Russ68

I have a manual sport, love it :)

Agree with Simon, the power difference between 2.5 and 3.0 at 40bhp is similar to 3.0 and 4.0. I drove a nice 2.5 before buying mine and the difference is noticeable. There's a very cheap early 3.0 manual c£350 close to me, not seen it yet but can dig out a link if of interest ;)

Interested as well but happy for Steve to have 1st dibs, if I could have 2nd dibs, it would be appreciated ;) Let me know and I'll PM my details so we can make arrangements. All the best, Russ

I've used K Seal successfully on an MGF and unsuccessfully / temporary seal only on a Discovery. If it's a 'get you home / emergency fix' K Seal is worth thinking about, but much better to identify the leak and repair properly. You'll need to be aware the K Seal could bung up bits you don't want bunged up, but you're an experienced guy Andy and I'm sure you've considered it. As mentioned I had a small coolant leak on the MGF I couldn't get to or identify about 5 years ago, the K Seal sorted it and doesn't appear to have given any repercussions. Hope this helps ;)

I share our S-Type with my father in law, and being that she's the 7th car we own between us both, the car share arrangement works very well. He has been adamant about wanting the leaper since we bought the car, and as he was a good boy this year, I bought him one ;) I choose a UK supplier from eBay, Birmingham based, called tech98 who exceeded expectations. I paid £22.99 and it looks fantastic, really decent quality. Can't wait to fit it, so thanks to Paul and everyone else for the encouragement :) PS. Despite being car no 4 in my fleet, I've had cause to use her virtually full time over Xmas and she's been awesome! Some minor issues have sorted themselves with use, including the locking issues I mentioned previously. Pretty sure the water pump and or alternator is about to go but I've got a stethoscope to identify these and this is par for the course as far as I'm concerned...

They look great don't they David, a genuine bargain, I'm dead chuffed too :)

Ha ha, good picture :)

Looks much better Andy, well done :)

Around 300 for everyday driving, mine is manual though ;)

Mine doesn't, but I presumed this was left off. TBH, I wasn't too disappointed as I have maintenance to do and it saved me the bother of removing it. If it was a standard fitment, I may restore it at some point, so I'll watch this thread with interest...

I think the 2003 might be updated, but the dipped on the 2001 is pretty straightforward. Unscrew the black cover at the back of the unit, remove the wiring block for access and ferk about with the bulb clip to release it. If I recall you push the non hinged towards the front of the car until it clears the hooks on the back of the light it locates into. i.e. on the offside light (left from the front), the non hinged end is on the left. The clip can then hinge out of the way to allow bulb removal. Hope this helps ;)

Thanks Thomas, good suggestion, the belt was screaming for awhile, so must have picked up some crap, but it has now settled into a chirpy squeak, so hopefully not to difficult to isolate. I may treat myself to the stephoscope, should be a handy thing to have and will pay itself back quickly if it saves a component failure...

Easier than that Andy, if they're the standard 65mm ones, they slide straight over the top and are secured with a couple of grubs underneath :)

Hi all, The S has developed some nasty noises from the auxiliary belt area. I replaced the belt recently so suspect a pulley or component. I couldn't easily identify where the noise was coming from but top of the engine rather than bottom. Is the 3.0 known for this and is there an easy way to work out which component it could be? Any suggestions are welcome ;) Thanks, Russ

Well done David, glad you could take advantage, and no Steve, just a tailpipe finisher so shouldn't change the sound ;)

Well that top trumps mine Andy, if only I could find some like that! There were a pair of 2 year old Adamesh back boxes last week, but £225 and they're now gone. But anyone not lucky enough to find a bargain like Andy's could do worse than these, they turn the 65mm round into a 120mm oval and are high quality OEM so dead chuffed, as the chrome had gone on mine and they were letting her down ;)

