Just got back from a national chain that does basic maintenance, batteries, tires, etc. after asking them to do a few maintenance things on Superblue. I was NOT happy they claimed they were not able to do two of the most important maintenance things I needed done, and only AFTER I inquired upon being handed back the keys 2 1/2 hours later, waiting the whole time.
The first assigned task was to remove the check port bolt on the backside of the rear differential gearbox to check the level of gear lube in it (and do a drain + refill, if indicated). They claimed that the bolt was bigger than any bit they had in the shop to do the job, and recommend I take her to a transmission specialty shop down the road to do it, as they likely would have a bit that size.
The second task was to check the u-joints to see if any needed lubing and if so, lube them. They claimed again they didnāt have the proper tool for the job.
Can someone tell me what the exact size is of the check port bolt/plug? As to the u-joints, donāt they have just standard Zerk fittings that work with a regular grease gun? I have a hunch the tech was just lazy (or the shop was too crowded as closing hour approached) and just didnāt want to do the tasks. At least they didnāt charge me for the tire rotation and removal of those stupid Kleen Wheels shields.
My guess, those two things are outside their scope of basic service, like tires and brakes.
The differential, especially a Jaguar, I wouldnāt trust them anyways! They could totally mess yours up, a refill requires special limited slip additives.
The driveshaft, hardly any new cars have Zerk fittings, perhaps they donāt have a grease gun?!? I myself had to buy one recently for my XJS, havenāt owned one since 1992.
Well now with the Kleen wheels removed youāll have the pleasure of trying to keep the brake dust off your wheels! I found a tooth brush and or baby bottle brush works well.
Hi Paul,
Having a customer ask that the U joints be checked, āto see if any needed lubingā would be a highly unusual request for wherever you took your car.Lubrication of the joints is usually done simply on a mileage basis laid out in your maintenance manual. To do the ācheckā you requested would mean dismantling every joint to look inside the caps. No shop would do that!
Yes, a normal grease gun would have done the job.
Many U joints, nowadays, donāt even have zerk fittings, and are loaded with grease on original assembly. Sealed for life. (Whatever that means!)
The level/fill plug on the rear axle needs a square shaped tool to loosen and remove. As Steve says, a half inch ratchet would do it. Little awkward to get to, but doable.
Not quite sure what the shop meant by āa bit.ā
Hi Paul-
You lost me at ānational chain.ā I know of none that I would trust with an XJS. Stating the obvious, the cars are unusual, complex and a bit rare. I am sure youāve tried, but I would recommend you find a local independent shop who has a bit of an interest in your car and with whom you can develop a relationship. The national chains are typically āturn and burnā and balk at anything out of their sweet spot.
Re: Diff plug. Itās a PITA to get to but any decent mechanic can handle it. On my car I drilled a hole in the front of the boot, under the carpet, to provide access, but thatās not strictly necessary.
Re: U-joints. Regardless of how you phrased your request, any decent mechanic would check them for slop, lube (if zerks present) with a standard or needle-tip grease gun, and advise you as to what was found.
There has to be a āhidden gemā shop in your area. Check all the usual sources: This forum, local Jag club, Angieās List, Yelp, etc. Go see them when you DONāT need something done and see if they will chat for 10 minutes and see how they react to your car. My .02.
totally agree about those discount national chains. I ONLY trust them to do tires. And even then, I always re-torque my lugnuts when I get home. They sometimes use an air gun for speed, which over-torques, which warps rotors. I always tell them now, 81 ftLbs. I still check when I get home.
I had one change my ATF (not on my XJS), they drained but forgot to refill!
They seem to be OK with brakes, but I like to choose my own pads/rotors, not some cheap version, so do mine myself.
Like Bob said, you should find an independent mechanic specializing in European cars to do special work. yes, rear differential is special. The extra cost will be worth it when you donāt have to hire a lawyer to sue the national chain for ruining your car.
