LairdScooby

Fastener

Youre welcome Russ, funnily enough i gave the same advice to a neighbour with a 58 plate Mondeo that just happens to use the same nuts as the S Type. Sadly his locking key nut kept slipping out (both lock nut and key nut were slightly mangled from previous use) and he'd already shredded the slip ring around the outside of the lock nut. As the lock nut is enclosed, it was impossible to get to the threads easily so he's ordered one of those tools like a socket that removes locking nuts. If that still struggles i'll give him a squirt of my WMP to try. After seeing the state of his lock nut etc, i've decided next time a set of 4 normal nuts comes up on ebay, i'm buying them and replacing the lock nuts with them! The reason he needed to remove the nut on his car was because the tyre had developed a large hole in the sidewall! 😮 Luckily for him, it happened at home but imagine the grief it would cause if it happened 200 miles from home! I can't drive a manual these days but have always preferred auto, especially in bigger cars but glad you managed to find yourself a manual. I think the workforce at Rover had lost the will to live after being taken over by BMW so i daresay they let quality slip a bit, in fact a couple of ex-Rover employees suggested as much. That said comparing the S Type to the MGf is a bit like comparing the original (1963-68) S Type to the MGB, 2 very different animals, each doing what they're designed to do very well but neither can offer exactly what the other does.

Toe

Not sure what part of Norfolk you are in and although technically in Cambridgeshire, there is Jagutek in Ely : http://jagutek.co.uk/ Not used them myself but have heard good reports. I'm not 100% certain on the later cars (mine is a 1999 S Type 3.0 V6 SE) but it seems most of the petrol AJ--V- engines used chain drives for the camshafts, i believe the 2.0 Ecoboost uses a timing belt immersed in oil surprisingly - unsurprisingly regular oil and filter changes are essential to preserve longevity! I may be wrong on that, Jaguar may have altered it somewhat but i know a lot of the Ecoboost engines use that arrangement. With the autoboxes, most were "sealed for life" although the WSM recommends changing the fluid at 80k miles if used in "extreme conditions". What those extreme conditions are, it doesnt really specify. Again, this may have changed on later models so it's worth getting to know exactly what engine and transmission you have and working the exact requirements out from there.

Blacksmith

Succinctly sums up the situation i was in! Because the wipers still wiped and i'm used to the wiper and washers sharing a fuse, i assumed (wrongly now i've discovered it) the fuse was ok. Borrowed a 10A mini-blade fuse from a friend with a non-roadworthy Rover 75 and hey presto, washers washed again! 😛 As i've not needed mini-blades until now, i invested in a 120 piece set on ebay : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232818816362 A set of 10 different values, 12 fuses in each value for a mind-blowing £4.65 delivered! Assume P&P is £3.35 considering the size/weight and that leaves £1.30 for the 120 fuses or a smidge over a penny a piece! 😮 I haven't discovered the low screenwash message in the S-Type yet, fairly sure the XJ40 i had ~23 years ago had similar, i know my Volvo 760 has a warning lamp for low screenwash (needed on that, the way it uses screenwash!), the first 827 Sterling i had (a Mk1c 1988/F reg) had a warning lamp on the "Vehicle Computer" but the Mk2a doesn't and a few other cars i've known/owned over the years have had it. As you might guess, no handbook came with my S-Type, that said it did have a large history file with loads of receipts, it was an estate sale to the dealer i got it from and one previous owner + demo, low mileage, FSH etc. Still getting to grips with how things work, what doesn't work and shouldn't but i expect it to, what works when i don't expect it to and so on.

I know Russ - i just couldn't be bothered going out to the car to check! 😛

https://www.paintcolourchart.com/cars/036/s-type.html According to that, mine is JHE, you might be able to find the colours of yours and the donor car too!

