I'm in the UK. I recently bought myself a UK spec 2004/54 Jaguar X-Type 3.0
Sport Premium Estate (5-speed manual) that has done 18,000 miles. I remain
to be convinced that this was a smart move.

I have concerns with the brakes.

The brake pedal is soft and spongy and has too much travel.

With the car stationary and the engine running - if the brake is firmly
applied, the pedal feels soft and has (IMO) excessive movement. If the pedal
is then quickly pumped, the pedal rises and becomes firm. However, if the
pressure on the pedal is maintained, the firmness soon decays (as if fluid
was slowly leaking past a seal) and the pedal sinks towards the floor.

The brake fluid is at <2% moisture content. There are no apparent brake
fluid leaks or loss of fluid from the reservoir.

I thought it could be a problem with the brake servo. However, I have been
told by a Jaguar Main Dealer that this is characteristic of the brakes on an
X-Type.

Does anyone have experience of this?

If this modus operandi is in fact correct, then it is a most unusual and
disconcerting design feature.
--
Mike
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"mlv" <mike.safetycatchvincent@jet.uk> wrote in message
news:efrg2t$bt9$1@north.jnrs.ja.net...
3.0
remain
pedal
been
an

I've driven many late model Jags and didn't note anything unusual with the
brakes. I surely would have noticed 'soft pedal' or the pedal sinking
towards the floor. I'd ask the Jag dealer to demonstrate on an equal car
that this is characteristic of the model.

What you describe sounds like a leaky master cylinder. Or just possibly
soft brake lines somewhere along the line. Will the pedal go all the way to
the floor if you continue pressure on the pedal? If so there is surely a
problem that needs correcting. As you know hydraulic fluid is not
'compressable' and maintaining pressure on the pedal should meet with
resistance all the time.

I hope the "Main" dealer isn't your only resource for work/advice on the
car.

Alan

wtrplnet wrote:
Ditto

wtrplnet wrote:

The brake pedal doesn't go all the way to the floor, but it gets much too
close for my liking.

The vehicle is booked into the Jaguar Main Dealer Thursday of this week for
investigation. I will be given a loan vehicle, which I hope will be another
X-Type so that I can make my own comparison.

Either way, I have asked for a report in writing. My vehicle is still under
Jaguar Warranty.

The dealer did say that they had another X-Type in with the same 'sinking
pedal' problem. They said that they replaced the whole master
cylinder/brake servo assembly and it made no difference.
--
Mike
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"mlv" <mike.safetycatchvincent@jet.uk> wrote in message
news:eft3vn$oe6$1@north.jnrs.ja.net...
way
a
for
another
under

Sounds as if you are in the 'over the barrel' thing with the dealer. You
have a warranty, they say it's normal. Curious that they performed the
repairs on another X-Type if they knew from the start that this was "normal"
for that model of car.

In my experience dealers discourage warranty work even though they will be
reimbursed by the warranty issuer. They often don't get the same rate for
this kind of work they would if they were billing you directly. And
warranty issuers aren't fond of dealers that cave in to customer demands too
easily. It all adds up to them ganging up against you to make this as
difficult for you as possible. Failing satisfaction from the dealer, you
can ask to speak to an area representative from Jag.

I've found enthusiast clubs are some of the best resources for finding out
exactly what's "right" in cases like this. If you have a Jaguar club in
your area I'd sure contact them. Not only will they know what's proper
performance for your car, they will know all the local service resources.

If it were me and after the Thursday appointment I was still unhappy with
the results I would contact an independant garage, one that specializes in
Jaguar. You may have to pay for the inspection, but they can document any
problems they find and you can go back to the dealer armed with this.

I'd guess that in the end if you make a big enough fuss you'll get your way.
Before doing that I'd make sure the dealer isn't right when they say it's
typical for your model car.