Hi all, I've just had a pair of these genuine Jag exhaust refinishes and they are fantastic! Check the eBay link. RRP £142.84 and on clearance for £30! If like me you're tailpipes have seen better days, these ones slide over the top and look great. For the petrol only though I think. Cheers, Russ

Hi Pete, When I had the manifold off for the plugs and coil packs, we had a bit of a go at it with a wire brush on an angle grinder. But the steel tines were quite worn and a bit harsh. So I've brought myself a new brush with softer brass tines, which I hope would be just the job. I'll give it a go and post pictures of how I get on. Once the corrosion is taken back, I imagine I'd want to seal it with a polish or laquer it but it should come up quite well I hope. Cheers, Russ

Thanks guys, I'll check condition of all and any breathers, later today if possible. I think there are 2, one front and one towards the back. Earlier she was sitting at 1500 when rolling down hill, which was worse than usual. Cheers, Russ

That's a very good thought Paul, it could be that and I'll have a look! It kinda felt like that sort of thing which is why I wondered if I haven't got a good seal somewhere. I may not get a chance to look before the weekend but I'l check ;)

This is more an irritation than a genuine fault, I suspect / hope, but input would be appreciated. Since I competed the service, including replacing the 6 plugs, coil packs and inlet gaskets, the revs are slightly erratic. Occasionally, she will not return to normal idling, when moving or at a stop, and she'll sit at c1100rpm. I just read she's designed to run at a fast idle when moving to improve the manual gear changes. But if this is the case, shouldn't she then drop to normal when actually stopped? If I reboot (i.e. turn off and on) she'll generally return to normal. Also, when revving, the revs don't descend as quickly as I'd expect, they just seem to hang slightly on the way down, as if some fuel is still getting in despite the throttle not being pressed. Any ideas what these issues could be? Could I have not achieved a perfect seal when reassembling the inlet manifold, or otherwise slightly clocked it up? Happy to strip the manifold off again as I fancy polishing it up which should look pretty special. Or is there any other adjustment or fault finding I can do to isolate the issue? Thanks :)

Yup, it is a mission, mask up then 800/500/3000/cutting compound on a drill. I was recommended car wax as an initial sealant, and knowing a little about plastics, I'd be surprised if they were coated when new, or if there is a cost effective permanent sealant, but I could be wrong here. I think they were just neglected and regular cleaning should keep them in good nick, if not I can go to the cutting compound stage, but it's unlikely I'll let them get bad enough to require sanding again ;)

Sorry Paul, don't know that, but just looked up; Vir prudens non contra ventum mingit. Ha ha :)

Delighted to say that the S went straight through her MOT last week with only a couple of advisories, and that has hardly ever happened to me before! Given we only bought her in June with 6 months MOT, this could've been an emotional experience, luckily it wasn't! She seems exceptionally clean on emissions as well and massively under the limits of CO and HC, which must bode well for the engine and engine management, despite cover 130K. I need brakes all round and was quite stunned to find a complete set of front and back discs, with Mintex pads for under £150 delivered, which is amazing value for a car of this size and performance. My only issue is not quite having the funds to do all the tweaking I'd like to do now, but overall I'm delighted with my buy and can't quite believe I have so much car for so little money. I've averaged 24.4mpg over the 2700 miles I've had her, which is not too bad either :)

Hi all, A quick update, we tried various things to restore the cloudy polycarbonate headlights on the S-Type, and all to no avail / lasting result. So I bit the bullet and bought the electric drill 3M kit, and spent a couple of hours on it at the weekend, and what a difference to appearance and light output! Combined with Osram Nightbreaker bulbs and a height adjustment (as they were pointing about 6ft in front the car!), they have gone from being downright dangerous and ineffectual, especially on dipped beam, to excellent. I was considering an HID conversion, but I don't think that will be necessary now, all for c£33 (£19 3M, £14 Osram) and a bit of effort. I used the electric drill version from eBay and can strongly recommend it :) Cheers, Russ PS. I'll post a picture at some point so you can see what I mean...