets the parts and really checks everything, I should think it'll be done in time. If he misses a dodgy connection though ...it'll happen again on the new alternator probably ...most likely while I'm a hundred and thirty miles from home in Hampshire.

PMKeates said:
Moeks you officially have the worst car luck in the world.

Ever.

Worst EVER.
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Hmm well I think until I bought the 540i I was extremely lucky really, the only issues I had at all with 6 cars up to that point was a faulty door lock on the ST220, a poorly adjusted wiper linkage on the Seat and I had a clutch cable snap on my Fiesta ...that was 8 years old at the time though. I've had a couple of flat tyres over the years too but I can't really count those.
 
Well it's gone again and I have the C2 back :D (I think the C2 has a nicer gearbox than the BMW 116i ...which was the last manual car I drove prior to this) ...hopefully with some more petrol in it now. I hope I get the Jag back today I really do.
 
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