Best product I have seen, at least in YouTube videos, is that stuff made by Grioitās Garage. I think someone else on here posted a link to it in another thread. When you spray it on the wheels it changes color to purple to show that it is reacting to (and removing) brake dust. No scrubbing or bushing needed. Even one of the very young techs at that shop I took Superblue to seemed interested in checking it out for his own ride. He was also interested in Kleen Wheels for his car, as he had never heard of them until he saw the ones taken off my XJS. Btw, when I sprayed the wheels last night at the car wash with some stuff I had used on my other Jags (Eagle 1 foaming aluminum wheel cleaner), I was surprised at how well they cleaned up, looking almost like new. I never knew I had a brake dust accumulation on them until then, so apparently KW wasnāt doing much of a job anyway. I had also sprayed some of the Eagle 1, along with Simple Green, through the wheels to clean up the brake rotors as best I could. Surprised at how quiet and well they perform now, so Iām wondering if part of the issue with them was brake dust built up on the rotors and/or pads. W/o the KW, Iām sure the brakes are also running much cooler, esp. in our stifling summer heat. The lattice wheels, IMHO, were designed not only to be aesthetically pleasing but so that the multiple holes in the latticework assist the passage of air through the wheels to the brakes.
Wow. Well, when I take her back there later this week for the state safety inspection Iām going to let their service manager know I know that (now), and see what he has to say. He may end up firing a tech there ā¦ Thanks, Steve ā¦
Iām a bit confused, then, as I thought the āmaintenance sheetā for the XJS (in the Jag workshop literature) shows that the fittings are to be greased every 15K miles, or some such interval. It even has a picture with a list showing 10 such grease fittings on the rear suspension (I didnāt see anything similar for the front). Four of those are u-joint lube points, another four are for the āinner wheel bearingsā on either side and two for the āouter wheel bearingsā on either side (I might have the latter two bearings mixed up, though). It advises using a grease gun loaded with āhigh temp. lithium greaseā and to apply the gun to the points until clean (i.e. fresh) grease appears. To access some of the points, a rubber cover must be popped off first. Thinking that this servicing might never have been done by the PO might explain why my driverās side front wheel bearing just came apart on me a few months ago on my way home one night.
Very good ideas, there, Bob. And yes, it is frustrating being in the Dallas metro area (over 2M population?) and yet it seems nobody wants to work on our āolderā Jags anymore. This includes the Jag dealership! I thought I had found the āhidden gemā you mentioned some time back, when someone - perhaps some members of the local club - steered me to a one-man shop in Dallas that only works on Jags and had for many years. It is owned and run by a Scotsman, eben. Back then I was having some issue with Supercat, my '95 XJS coupe, and was totally stunned when I called him about me bringing her in for him to give it a look over - āIām sorry, I donāt work on those older Jags anymoreā ā¦ It seems like weāre up against three hurdles whenever it comes time to have someone work on our XJSes: (1) itās a Jaguar (2) itās an āolderā car (i.e. 20+ y.o.) and (3) itās an XJS (vs. the more commonly produced and easier to work on sedans/saloons). I have lamented many times how I wish I could just flatbed it out to Bobās (Motorcarman) place and let him work on her when needed, but heās like 50 or 60 miles west of me on the other side of the Metroplex.
Sometimes I wonder if I should just have bought a pickup truck instead ā¦ and that though still crosses my mind, from time to time ā¦
Wow. Now you have me wondering about the wheel rotation they DID do. I told them to please be sure not to tighten the lugs more than 75 ft lbs. (to avoid warped rotors, as you mention + so I can get the wheels off if I have a flat on the road), so I guess I better check them.
Kirbert
(Author of the Book, former owner of an '83 XJ-S H.E.)
13
Might not have been brake dust. Might have just been dust.
Kirbert
(Author of the Book, former owner of an '83 XJ-S H.E.)
14
KleenWheels donāt affect brake cooling at all.
Kirbert
(Author of the Book, former owner of an '83 XJ-S H.E.)
