Hi all,
Having recently retired from the daily grind I decided to address a few items on my bucket list one of which was to finally own a Jag. As a kid growing up the Jaguar marque was always regarded as a prestige, high quality brand and head and shoulders above the cars which I saw around me on a daily basis, which were mostly Austin/Morris or Ford. Indeed my first car in 1973 was an Austin 1300.
Ok, so back to the bucket list. I spotted a 2004 X-Type 2.0 Classic for sale at what I considered to be a very good price and thought it was worth having a look at it. Having contacted the seller I arranged to call and see the car.
First impressions weren't great. There were some obvious issues with the bodywork namely some cracking in the paintwork on the bonnet and the nearside exterior door trim being partially detached from the door. However the rest of the bodywork seemed to be reasonably sound. The interior didn't look much better with the cream half-leather seats looking grubby and seat belt scuffing on the drivers seat leather. Sitting in the car I noticed that the drivers seat belt was difficult to lock into the tensioner but this appeared to be the only obvious fault. All of the electrics worked as they should.
As usual I took it out for a test drive but being in a busy urban area wasn't able to fully put it through it's paces. Nevertheless it appeared to drive reasonably well, no problems with the gears or steering, no worrying sounds from the engine bay and the engine seemed to be running well for a car with 138k on the clock.
Going back to the seller I had a look at the paperwork for the little Jag and all seemed fine. It had a current, (if short), MOT with no indication of any advisories. All things considered I didn't think that car was too bad but was still undecided and this is where I have to admit that I let my heart rule my head, I actually had a sense of pity for the obvious neglect this lovely little car had suffered. Most of the issues appeared to be cosmetic and I reckoned that a bit of TLC would address most of them. I did point out all of the issues to the seller, managed to get the price down by £200 and decided to buy it. I took the keys and paperwork and arranged to come back and collect it.
Driving it home it did drive well along the stretch of country road before hitting the motorway but on the way down the motorway the engine suddenly cut out with the glow plug warning flashing on the dash. Pulled over and re-started the engine and drove home with no further problem.
The following day I booked the car in for a service with my local mechanic who is excellent and began the work of tidying the car up. All of the minor issues were resolved reasonably quickly thanks to elbow grease, leather & upholstery cleaner and a few replacement parts courtesy of Ebay. However the intermittent random stalling issue persisted. On advice I took the car to a local, highly recommended, indie Jag specialist who ran a diagnostic and an injector leak back test. The test indicated that all of the injectors had problems and he recommended a local diesel specialist to fully test and refurbish them. As expected 3 of the injectors were leaking slightly and one, which was an aftermarket replacement, was absolutely gushing. The injectors were refurbished and the aftermarket one replaced. However this hasn't cured the stalling issue.
I did go back to my Jag specialist and a diagnostic showed a drop in fuel pressure fault. So the search for the cause of this issue continues. I feel that the best way to proceed is to work back through the fuel delivery system systematically. I know that the injectors are ok having had them re-tested, the seller had told me that the fuel filter had been replaced, (although I will have this re-checked), which would leave 3 components as far as I can see ie; the fuel pressure sensor, fuel pressure regulator and most worrying of all the fuel pump.
I would love to be able to enjoy driving this car but am finding that I'm driving with the constant anticipation of that random moment when the glow plug light comes on and this doesn't inspire confidence. Consequently any advice on resolving this issue would be greatly appreciated.
