I dropped the Jag off this morning at Restalrig Cars in Edinburgh (formerly known as Edinburgh Retro Cars) fully expecting it to fail the MOT test. By the end of today I wasn't surprised at the result - it failed - but I am smiling at the fact all she failed on was one worn out tyre, a knackered lower balljoint and a handful of blown bulbs. The bulbs and a fuse were swapped out in-house today and two tyres plus a balljoint are on order so that they can be fitted in a couple of days time, then H9 WAP can have a retest. All being well she'll pass at the 2nd time of asking.
Although not an advisory, John at the garage pointed out that the offside front coil spring has broke, losing just half a coil. The bit that fell off seems to already have had a broken end, so replacement will be needed. Pig of a job apparently though.
The clunk from the offside suspension is still there which likely to be caused by that duff spring. I will have the car up on a ramp tomorrow anyway so will take a closer look at it all myself.
Something else to review is the bulb situation. The tailights sorted themselves out the other day but one stopped working again tonight - the opposite side from before. The bulb though seems to be OK. I'll test it tomorrow and give all the contacts for the wiring a bit of a clean just to make sure all is well.
The main job for tomorrow though is draining and flushing the coolant. I've got replacement stuff plus de-ionised water ready to go. Haven't ordered a thermostat, but will test what's there first just to check it is indeed faulty and the cause of the overheating.
Oh, and another thing... After the good news about what's needed for the MOT I got home to find a letter from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs in relation to my tax. It appears that they have over taxed me so I am due a refund of £530. Which pays for the Jag basically. :-)
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Tuesday 28 February 2012
Day Two.
Lots of in town driving today with the heater wound right up to help with the cooling. The big cat didn't miss a beat! Felt fantastic wafting about Edinburgh with the window down, elbow out and the Jag purring away.
In a couple of days time I hope to be able to drain and flush the cooling system, replace the thermostat and probably the water pump & belts while I'm at it. Doing those tasks should help the Jag keep her cool.
The suspension clunk is still there though and also pops up as the nose lifts under acceleration. Subframe mount maybe? As for the pulling to the left, that was sorted by blowing up the tyres. 34psi all round. I'll keep an eye on the nearside front though seeing as it was down to about 10psi.
Having scored a small handling victory I set about the lights. Dipped beam on the offside is AWOL. A brand new replacement bulb didn't cure this so it needs further investigation. One of the brakelights is blown and needs replacing but, bizarrely, a suspected blown bulb on the inner nearside tail light has fixed itself... Thankfully all the other electrics seem to be fine though I haven't tried Sport mode on the gearbox, played with the cruise control, the traction control or opened the sunroof - I don't know how to work them!
Another intermittent development is the jolt experienced as the gearbox takes up drive and reverse. I don't know if they are meant to do that - having never driven an auto until yesterday - but an transmission fluid and filter change won't do it any harm I suppose.
I'll round up day 2 by looking forward to MOT time tomorrow, but I'll be waiting with baited breath to hear what the verdict is. I am expecting a fail, just how much of a fail remains to be seen. The worst case scenario is that work will be needed that I can't do myself. If that's the case then I may have to swallow a bill. Par for the course really when you buy any cheap motor with a short ticket.
The ultimate goal for H9 WAP though is a return to A1 condition. It may just take a wee while!
In a couple of days time I hope to be able to drain and flush the cooling system, replace the thermostat and probably the water pump & belts while I'm at it. Doing those tasks should help the Jag keep her cool.
The suspension clunk is still there though and also pops up as the nose lifts under acceleration. Subframe mount maybe? As for the pulling to the left, that was sorted by blowing up the tyres. 34psi all round. I'll keep an eye on the nearside front though seeing as it was down to about 10psi.
Having scored a small handling victory I set about the lights. Dipped beam on the offside is AWOL. A brand new replacement bulb didn't cure this so it needs further investigation. One of the brakelights is blown and needs replacing but, bizarrely, a suspected blown bulb on the inner nearside tail light has fixed itself... Thankfully all the other electrics seem to be fine though I haven't tried Sport mode on the gearbox, played with the cruise control, the traction control or opened the sunroof - I don't know how to work them!
Another intermittent development is the jolt experienced as the gearbox takes up drive and reverse. I don't know if they are meant to do that - having never driven an auto until yesterday - but an transmission fluid and filter change won't do it any harm I suppose.
I'll round up day 2 by looking forward to MOT time tomorrow, but I'll be waiting with baited breath to hear what the verdict is. I am expecting a fail, just how much of a fail remains to be seen. The worst case scenario is that work will be needed that I can't do myself. If that's the case then I may have to swallow a bill. Par for the course really when you buy any cheap motor with a short ticket.