15
IOW, when the seals are blown. Seriously, Iām sitting here thinking about where that would be good practice. U-joints? Nope, youāve just blown the seals. Ball joints? Nope, youāve just blown the gaitors. Steering rack? Nope, youāve just pumped about a pound of grease in there and blown the gaitor. Rear outer fulcrum? Maybe, but itāll take another pound of grease to fill it. Rear inner fulcrum? Yeah, that might make sense.
Better safe than sorry. The thing I donāt like about those places, itās all about speed/volume. So you may have told the manager 75 ftlbs, and it may be on the work order, but the final guy who puts the wheels on may be rushing to finish and either forgot, doesnāt look at work order, or the manager is too busy to communicate the ftLbs request.
Iāve roughly requested 80ftLbs five times, and I think one of those five they were over torqued.
Hmmmm. At least thatās what KW tells us, Kirby (of course). Well, the service manager - first thing he said when I told him I wanted the KW removed was that āthey can cause brakes to overheatā. But then maybe he didnāt know his stuff (?) ā¦
The nice thing about this store (as opposed to the one in the chain that I normally use) is that it has a big viewing window of the shop area right there in the waiting room. Possibly I nodded off briefly a few times during the 2 1/2 hours I was there, but I could swear that, once the tech had my car in the air on the ramp, he didnāt touch the wheels. All I saw him do was walk around the car several times at different times, and at one point go under it and look, like he was checking out the rear differential box. I guess itās possible he did the wheel rotation before he lifted the car, e.g. using a trolley jack, but that would seem to be a weird way to approach the task. Wouldnāt it have been easier to do it while it was in the air on the lift? In any event, he got the KWs off and the one I looked at was intact, so that means he must have removed the wheels.
Kirbert
(Author of the Book, former owner of an '83 XJ-S H.E.)
19
Doesnāt require taking anyoneās word for it, just think about it. Vented rotors are cooled by air entering at the ID on the inboard side and exiting out the rim. KleenWheels donāt obstruct that air path at all.
Oh, didnāt know they were ventilated. Have never seen what Jag rotors look like before. Sounds like Jag for once did something right and not āuniqueā ā¦
Even one of the very young techs at that shop I took Superblue to seemed interested in checking it out for his own ride. He was also interested in Kleen Wheels for his car, as he had never heard of them until he saw the ones taken off my XJS. Btw, when I sprayed the wheels last night at the car wash with some stuff I had used on my other Jags (Eagle 1 foaming aluminum wheel cleaner), I was surprised at how well they cleaned up, looking almost like new. I never knew I had a brake dust accumulation on them until then, so apparently KW wasnāt doing much of a job anyway. 
I had also sprayed some of the Eagle 1, along with Simple Green, through the wheels to clean up the brake rotors as best I could. Surprised at how quiet and well they perform now, so Iām wondering if part of the issue with them was brake dust built up on the rotors and/or pads. W/o the KW, Iām sure the brakes are also running much cooler, esp. in our stifling summer heat. The lattice wheels, IMHO, were designed not only to be aesthetically pleasing but so that the multiple holes in the latticework assist the passage of air through the wheels to the brakes. 
Thanks, Steve ā¦ 
Thinking that this servicing might never have been done by the PO might explain why my driverās side front wheel bearing just came apart on me a few months ago on my way home one night. 
I thought I had found the āhidden gemā you mentioned some time back, when someone - perhaps some members of the local club - steered me to a one-man shop in Dallas that only works on Jags and had for many years. It is owned and run by a Scotsman, eben. Back then I was having some issue with Supercat, my '95 XJS coupe, and was totally stunned when I called him about me bringing her in for him to give it a look over - āIām sorry, I donāt work on those older Jags anymoreā ā¦ 
I have lamented many times how I wish I could just flatbed it out to Bobās (Motorcarman) place and let him work on her when needed, but heās like 50 or 60 miles west of me on the other side of the Metroplex.
