To start with I took it into the college again on the Friday so that I could head off to the Borders straight away for the fan parts following a pit-stop at the classic-car garage, Mulsanne Motors, where I explained the fiasco with the transmission fluid filters. My boss responded to it by getting on the phone and ordering the right parts in. It looks like that wee job will be getting done next week afterall!
With that sorted I set off down the A1 to a location near Eyemouth to meet up with Rob Jenner from the JEC. Rob has a barn full of Jags and a driveway mostly full of very, very dead ones that are being stripped for spares. He's also a font of obscure knowledge and experience which is going to come in handy as I work my way round H9 WAP's foibles.
The drive down was really nice and easy thanks to the cruise control and I found Rob's house without getting too lost. Once introductions were out of the way we set about getting the bits I need, plus a few extras, while talking over some of the issues that I've noticed on my Soveriegn. Rob supplied me with a complete fan set (both cooling fans) out of an XJR, a radiator temperature sensor (for the fans), a fastener or two to sort out the engine bay, plus a new phone aerial to replace my missing one. All that for £40. He also popped in a new bulb-control module as he thought that was what had been causing my intermittent rear lights (on the drive home though I noticed that the problem was still there so I'll give him back that bit).
While having a look about my Jag Rob spotted that the offside front damper was probably knackered and gave me tips on how to check the front subframe rubber Y-mounts on the car, seeing as these are now of an age on these Jags where they are starting to delaminate. He confirmed that my memory seats work and that both rear bumper brackets could do with replacing.
With all the bits loaded I set off for home in torrential rain. Visibility was crap, not helped by what's probably an old wiper blade in need of swapping. £3 from ASDA for that I think... Once again the drive was enjoyable and uneventful. The Jag performed well, the non-working rear lights fixed themselves, and fuel consumption was OK. I found myself relaxing into it, enjoying the car more and being less worried about what else might go wrong.
The same was true today with a run into Grangemouth and Carronshore for Mother's Day, then on to Denny to give my Dad a shot of it.
Before I left I fitted the new fan pack and connected it all up. Didn't fit the temperature sender as that's best done on a ramp with 4 pairs of hands to minimise coolant loss. I've had enough of that recently! Everything bolted on sweetly so off we went after I adjusted the seats. Somehow the driver's side had straightened it's backrest up automatically meaning that I didn't fit in the car anymore. Sun out, sunroof open and radio up, we hit the road and cruised through to the central belt. The Jag was introduced to my Mum and Gran then my Dad got the chance to go solo in it for a while. He'll be putting petrol in it for the privilege. There were no dramas or leaks to report, no odd noises or anything, just space, grace and pace as it should be.
The seat bugs me though. Every time I use the keyfob it seems to reset itself to some weird long legged, short-arm driving position right up close to the wheel. It never used to do that. I can't adjust it fore and aft anymore either. I also noticed that one of the keys no longer works in the ignition for turning the car on. It clicks round OK but does nothing. Very odd. I'll speak to Rob about those ones.
So, to sum up, the Jag is running great. New parts are fitted and the wee problems are on the road to getting solved. My Dad has a loan of it the now but I should have it back sometime over the next few days. I hope it behaves!
No comments:
Post a Comment