I’ve been away… having been unable to enjoy Jaguars for a while due to unavoidable issues, I bought a slightly dodgy old X350 4.2 at the weekend. I thought that the X350 was introduced in the UK in March 2003. My car was first registered in January 2003 (and furthermore has a '52 plate, bizarrely). Its VIN ends in G00819 - does anyone know what the first X350 VIN number was?
Being this old, it has numerous age-related problems, including several areas of corrosion, and the car told me in no uncertain terms what to expect by having the fuel tank fall out on my way home from purchasing it. Not during the extended and spirited country-lanes test drive, but after I’d paid for it and was driving home. It’s up on stands now while I wait for the new straps to arrive. I miss my old series III sometimes…
According to the workshop manual , the first VIN was G00442.
Corrosion of the fuel tank straps are a known issue. They are only
lightly painted so put some sort of underseal/thick paint on the new
ones before fitting 
HTH
Chris C
Justin Hill wrote:
Thanks Chris - I will do so. I’m curious to see what brand new ones look like because the originals don’t look like they were very sturdy in the first place.
G00442 eh? So if there were any teething problems with the X350, I’ve got 'em all…
The new straps are the same as the old. I bought a pair, just in case,
but after an inspection mine were OK.
Here’s a list of X350 problems I’ve compiled from trawling the
web/magazines:
- Air compressor loses efficiency - replace piston ring.
- Opaque headlight covers - polish.
- Water condensation inside headlamps - drill hole.
- Door locks failing - replace.
- Heater core clogging - try flushing otherwise replace.
- Wheel bearings worn - replace.
- Suspension drop links - replace.
- Lower suspension arm bushes worn - replace.
- Shock absorber bushes worn - replace.
- Gearbox surge - reprogram.
- Corrosion of earth studs.
- Corrosion of tank straps - replace.
- Rear sunblind jamming due to lack of use.
- Gas struts front and rear failing - replace.
- Bonnet-open switch unreliable.
Of course, some are just wear and tear.
So far, I’ve had 1, 3, 7, 13 & 15(car is MY 2005 and has done 180,000 km)
Chris C
Justin Hill wrote:
Great list! My 4.2 has done 204000 miles (!). The attraction of it to me was that the previous owner had already addressed several of the things on your list in recent times, including 1, 6, 9 and 14. I have 2, 12 and 13 that I’m aware of so far. And one more item you could add, which I can vouch for: power fold mirrors that don’t fold any more…
Two items I forget on my list are the paint blistering that you have
(usually around seams) and subframe corrosion.
I had paint blisters on the boot lid lip, which I had repainted and I am
about to treat the subframes with some rust proofing.
Chris C
Justin Hill wrote:
I still haven’t fixed this - I’ve been waiting for the straps. I ordered the RH one from SNG Barratt. They didn’t have the LH in stock but I found that on eBay. They are now both here and the worrying thing is that they are identical. I’m going to assume the RH must be correct because it came from SNG and was in a sealed bag and box with the part number on it. The LH one has a Jaguar sticker on it with the LH part number. Now it is possible the parts are (now) identical. Probably the only difference there ever was was the brackets for the electrical connectors on the RH one - I won’t know until I take the old ones off at the weekend. If this is true then I wish I’d known - RH ones seems to be more widely available from stock than LH ones so I could have just ordered two of them… although it would have saved money to buy two LH ones since they are cheaper…
I bought mine from David Manners and my LH and RH straps are different,
but both cost me the same in September 2016 (£15.10)
The RH strap (C2C6847) has the extra bracket welded on and the bend is
shorter at the end with this bracket.
Also, the bracket welded onto the end of the LH strap (C2C2028) is
shorter, where the spot welds are, than the RH strap.
HTH
Chris C
Justin Hill wrote:
That’s worrying. So it looks like the LH strap I bought from eBay is wrongly labelled, is actually an RH strap, and isn’t going to fit the car. I have already warned the seller I might have to return it.
David Manners were going to be my supplier for these; their website prices were £13.02 plus VAT each (and still are, as I write). But after I placed the order online they sat on it for four days and then sent me an email saying there had been an ‘error’ on the website. They wanted £42 plus VAT for the RH and £34 plus VAT for the LH (and £10.50 plus VAT shipping).
This nonsense lost me a week so I was so fed up with them I cancelled the order, even though these prices were still lower than SNG Barratt.
I really don’t want to risk losing another weekend so I just sprung for an LH from SNG Barratt and they’ll have it to me by the weekend. I’ll return the eBay one. It’s not really their fault; the bracket has a jaguar sticker on it saying it’s an LH strap. It’s just really frustrating that this whole business has wasted so much time.
Finally. The parts arrived, the tin of under-seal came out and I fitted the straps. You’re absolutely right Chris - the two straps are noticeably different.
I’m usually opposed on principle to bashing Jaguar’s engineering design but I have to say this setup is pretty nasty. I really don’t understand the use of this silly pin to attached the front end. It’s not very secure and I can’t see the need for it. It might as well have been bolted at both ends and would have been easier to change as a result.
The thing that really concerns me is that after fitting the straps, I lowered the jack which was supporting the tank, and it dropped - very slightly - but it dropped. I expected the straps to be holding it tight up against bodyshell. I wonder if there’s another piece - some sort of packer - that I don’t know about.