From your avatar Russ, it looks like yours is the same colour as mine, Sapphire? The code eludes me at the moment but JGH rings a sort of bell. Is the mangled, rusted wheel nut rusted onto the stud? If so, try mixing a 50/50 mix of Carlube ATF-U/acetone (nail varnish remover), shake it up then brush/dribble/spray it on and let it soak. I call it WMP - Weapon of Mass Penetration and since i started using it, haven't found a fastener that isn't removed using it. Once mixed, it needs a good shake and another good shake before each use and sealing between uses or the acetone evaporates. If you can't get hold of ATF-U then NAPA MVA works just as well. I daresay any other synthetic ATF with a viscosity of ~32 would also work, maybe even a thinner one like Dexron 6 would work better but i haven't tried it. Always fancied an MGf but i doubt i could get in one these days and even if i could, the automatic versions are that rare i'd spend so long finding one i'd be too old to enjoy it if i did! Would have made sense for me when i was still using the 827 Sterling as they share a few parts, not many but they are parts that MGf owners usually struggle to find. Things like rear brake calipers, brake master cylinders etc. Unusual to find an S-Type with a manual box, on the 3.0 at least, did it take you long to find it?

During the war.................... 😛 - in fact that really was when it happened! The pilots of the WW II aircraft noticed on damp days, they would get more power and economy, especially at higher altitudes. Supercharging was used to get round the thinner atmosphere to keep the planes flying and then you had other engines without it, both gave better performance in cold, wet weather it seems. These days with modern engine management, the difference might be "muffled" somewhat by the electronics but i'm sure there are still gains to be found. I thought they were claiming 276bhp through the lack of catalytic converters, based on the early MX-5s not needing a cat because they were built pre-1992? Not heard about inlet manifold improvements. A 15% increase on 240bhp is 36bhp and it's generally reckoned to be a 15% improvement removing the cat on any engine. Or at least it used to be, some people are now claiming there is no difference but a cat, by its very nature, is restrictive. Will be interesting to find out if some of the extra power is attributable to the inlet manifold! I remember when i had my Jeep XJ Cherokee, a popular mod in the USA was to fit a spacer between the inlet manifold and throttle body. This increased the volume of the inlet manifold and also increased the length between inlet valve head and throttle creating a longer inlet pulse which would improve torque. A shorter inlet manifold should increase power by reversing that theory so it could well be. It sounds like you have good plans for your S-Type Russ, good idea concentrating on getting the important bits running and worry about the power later. I'm still learning how mine drives, where to position my right foot for the best acceleration so it keeps within the VVT power band with each shift and so on. In nearly 40 years of (legal) driving, until recently there was only one car that always put a grin on my face from driving it, that was my 827 Sterling, this S-Type is the second. I hope your recommissioing project gives you as much pleasure when it comes to fruition! 😉 😄

I have to agree there Russ, the Mazda version is ~205bhp, Fords version ~225bhp and Jaguar tweaked it somewhat more to get the 240bhp. As you suggest, not much room for easy power gains. There may be some to be had from using 98 octane or a very simple water injection system if - and it's a big "if" - the Visteon engine management advances the ignition timing and then retards a little when it detects knock like the Honda PGM-Fi system does. If it sets the timing at a standard figure and only retards it by a few degrees when it detects knock then after a given period without knock, reverts to standard like the older Bosch LH-Jetronic and Motronic then the water injection wouldn't help to boost power. I have a feeling it is the former as mine is converted to LPG (which is ~105RON) and mine tends to go better on gas than petrol, like my 827 Coupe did (i converted that one, never got round to doing the Sterling) because the Rover used the Hodna engine and PGM-Fi system. Thanks to a failed CPU fan on my old PC, i lost all the useful documentation i had on water injection but it was a very simple system, essentially using a hypodermic needle as the measuring jet with a small bore hose into a water reservoir and the needle is inserted into a ported vacuum hose, in simple terms functioning as a crude main jet from a carburettor in days of old. However, i still have a functional system on the Rover which i can probably transfer to the S Type to try it if nothing else. Your idea for grafting the STR air scoop in should work, it should pick up air from the radiator grille area so should be cooler than engine bay air and you may even get a bit of "ram effect" at high speed - probably negligible in terms of power gain though.

