Colin Mac

as said above I only use premium unleaded. Much quieter and smoother running and improved mpg, worth the slight extra cost per litre. The only other product I use is Forte fuel system cleaner. When at about quarter tank pour in a bottle of Forte then give car a good blast for a few miles. Cleans the entire system through and massively reduces emissions. Have used this product for years on my LR's (diesel version) and now Gas version on the X Type. Was advised to use this by mechanic as the Disco had a 90% chance of ruining fuel pump when changing the fuel filter so every yearly service used Forte.

Front Shock Absorber replacement So as I mentioned above I have recently replaced the front shock absorbers. Now to do this you have to remove the whole unit as one. Shock, spring and Hub carrier. Watching some instructional videos I felt ready to give it a go, thinking I know I'm not in a workshop, so weather is going to come into play, as is sitting on my driveway with the car being supported on axle stands where the jacking points are. I placed 2 bits of 3x2 wood on the sills and then the axle stand under the wood to protect the car. Removal of the brake callipers was fairly straight forward, and I hung these from the spring for the time being to save disconnecting the brake line. Don't forget to unclip the brake hose from the bracket secured to the shock. Disconnect the ABS sensor carefully. I taped over the 2 connectors to protect from dust and dirt. Undo the Anti Roll Bar drop link, and I recommend undoing both sides at once and rotating the roll bar upwards. This made so much difference later on for me, but only discovered this by trial and error. You need to undo the pinch bolt that holds the shock into the hub carrier and the Torx bolt that holds the hub carrier to the lower swing arm. Torx bit is T55. Then using a wedge, or large screwdriver, or cold chisel!! spread apart the hub carrier from the swing arm spigot. Before I continue I would like to add that I had spent a week or so soaking all the bolts and nuts with WD40 in preparation. Saying that its still a struggle at times as most of the bolts are thread locked as well as rusty. But I didn't have to resort to any heat, thankfully. I also undid the rear bolts holding the subframe and allowed the frame about 25 mm of movement. Undo the hub nut, 32mm, and discard the nut. New one definitely required on refit. I struggled at first, then borrowed my neighbours battery impact wrench and it came off a dream. So invested in my own for opposite side. Also great for wheel nuts that have been put on by garage with gun! Undo the track rod and split the join removing the track rod end from the hub carrier. I then tied this up out of the way also. Gentle tap with a drift and hammer on the drive shaft started to separate that from the splined hub carrier. Now in theory if you undo the three retaining nuts in the engine bay on top of the Shock and everything else is removed and loose the whole unit should drop out of the suspension turret and lift off of the lower swinging arm. OH NO! It didn't! I tried jacking up the whole unit to straighten the join to the swing arm for the spigot to drop out of the hub carrier. No joy. After much swearing and cursing and trying many different angle and approaches, myself and my neighbour (great mechanically minded chap)(years of running LR's and his XJ6) we resorted to a bit of brute force to try and split the joint. This after a few hours resulted in me ruining the bush on the lower swing arm!! End of play for the day. Resort to drawing board, regroup and plan new angle of approach. I then read up on removing swing arm altogether as this looked like it might be easier. 2 bolts hold it in place what could be more difficult I hear you say. Well! Firstly remove the plastic wheel arch trim to get to the bolts. Then the front horizontal bolt screws int a captive nut BUT there is an zircon pipe that runs just slightly in the way of getting a socket on the nut. So I used a door wedge to push gently the pipe up Then could get a ring spanner on and using a short length of scaffold tube as a lever got the bolt moving. Ratchet spanner did the rest. The rear bolt is a nut and bolt and came undone easily until you realise that the bolt has to go up to remove it! Great as the bolt is something like 125mm long and the gap between the top of swing arm and chassis is about 25mm!!! Mmmm what way do we go now. I saw a video of someone using multiple spanners and crowbar and eventually after much hard work managing to wriggle it out. Far too much for me. So I ordered 2 new nuts and bolts at a cost of £6 total (genuine Jag from Jag Classic parts) and hacksawed the old bolt off at the top so it could drop out. On refitting just put the bolt in from the bottom and nut on top. Its loctited and torqued. Bobs your uncle and all that sorted. Now when I slid the whole swing arm out of the chassis the whole unit came away easily and the hub carrier just fell away from the spigot no problem. Compress the spring to remove the top mount bolt and then you can remove the top mount bearing and then slide off the spring. You do need to compress the spring considerably to be able to relieve tension on the mount. I used 2 sets of spring compressors to do the job safely. Using a rather large hammer I knocked the hub carrier off the old shock with a bit of wood between to protect metal and removed the 2 brackets from the shock for re use.

