Hello All,

New member here from the UK.

Picked up my first Crossfire a couple of days ago, in Aero Blue.
Car is very clean, so I'm hoping to keep it that way! Wouldn't mind getting the windows privacy tinted though....

Have wanted a Crossfire for years, so decided now is the perfect time!

This looks like one of the most comprehensive Crossfire Forums on the internet, so glad to be onboard!

 

Welcome enjoy

 

Welcome to the group!
Where did you get the car from? How long of a drive home? Where in the UK are you located?

 

Welcome from middle USA

 

Thanks for the welcome guys!

The Car was advertised only approx 10 miles from home. Private seller.
So no “road trip” (unfortunately) - that could have been fun. Just a short 15 min taxi ride away!

 

Welcome from the "Big Country".
Fixed your typos.

 

Congrats on your recent purchase of a crossfire. And welcome to our Forum.

 

...having reviewed your correction(s), I now agree wholeheartedly.

 

Many thanks! Very much enjoying the ride so far!
Will admit it's my daily ride, plus I am already feeling very paranoid about leaving it parked anywhere!

 

So experienced my first breakdown last night, after only 1 week of ownership! Not me, the car! ... although I wasn't far off !

The recovery guy spent 4 hours insisting on checking the usual suspects, battery, fuses, starter motor, onboard diagnostics.... with no luck! He put it down to an "alarm / immobiliser issue". Then he agreed to recover my Crossfire to my home address.

Symptoms were, ignition came on as normal, but fan running at full speed, plus no start / engine didn't crank.
First thing this morning, I carried out the RCM solder fix. Car then fired up as normal. Big relief.

There are a few other common known issues, such as the crankshaft position sensor failing. Might be worth replacing this part for new now, as preventative maintenance!

 

Sorry you had the problem, but glad it was such a quick fix. I am planning on a long trip in July, so have a new RCM assembly, new crankshaft and camshaft sensors, et and will be carrying them with me. I will have already done the 14 liter trans flush and filter change, and engine oil and filter change, and rear axle oil service. I can say, as a Jaguar owner, that these cars have far fewer issues than Jaguar XK-8s and they are better understood and more easily fixed than the ones on XK-8's as well.

 

Road trip in the Crossfire sounds fun! Plus taking a few essential spares sounds a decent idea - plus they are small components, so wont take up much space. Just don't forget the toolkit !
Good point, need to check the fluids on mine too, but it's been well serviced. Should check the service history, when the fluids were last changed.

Imagine the Crossfire is a little less expensive to maintain than a Jaguar ?

 

Crossfires are CONSIDERABLY less expensive to maintain.
I spent $2600 on my XK-8 in one week. That was how it made it's final trip. When I was coming home from the dealer after writing a check for that amount, I told the car "The next time you break, you are parked. I'm NOT putting any more money into you!"
A week later, messages returned and the car went into "limp home" mode, where you can drive it home at 15 mph. I was a mile from my house, turned around in a parking lot, drove it home, and parked it in the driveway. That's where it sits today. I'll go back to working on it one of these years. I have all the parts for a front suspension rebuild, and maybe will do that this next winter. XK-8s have a massive aluminum forging that carries the engine and the front suspension, and attaches everything to the monocoque body. When the suspension components wear, it is possible for them to damage this forging, and if it is damaged, the car is done. That was another reason I parked it. It needed a front suspension rebuild to keep the aluminum forging safe.
These problems are why you can find an XK-8 for $2500. When it was new, it was a $96,000 car. When they run, they are MAGNIFICENT. When they break, they are MEDUSA.
Checking your fluids and changing them all is a very wise idea.
Both the transmission and rear differential on the Jag XK-8 are "Sealed for life" just like our Crossfires. In fact, for the differential, there is NO filler plug, No drain plug, and no way to check the oil level. What you have to do is extract one of the bearing/seal assemblies from the differential case, empty it out, and then put in the correct amount of fluid. Totally stupid, and they have the same problem the Crossfires have, I am German, and I REFUSE to believe that the engineers who designed the transmission and differential on the XK-8 were actually German. My assumption is they subcontracted the engineering to a group of Frenchmen.
When ANYONE says "SEALED FOR LIFE" what they mean is the lifetime of a hamster, which is about 3 years.
It is also safe to assume that any mechanical engineer who would design such a thing, probably doesn't know what he is doing. I know a LOT of mechanical engineers, (I worked for the Learjet Corp for 42 years) and they never failed to laugh when I disclosed this little engineering quirk of the Jag to them. (These guys were what I always referred to as "Apollo Engineers" meaning they could work out a problem with a pencil and a piece of paper, just like the Apollo engineers that got us to the moon, did it with just paper, pencils, and slide-rules. They were incredibly good at their work).
If you cut your fluid change intervals by 75%, you will be much safer.