Sometimes you can't improve on what the manufacturer has done Russ, especially with either variable length intake runners or variable valve timing. On my other beast that i'm still trying to decide whether to sell or restore, it has variable length intakes and a strange looking air intake system that not only takes air from the inside of the wing but also has a resonator box there. Many people junked the OE air filter housing and this resonator arrangement and stuffed a big cone type air filter with a cold air feed in place of it. Then they wondered why it was noisy, gutless and thirsty. They were losing all the pulse tuning advantages designed in originally. I'm not saying your ideas won't work, just that you may have to be prepared to rethink at some point. Perhaps an alternative form of air intake cooling would be a better option?

Ah, right, thanks - these are the ones that are currently top of my list : https://www.adamesh.co.uk/s-type-performance-exhaust---25l-30l-1138-p.asp That wasn't what i meant - i meant can you video the back end of the car to give me an idea of the sound of it please? I'm not sure about doing a track day as yet, i notice you are wearing a crash helmet, presumably that's a safety requirement? If so, are there any others?

Good video, what exhausts did you fit and any chance of a video from the back please? Also what engine? I'm looking for some new back boxes (planning to fit some time after easter so not a tearing hurry) so any recommendations are useful. Looked a good track day, fairly perdictable the smaller cars built only for track days were going past flat out, after all you don't want an "off" in your road car! 😉 😄

https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.com/c2s15071-bulb.html?code=C51723397966 It's part #2 in the diagram, P/No C2S15071 but is NLA so aftermarket is your only option. The voltage is going to be in the region of 30kV to ignite the HID bulbs, after that a "running" voltge of usually 40-100V keeps them lit. https://www.aa1car.com/library/hid_headlamps.htm That explains in greater detail. 😉 😄

Only ones i can find at the moment are standard blade fuses, not the mini-blades as seem to be fitted to my S Type but gives you an idea what to look for in other suppliers : https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk/c-52-fuse-boxes-fuses/c-121-fuses-and-circuit-breakers/p-672-glow-fuse Very useful bits of kit, another alternative would be a resettabe breaker type fuse which gives an indication if tripped as the button pops out. Again on standard blade fuses though and they're not cheap. https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk/c-52-fuse-boxes-fuses/c-121-fuses-and-circuit-breakers/p-1247-blade-circuit-breaker

Congrats on the pass Chris! Always a good feeling! With yours car being a 2000 model, this should be the right screenwash pump : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252268529673 From the Jag WSM ^^^^^ installation you "Haynes it" - reversal of the removal procedure. Hope that's useful! 😉 😄

Some of the clowns working in garages probably have no idea how to read a tyre pressure gauge! Or even a tyre pressure chart for that matter! Many moons ago, i put my 827 Coupe in for a wheel alignment check and it came back that the alignment was ok (i knew it wasn't, just wanted confirmation) but the tyre pressures were too low. Errr, no, they'd found they were 32psi all round, correct for an 827 Coupe running 16" wheels with 205/55/16 tyres. They insisted they should be 34psi all round so i asked them to show me so they confirmed what i already knew, they were reading the pressures for the 17" wheels fitted to the 820 Vitesse from 1996 onwards - another big clue there as it was a 1995 car! Makes me wonder what tyres i would have ended up with if i'd asked for a new set of tyres to be fitted! After that, i invested £72 in a Trackace DIY Laser wheel alignment system and did the job myself, correcting the rear wheel alignment (that they had insisted wasn't adjustable on that model!) and a tiny tweak on the front. They would have charged me £36 per axle to correct the alignment so to my mind the Trackace paid for itself on the first use, i've since done several other alignments with it and saved its original cost a few times over now. Back to the tyres, maybe they read the pressure for the space saver tyre and thought all tyres should be that! That's the TP chart for 1999-2003, double check your car Stopper for the label on the drivers door jamb to find the correct pressures but very few seem to be the same pressure all round. Usually the fronts are slightly lower pressure than the back on RWD cars so 32psi all round seems a bit wrong to me.

You did indeed John, thanks - i have read it. I'm hoping to exploit the loophole that the car will be tested with halogen glow-worms in (that's how they seem in the Jag headlights!) and then swap to LEDs afterwards. However, the law as far as HID states that the housing should have been designed for HID light sources (or words similar) and my plan was to use the ater HID headlamps from a 2002 on car. However, the wiring is so different on the HID that i don't want to be messing about that way. Not that it's beyond my skill-set, i just want something easily reversable. I can't use the excuse the lenses and housings were first used in the same model during or before 1986 as i can with the other two.