The ultimate goal for H9 WAP though is a return to A1 condition. It may just take a wee while!
Monday 27 February 2012
A Jaguar's Tale...
Well, it's the 27th Feb 2012 and I have just ticked off a long held ambition by purchasing an X300 series Jaguar. Specifically an XJ6 4.0 Sovereign, registered 'H9 WAP'. My Jag (still feels a bit surreal saying that!) is a wee bit poorly and needs some work doing. This is reflected in her cost which was only £600. That's not a lot of money for a whole lot of car though.
So lets have a look at the good bits then...
The bodywork, brightwork, interior, tyres, gearbox and bulk of the electrics appear to be completely fine. There is no visible rust. Yes, there are a couple of scratches and scars but it's a 118,000 mile car dating from 1997 so those are to be expected. After a thorough wash, a full valet and a bit of buffing she will look fabulous.
What may require attention in the very near future is pretty much all mechanical.
On the drive home I noticed a clunk from the offside front suspension at low speeds and when steering, plus a tendency for the car to pull to the left. The suspension itself feels a touch wobbly - I thought it would be tighter. In the engine bay there appears to be an oil leak to the front of the AJ16- one significant enough to have made it onto the MOT advisory list from 2011. The brakes have a slight judder to them but this isn't a surprise seeing as they take a hammering because the Jag's a heavy automatic, and there are a couple of bulbs blown
So far, so good. However, I noticed hot starting was a bit of a struggle and there is a significant overheating issue which didn't manifest itself until the big Jag was caught in stationary traffic coming through Edinburgh. The temperature shot up and coolant/water/whatever began bubbling out of the expansion tank. Lots of it. Once she'd cooled down the old girl swallowed about 6 litres of water. The cooling system capacity is 10 litres at a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. What has me worried though is that I've no idea where the water went as there didn't appear to be any visible leaks. There wasn't any mayonnaise in the oil so I'm a bit stumped.
I will have the car MOT'd over the next couple of days and then give her a really good service, replacing all the fluids as necessary and backflushing the radiator while I'm at it. The tyre pressures will be checked which ought to cure the pulling, and with her up on a ramp I'll be able to have a proper look at what I suspect are worn suspension bushes causing the clunk.
If all goes well with the MOT I'm going to tax her for 6 months and begin the process of bringing her back to A1 condition.
If the MOT is a disaster, the learning curve (and the potential costs) will just become steeper, but I will not be daunted. I'm living a dream right now!
So lets have a look at the good bits then...
The bodywork, brightwork, interior, tyres, gearbox and bulk of the electrics appear to be completely fine. There is no visible rust. Yes, there are a couple of scratches and scars but it's a 118,000 mile car dating from 1997 so those are to be expected. After a thorough wash, a full valet and a bit of buffing she will look fabulous.
What may require attention in the very near future is pretty much all mechanical.
On the drive home I noticed a clunk from the offside front suspension at low speeds and when steering, plus a tendency for the car to pull to the left. The suspension itself feels a touch wobbly - I thought it would be tighter. In the engine bay there appears to be an oil leak to the front of the AJ16- one significant enough to have made it onto the MOT advisory list from 2011. The brakes have a slight judder to them but this isn't a surprise seeing as they take a hammering because the Jag's a heavy automatic, and there are a couple of bulbs blown
So far, so good. However, I noticed hot starting was a bit of a struggle and there is a significant overheating issue which didn't manifest itself until the big Jag was caught in stationary traffic coming through Edinburgh. The temperature shot up and coolant/water/whatever began bubbling out of the expansion tank. Lots of it. Once she'd cooled down the old girl swallowed about 6 litres of water. The cooling system capacity is 10 litres at a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. What has me worried though is that I've no idea where the water went as there didn't appear to be any visible leaks. There wasn't any mayonnaise in the oil so I'm a bit stumped.
I will have the car MOT'd over the next couple of days and then give her a really good service, replacing all the fluids as necessary and backflushing the radiator while I'm at it. The tyre pressures will be checked which ought to cure the pulling, and with her up on a ramp I'll be able to have a proper look at what I suspect are worn suspension bushes causing the clunk.
If all goes well with the MOT I'm going to tax her for 6 months and begin the process of bringing her back to A1 condition.
If the MOT is a disaster, the learning curve (and the potential costs) will just become steeper, but I will not be daunted. I'm living a dream right now!
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