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!