Fixed the image links above Russ! Not sure which Disco you're refgerring to but the first ones used H4 bulbs, later models used something different but not sure what.

I'd avoid the 100W halogen bulbs Russ, two reasons, first is the Front Electronic Module is probably not designed to run them as they will take nearly double the current of the standard 60W H7 bulbs and secondly, the heat produced by them will be much higher - the reflectors and lenses are both plastic so at best would be likely to warp/deform and/or discolour, at worst possibly melt. If you feel like trying the LEDs i linked to, i do know they offer a money back guarantee if they don't work as you hoped. Seems you may beat me to trying them out! Just to give you an idea and comparison, here's a couple of pics from a few years ago - the car on the left has ebay Xenon look halogens, middle (mine) has LEDs and the one on the right has Nightbreakers. All three cars are similar models, all alignments checked and all headlamps good condition with clean glass lenses so it makes a good comparison. If the H7 LEDs are as good as those (those above in the comparison pics are H4s) then should be a good improvement - i currently have ebay Xenon look bulbs in my S Type so once i've got past the MoT i'll order a pair and then maybe a pair of HB3 LEDs for the inner full beams.

I'm glad it's not just my imagination Russ although not happy Jaguar seem to have scored an own-goal with the standard headlamps on the S Type. I was expecting much better, the last Jag i had before the S was an XJ40 about 25 years ago, it was the Sovereign with the rectangular headlights and very good they were too. For the past 15 years i've had a 1994 Rover Sterling and that has good lights with halogen bulbs in, however i upgraded those to LED bulbs, took me a long time and several sets of cheaper ones (no doubt the reason your autoelectrician was reluctant, it can be an expensive hobby finding the right LED headlight bulbs!) to discover the secret to getting good LED headlamp bulbs. Usually my "go to" source of LED bulbs has most headlamp bulbs but i couldn't find any listed last time i checked. However while looking for something else the other day, i had a quick look and found : https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/led-headlight-conversion-bulbs-h7-4600-lumen-philips-z-es-main-dipped-glb477?_pos=1&_psq=h7&_ss=e&_v=1.0 These use the same arrangement of LEDs as those in my Rover (and also my "Dogmobile", a 1988 Volvo 760) so the beam pattern remains as it should be without glare in the "anti-scatter area" of the beam pattern where there should be no light emitted. In finding these i may have stumbled upon the answer to my query, the MoT is due soon and while i could get away with it on the Volvo and Rover having the LED bulbs in for the MoT, i'm not sure i'd get away with it on the Jag. Likely to be early March before i get a set to try, will be a "snug" fit as well! I'll update here as and when, i know what a nasty road the A27 back from Shoreham to Southampton can be, having done that route many times in the past. These days i'm further up the country and besides all the 4x4s, round my local area i have many USA spec cars with the original lights in that are still set up for left hand drive so their dipped beam is dazzling, even worse if they've fitted some el-cheapo Chinese LEDs or HID bulbs 😲

Hi All, a bit (as in very) disappointed with the dipped beam performance of my S Type headlights, i've cleaned/polished the lenses (used T-Cut as they weren't that badly opaque) and fitted new bulbs which improved them a lot, finally giving me a beam pattern. However, the amount of light they actually put on the road is minimal. I'm seriously considering upgrading to the HID lights fitted to later S Types, looking at the diagrams they appear to use different feed points from the fusebox and also use a relay to power the ballast, with the relay coil switched by what would be the dipped beam line from the Front Electronic Module. Has anyone done this conversion? If so, any pointers please? Alternatively, has anyone found any decent LED H7 bulbs that will fit into the existing space at the back of the headlight unit? Quite happy to (temporarily) refit the halogen H7 for MoT purposes as long as the LED bulbs give me the light i want/need on the road after dark. TIA,

You shouldn't have any problem using it, after all it's higher octane than E10 which has been forced on us by environmentalists and your fuel consumption should drop (and economy increase) due to the higher octane number.

It would be a nice touch though! Sort of surprised it's not present considering the rest of the interior lighting.