Great job explaining this. Great camera work. Yes the differential fluid must be changed. The long chain polymers get broken down by the shearing action of the gears. It’s also not really a ‘sealed’ unit if there is an air vent at the top and the plug is ‘leaking’. I’m sure the fluid was ‘low’ too. Depending on conditions changing the fluid every 4 years is not a bad idea.
Thank you, Robert! I have not yet changed the fluid, still indecisive on which approach to choose, but am leaning towards making the hole in the trunk. Like you said, I'd likely want to change it again in 4-5 years and having the access through the trunk makes things much easier.
Hi Robert, I just completed the differential fluid change and was happy to see that once I removed the plug, a small amount of fluid came out the hole (with the car being perfectly level using a laser). It was a relief to know that the diff had not been driven with low fluid inside. If anything, I suspect it had been overfilled and this is why there was oil residue around the plug.
Thanks for going to the trouble of demonstrating all of this. For those of us who think it anathema to drill a big hole in our bodywork, the prospect of trying to gain access from underneath the vehicle, make it a real prospect. The location of that hole is paramount and I wouldn’t want to have to do the type of repair that John did
Paul, thank you for your feedback! This was a very hard video to film and I am glad that fellow owners are finding value in it. I just bought the diff fluid this past Monday and will be doing the service itself soon. Still have not decided which approach to take, but in either case I will film the process :)
Thank you kindly! I just use my cell phone, nothing fancy. I added an external mic recently to hopefully improve the sound, but the camera is just the regular built-in phone camera. Btw, I went ahead and I changed the differential fluid using one of the methods described in this video. Did not have to drill a hole! Not sure if you saw the diff fluid change video, it is available and I hope it's helpful if you are thinking of tackling this job. Cheers!
Moot point, not mute point. A common grammatical error. Why not remove the right side sway bar bushing and bracket? Just two bolts. I'll take a photo of my 2" drilled hole and email to you.
Gary, I emailed you about the hole through the boot, thank you! For the other methods I was trying to demonstrate them in a way which requires minimal additional disassembly. Indeed, removing the right side sway bar bushing and bracket would create more space for one of the described approaches. If I end up choosing that approach, I may as well take off the sway bar bushing, make life easier for myself :)
I'm literally in the process of planning this process on my 98 XK8 Convertible. Your video shows a great deal of detail and your experiments are really well thought out. My earlier car is a bit different to yours and getting access, even visibly, to the plug seems impossible. I have a hoist and even finding the plug is hard. I'm going to do the 2 inch hole with the grommet, I think. John Dee's video on To the Garage has given me enough confidence to do it. Even his solution to his positioning error makes it look better than Jaguar would have probably done if they had thought about it. Good video, keep them coming!
@@philcrowell7516 thank you for sharing and I am so glad to hear that my videos are helping out fellow owners! I'd say if your '98 vehicle has an electrical box which looks like John's and is located in the same position as in John's car, then go ahead with the 2" hole method.
@@philcrowell7516 See my comment above. I'll dig out the photos I sent to John many years ago. Unfortunately, he strayed from the location shown. Richard
@@philcrowell7516 Phil. I've emailed my photos to 2001JaguarXK8 but if you post up your email address here I'll send them to you as well. As soon as you get the photos you can edit your post and delete your email address. Richard
Great job explaining this. Great camera work. Yes the differential fluid must be changed. The long chain polymers get broken down by the shearing action of the gears. It’s also not really a ‘sealed’ unit if there is an air vent at the top and the plug is ‘leaking’. I’m sure the fluid was ‘low’ too. Depending on conditions changing the fluid every 4 years is not a bad idea.
Thank you, Robert! I have not yet changed the fluid, still indecisive on which approach to choose, but am leaning towards making the hole in the trunk. Like you said, I'd likely want to change it again in 4-5 years and having the access through the trunk makes things much easier.
@@RobertKessmar-nd9zw Good points
Hi Robert, I just completed the differential fluid change and was happy to see that once I removed the plug, a small amount of fluid came out the hole (with the car being perfectly level using a laser). It was a relief to know that the diff had not been driven with low fluid inside. If anything, I suspect it had been overfilled and this is why there was oil residue around the plug.
Thanks for going to the trouble of demonstrating all of this. For those of us who think it anathema to drill a big hole in our bodywork, the prospect of trying to gain access from underneath the vehicle, make it a real prospect. The location of that hole is paramount and I wouldn’t want to have to do the type of repair that John did
Paul, thank you for your feedback! This was a very hard video to film and I am glad that fellow owners are finding value in it. I just bought the diff fluid this past Monday and will be doing the service itself soon. Still have not decided which approach to take, but in either case I will film the process :)
Youre a legend at filming under cars. Are you using a phone camera or what??
Thank you kindly! I just use my cell phone, nothing fancy. I added an external mic recently to hopefully improve the sound, but the camera is just the regular built-in phone camera. Btw, I went ahead and I changed the differential fluid using one of the methods described in this video. Did not have to drill a hole! Not sure if you saw the diff fluid change video, it is available and I hope it's helpful if you are thinking of tackling this job. Cheers!
@ just binged all your videos and i dont even have the car yet 😂
still looking for the perfect one
You may like the new video I am working on ;)
Great video, thank you!
Thank you! I successfully performed the differential fluid change using the method described at 16:02 in this video. Worked like a charm :)
Moot point, not mute point. A common grammatical error. Why not remove the right side sway bar bushing and bracket? Just two bolts. I'll take a photo of my 2" drilled hole and email to you.
Gary, I emailed you about the hole through the boot, thank you! For the other methods I was trying to demonstrate them in a way which requires minimal additional disassembly. Indeed, removing the right side sway bar bushing and bracket would create more space for one of the described approaches. If I end up choosing that approach, I may as well take off the sway bar bushing, make life easier for myself :)
I'm literally in the process of planning this process on my 98 XK8 Convertible. Your video shows a great deal of detail and your experiments are really well thought out. My earlier car is a bit different to yours and getting access, even visibly, to the plug seems impossible. I have a hoist and even finding the plug is hard. I'm going to do the 2 inch hole with the grommet, I think. John Dee's video on To the Garage has given me enough confidence to do it. Even his solution to his positioning error makes it look better than Jaguar would have probably done if they had thought about it. Good video, keep them coming!
@@philcrowell7516 thank you for sharing and I am so glad to hear that my videos are helping out fellow owners! I'd say if your '98 vehicle has an electrical box which looks like John's and is located in the same position as in John's car, then go ahead with the 2" hole method.
@@philcrowell7516 See my comment above. I'll dig out the photos I sent to John many years ago. Unfortunately, he strayed from the location shown.
Richard
@@philcrowell7516 Phil. I've emailed my photos to 2001JaguarXK8 but if you post up your email address here I'll send them to you as well. As soon as you get the photos you can edit your post and delete your email address.
Richard