So I have owned this car for 5 years now, can't believe its been that long, and it has hardly been driven for ages. I took it off the road three and half years ago when I was charged the ULEZ fee for driving in central London. At the time it didn't meet the ULEZ compliance and I wasn't going to pay £12.50 every time I was in the city, at least 3 times a week, to the robbing Mayors office. Since then the TFL database has been updated and low and behold my car is now compliant. Hoorah! So no more ULEZ fee, for now, especially if they extend again to M25. The robbing gits!! It needed a little bit of work, nothing too serious, but thought good time to change. So I got myself a VW Up for running around in as cheap to run, Group 2 insurance, 0 road tax and 60 mpg. Tried at one point to trade in the Jag on a brand new car and got offered £372 for it against a £34K motor. Absolutely shocked as the newly refurbished sport wheels were worth more than that on their own. So decided to SORN it and do the work on it slowly and keep it as it is a !Removed! lovely car to drive and only got 48500 miles on the clock. Now thinking that, as nearly 20 years old, its getting on for being a classic!!! I'm going to keep her and fiddle and fettle and drive like Miss Daisy every now and then! I am still working on it as I have recently bought and replaced the front suspension on both sides. Had some knocking when hitting small bumps etc. Front shocks were definitely past their best and the fact that have to remove whole unit to replace thought might as well do top mounts etc in the process. So bought parts bit by bit, as funds allow, to do the job. NOT as easy as it looks on YouTube video. Well not at first. Took 3 days to remove the passenger side and ended up ruining the lower arm bush in the process. So decided to stop with the excessively large hammer and save up and buy 2 new lower arms as well. Removing that as a very whole unit made life so much easier. Drivers side I had completely dismantled in 2 hours. Will do a separate write up about the process later as learnt a couple of little things along the way. This gave me the chance to wire brush and treat the chassis while clear and also the hub carriers got a bit of TLC before reconstruction. Whilst having the room to move I also replaced the anti roll bar bushes with polyurethane ones. Both sides are now rebuilt and the car is back on all 4 wheels. Also tried out, with success, the Meguiars refurb kit for foggy headlamp glass. bit of patience and they have come up a treat. Would definitely recommend using, although have read that Arm and Hammer toothpaste has the same effect. Due to start chassis TLC on rear end when I stop sweating buckets and fancy laying underneath for a few hours. Sure I'll find other issues while about it. But, luckily, as not needed on road can take my time. Currently in process of trying to work out which door thinks its permanently open! Also the ashtray flap surface has deteriorated horrendously, sticky and horrible to touch, and I refuse to spend 70 odd quid on a new one. So have rubbed this down to plastic and in process of coming up with a plan to decorate the flap and refit. Pics to follow if it works out. I've also bought the interior up to latest technology by replacing the cigar lighter with a USB connector. Am currently considering and investigating replacement of entertainment system but am arguing with myself over keeping originality or making better for my requirements. If you've not fallen asleep reading my ramblings will add to this periodically with further updates and maybe some piccies. When I get one of my kids to teach me how to down and upload these new fangled digital wonders of photography. I thought pasting pics up involved some double sided sticky tape and putting them in an album!! Apparently not!

