Russ68

Hi Richard, very nice, like the colour!

Welcome to the club Adam, she looks tidy! I've had 2001 manual Sport for c18 months now and I love it!

The S-Type forum is the best place for S-Type specific questions, it's pretty active, and someone will generally help with tips and advice. Do you plan on maintaining her yourself, i.e. do your own work?

All the best, Russ

Hi Ron,

Welcome to the club! Has the car been in constant use or off the road, and did it fail suddenly or get worse over time?

I had a similar issue with mine which was improved by removing the door panel and checking and lubing everything. If it was a sudden failure it could point to one of the components you mention, but if not, it could be a lack of use issue and just require some TLC. Taking the door panel off for a fettle and check can't be a bad call, you'll either fix it, or have a better idea what's not working.

Hope this helps, Russ

Well done Eric, glad you're getting it sorted. Can't believe it's been such a chore! As far as I'm aware there were only 2 version of the inlet / induction on the 3.0 AJ6, but perhaps you have found out otherwise?

Opps, sorry to hear that Nick, bad luck mate! Hope you find one soon 

Hi Nick,

I'm replacing all those stupid Ford / Jag clips with jubilee clips, readily available and easier to use IMO. 

Hope this helps, Russ

Very bad luck David, sorry to hear of your woes. If you did your own mechanics, it wouldn't be such an issue, but relying on others to fix her, overseas as you are, sounds like it has been an expensive frustration! 

Hi Gavin,

Sorry to say that doesn't look good, hopefully it's cleaner under the sill covers.

Good luck! Russ 

Great, I'll try the Torque app, I bought the socket thing but couldn't get it to talk to my iPhone, so hopefully I'll have more luck with that one. For interest, is there much other diagnostics that comes up? Oil pressure and temp etc? If so I'd be tempted to get a have it connected almost permanently and certainly for the track day in December 

Good to hear your back on the road with her, I think they call this a rolling restoration where she's being improved as you go along 

Sorry nobody has got back to you Eric, I don't know the part number or even the part you speak of without researching it! I'm hoping to have the bonnet up later so I'll have a look, but suggest the 2nd hand route is probably the way to go. A breaker won't need the part number, just describe what it is etc 

Yup! It's your pride and joy, plenty of people spend plenty more money than us on their cars, and get less for their money I bet!

I've spent equivalent to my original purchase price this year on maintenance and upgrades, but the total of what it owes me is pretty small considering what she is and how she goes. If they become the classics I expect them to in a few years, it'll be those that were looked after that'll be worth having.

But forget the future and what the second hand market says they're worth, they're good, undervalued cars now and if we want to spend money keeping them up. As you have done, it is your / our choice and right to do so 

Hmmm, can't comment categorically, but could it just be a loose connection? 

My S-Type came without a cartridge for the CDC, and not being able to find another cartridge, I did find an entire CDC with cartridge for £30 which I fitted yesterday. Works fine now and a cheap quick win I think 

If not a loose connection, broken wire, or something obvious, you may be able to get a cheap 2nd hand part, like I did, or this could be time for an upgrade! 

Hope you sort it 

Hi Nick,

I have a leaky expansion tank, so this may well be relevant to me! I haven't taken the trim panel off above the tank but may do this this afternoon, so I can have a look and comment further. But I'd imagine DIY, not like you're pressing our suspicion bushes or anything heavy. Where would the gasket be? I'd imagine all connection were via the hoses and hose clips?

Hopefully someone knows more, or I may be able to advise later if I get around to having a look myself 

Good luck, Russ

Glad you got it sorted David, with that amount of current draw, it had to be something pretty major! 

Awesome! Glad to hear it Jon. What are you using to monitor temp, OBD I imagine?

How many are they doing for £200 Ian? You could buy the kit to do it for under £200, a decent vice is only c£50 and sockets similar, but I'm guessing the suspension arm needs to be removed which is quite a big job and not for the faint hearted! On the MGF, which has a cruddy pressed steel suspension arm, it's cheaper and easier to buy a new arm, with the bushes on it, than to change the bushes separately, but being this is a Jag, with forged alloy arms, this is not the case. On balance I'd rather have the better quality Jag components 

This came up recently Ian and is something I have to tackle shortly. I understand the bushes in the cast alu swinging arms need pressing out, which may not be a problem if you have a decent vice and a selection of large sockets you can use. If it's just the drop links, these just bolt in and it's a simple job that I did recently 

HELL YES! 

Many thanks Joe, they seemed just the job until I got to the checkout and they wanted £16 postage for a few bits that would go in a jiffy bag! I imagine it's because I'm on the Isle of Wight, which the post office treats as UK mainland, so there's no excuse for suppliers hiking prices just so they can use their preferred couriers. I called them for an explanation and they insisted they have to use DHL and not post, I'll keep looking!

Fingers crossed Jon, bet you can't wait to get her back! 

Any update Jon? Hope you're getting it sorted 

Well done Gary, not the cheapest choice for tyres then, but tyres are something that shouldn't be scrimped on. No experience of the dash cams, so interested in how you get on with that 

Hi all,

Not sure if it's the same on facelift and later models as for the original X200 like my 2001 example. But does anyone if the large black 2 piece trim clips that hold on the large plastic cover above the expansion tank are still available? I bought some from eBay that looked right but were about 1/2 the size 

No great excuse I know, but I've not taken off the cover to track down the water loss from my expansion tank, which while manageable, is not great and something I'd like to sort out sooner rather than later. If it's not an easy and obvious fix, I may seek further advice about this later.

No updates on the new wheels / tyres and induction mods yet as I've been away. Hols in Devon where we had to take the Discovery, not the Jag, something I regretted for most of the 450 miles I drove in it!

Thanks, Russ  

I know a few people commented on this regarding Steve's potential search for a low miler STR. It's nice to have a low miler, but this is no guarantee of condition and all the issues David describes are perhaps more prevalent on a car that hasn't been used much. Mine has 135K on the clock and returned comparable emissions to Steve's:

Fast Idle - CO: 0.016, HC 9ppm, Lamda: 1.003. Natural Idle - CO: 0.006 

I think these cars have 'long legs', and are designed for big trips and high miles, for mine to be as good as she is, on the mileage she has is a testament to this.

I know it's not for everybody, but if you do your own spannering, running costs tumble, as the cost of parts is actually pretty / very reasonable...

Of course Jon, I'll factor this in, looks like Samco do a suitable pipe, with an inlet, but this will need further investigation. There's a few engineering places around here that could weld me something up in stainless, which would be a nice bit of bling for the engine bay. But I best look into it properly first 

There's a local guy who breaks S-Types, I may source a complete inlet from him that I can butcher, before I do anything to take mine of the road. But getting my wheels sprayed and sorting out the leak from my expansion tank are higher up the priority list at the moment. I must have bought every damn trim clip that is on the car, except the big 2 piece ones that hold the trim plate that goes over the expansion chamber. Shouldn't hold be back from taking this off, but I like to have replacement clips and replace any broken ones after doing a job. I may post separately about this unless anyone knows what they're called and if they can still be sourced?

Cheers, Russ