Good luck!
Alan

I have a standard, no sport package, 2003 U.S. X-Type 2.5. My car was
not new. It had about 2200 miles on it. I believe it was either a
leased car or a loaner from the service department when I bought it.
It now has around 35,500 miles on it. I would describe the brake
pedal as soft with quite a bit of travel as well. The pedal stops
nowhere near the floor. It has always been this way. The dealer tells
me it is normal as well. My dealer sells several different types of
cars so I have not recieved a X-Type as a loaner so far.

I recently had the brakes worked on and it is pretty much still this
way. The parking brake was not working when I took it in. They
replaced the rear pads and adjusted the parking brake. The pedal
feels like it might be a little bit firmer. But, that may be my
imagination since I just had it worked on. This is the first time I
have had it worked on for anything other then oil changes and the
standard service intervals.

It is quite a bit different then other cars I have had. My previous
car was a 1994 Volvo 850. Its brake pedal was always very solid with
not much travel. All of that said my car has always stopped very
well. I have engaged the anti-lock system several times as well. The
ABS in the Volvo made a fair amount of noise with minimal pedal
pulsing. The ABS in the X-Type makes a tremendous amount of noise and
a great deal of pedal pulsing. I assume the two cars have different
hardware for the ABS systems since they are ten years apart. I just
keep the pedal down and it stops nice and straight.

So now I just assume the pedal will travel and stomp it down. Hope
this helps. I would be curious to hear what your dealer says about it
on Thursday.


On Mon, 2 Oct 2006 17:51:41 +0100, "mlv"
<mike.safetycatchvincent@jet.uk> wrote:

David wrote:

My X-Type is an ex-Jaguar management car.


Well, that matches my experience almost exactly. The only difference for me
is that the pedal gets too near the floor for my liking.


I haven't managed to invoke the ABS yet. All my previous cars have had a
brake pedal that comes up solid. Soft has always indicated a brake system
problem in the past.


I'll report back.
--
Mike
-Please remove 'safetycatch' from e-mail address before firing off your
reply-

wtrplnet wrote:

I have got Jaguar Customer Service involved and their response has been very
positive so far. The dealer also gives a very good service, so they have
the benefit of the doubt for now.


Maybe they decided it was 'normal' only after they found they couldn't cure
it?


Good idea, I'll do that.


An independent inspection would be my next move.


Kicking up a fuss is my forte :-)

However, if they convince me that soft is correct (in writing), then I'll
live with it, although I still won't like it.
--
Mike
-Please remove 'safetycatch' from e-mail address before firing off your
reply-

>

Of course then you can still have the brakes you like, constrained only by
your budget. I'd have to guess, and this is only a guess, that the standard
brakes are up to the job as designed. In other words, purchasing an entire
after-market brake system is probably overkill for normal driving. But you
might be able to tweak the 'feel' of the system without bankrupting
yourself.

The first trick we always used was replacing any rubber hoses with stainless
steel braided units. That's probably the cheapest way to get results you
may actually feel at the pedal. And in all this discussion we haven't
talked about the most obvious thing, probably because you must have looked
into this first. Are you certain the system has been completely purged of
air? When I was racing I always did this task myself. Getting it right is
a very tedious process. It isn't something I'd just take someone's word as
being properly done, though I'd say the dealer would be sure about this
before possibly replacing hardware at warranty.

And what car are you used to before the Jag? Perhaps the brakes are simply
'over-boosted' compared to what you're used to. This seems to me to be
something across-the-brand for certain makes. For example, every Porsche
I've ever driven has had a rock-solid pedal feel. Every BMW I've driven has
had, to me, overly sensitive brakes. Every Cadillac spongy brakes, and so
on. Having said that, I never noticed anything unusual in the many Jags
I've driven.

Guess we'll know more after your visit to the dealer, good luck!
Alan

My last one (a 2.0D) did it as well. Very disconcerting, and I got the same
answer from the dealership - I solved it by swapping it for a 2.2D (mistake)
that still does it a bit, but not nearly as much (now at 20k miles).

David


"mlv" <mike.safetycatchvincent@jet.uk> wrote in message
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3.0
remain
pedal
been
an