Not neccesarily in correct order: Fiat Strada 1100 - first car. Great mechanics terrible bodywork Ford Fiesta Vauxhall Nova SR Vauxhall Cavalier SRi 2.0 Land Rover Discovery TDi - absolutely loved this. went anywhere and everywhere Sold it to buy first house (mortgage payment was same as monthly loan!) Nissan 100NX Vauxhall Cavalier GSi 2000 4x4 Land Rover Freelander petrol 3 door the first launched. Loved it VW Golf 16v Mk2 GTi awesome car Ford Escort Van Nissan Primera Ford Focus 2.0 Mitsubishi Shogun 3.0 V6 SWB another awesome car Ford Fiesta Si Mitsubishi Shogun SWB 3.0 V6 (another one as loved the first) Nissan X Trail 2.5 petrol auto Citroen C3 Peugeot 406 estate Land Rover DiscoveryTD5 es (till engine seized, common oil pump bolt problem) Land Rover Discovery TD5 ES facelift (to replace broken one) Jaguar Xtype 2.1 V6 manual VW Up absolutely awesome around town, my daily drive Nissan Juke Nissan Juke (another one) Nissan Juke New shape (3rd one in a row) worst car ever bought Awaiting delivery of Mini JCW to replace New Juke Also owned Piaggio 125 Scooter and Yamaha Fazer 600

Can I ask how you can determine which door has the faulty switch. My dash only shows door open not which door specifically. Mine is an 03 2.1 manual

Did you resolve this as I have same issue on my 03. Was about to buy second hand actuator and swap it out cheers

Since I posted on this earlier I have again checked on TfL website with regard to being exempt or not. Seems now that it has been introduced the database has been properly updated with reference to emissions. Whereas they initially stated as a general rule pre 2006 would be subject my 03 Petrol is exempt from t charge. This came about from work that one of my watch has a 52 plate Petrol bmw and is also exempt, seems it is diesels that are hit hardest but put your reg in to the TfL checker to make sure

Apparently common problem is reverse switch on transmission under bonnet just had mine replaced under warranty from seller, they said common fault

As I understand it pretty much as a general rule anything pre 2006 is subject to the T charge. There is a provision that if your V5 states euro 4 emissions then you can write to TFL and with evidence have your vehicle exempted from this charge. I would go by the checker link on TFL and if they state you are not exempt then pay or don’t drive in during the charging period, as it is that database to which they will work, if it says you are liable to charge I would not risk getting the fine instead. I am definitely not exempt, being 03 Petrol, and have now stopped driving in to the centre as I refuse to line the pockets of the government. They not bothered about the air quality as if you prepared to pay then you can continue driving!!!! Further to this charge look out for the ULEZ charge ( Ultra Low Emission Zone ) due to come into effect April 2019. This will be a 24 hr 365 day a year charge in the congestion charge area initially. If your vehicle is older than sept 2015 Diesel, jan 2007 Petrol and jan 2006 motorbike then you will be liable to pay £12.50 per day. They are looking to extend this area to anywhere inside the North and South Circulars by 2021

That's great thanks very much will have a look

I know the feeling! Probably the biggest reason I came away from LR. The good lady was fed up with me being under, in and over it at all times!! As much as I enjoyed ownership and working on them it did eventually get beyond my tolerance of having a semi reliable vehicle to run around in. Will see what this brings! Thanks be good to know what diagnostics I could use. Had my own for Td5 and was invaluable.

Out of interest what obd reader are you using as I could do with getting one for jaguar?

Hi and welcome to the forum. New myself to here and Jaguar but have been Land Rover for many years. As you've said above I've always been of the opinion with some items it's always worth getting the genuine if more expensive version as it saves in the long run. Hope you're enjoying your x type as much as I am

Thanks Peter, Yes is certainly confusing looking at Parkers lists. That would make sense being Sport with additional extras. Not that I'm too fussed just nice to know these things.

No worries. I know some refer to it as 2.0 or 2.1!!! Been to local main dealer today to pick up a catch for centre box and got them to see what was on their system. It states that mine is a base model with factory fitted extras of climate control, rear parking sensors, upgraded sound system, flint carpets, warm charcoal seat belts, power fold mirrors. Doesn't mention if the leather was an option but it's there or if the sports alloys were put on when new! So now I got an idea of where I'm at. Not that I'm worried just nice to know. It's great to drive, loving it more every time I go out. But did spend some time drooling over various models at the dealers. Already told the good lady we got to save up for a newer model! Saw a lovely XE S mmmmmmmm!