The Voices

Glad you got something sorted !

Steve, here is what I do to bring Sue around to my way of thinking.

I utilise a subtle blend of psychology and extreme stupidity.

When I wanted to buy the first Impreza, I spent weeks talking about buying a Nissan Skyline R33 GTR until she was fed up of hearing about them.

The Impreza then seemed like a 'sensible' alternative.

Just start looking at something like a cheap Maserati or other similar monumental money pit (pretty much anything Italian)

If you manage to make a convincing job of the deception, the S-Type R will look like a rational purchase !

Or

If you like a bit of danger and excitement in a relationship, casually walk in one afternoon and whilst discussing your day at work, drop in 'oh, by the way, I bought another car today'

Better than the New Years Eve fireworks !

Or so the crash team told me when I came round in A and E.

3 hours ago, Claws said:

You'll get there   I will say I have enjoyed reading this thread, it's been a very interesting journey. Please keep us updated, and of course any pics would be great 

Regards

Steve

Thanks Steve !

If you want a proper read, check out my 'epic' thread on Scoobynet, entitled 'Help, killed the scoob'

It tells the story of one mans heroic struggle against an evil, tyranical Japanese overlord, powered by two lawnmower engines bolted together !

Or alternatively, me managing to get myself into all sorts of bother building Subaru engines ?

3 hours ago, Old Peter said:

Lump hammer available  -  no charge!

We refer to that as 'Jaguar precision adjustment tool number 3'

Often seen being used on 'reluctant' brake discs to aid removal.

I have a 14lb sledge in the garage if the thing puts up a struggle !

It is a battle of wills, what did I expect on a 156k, 10 year old, 400bhp V8 !

Absolute pain in the a**e to work on as everything is in the way.

Very frustrating, as I am usually pretty good at being a 'roadside mechanic' (or should the more grand title be a 'thoroughfare technician' ?)

The bank holiday hasn't helped either..........................................................................

Very lucky that we have a 'spare' car to use so no real pressure to sort this out in a rush.

I tried to remove the hose to 'pop' it back into shape but it was an absolute b***ard of a job to get to the clips.

The new tool I purchased for removing spring type hose clips is great when you have a lot of room around the clip but no use in tight spaces.

I battled for ages to get it back on and refilled the coolant, changed the expansion tank cap for a spare one I had (as an experiment to see if any difference)

Managed to get my new OBD2 gadget working with the 'Torque' app on my tablet so that I could monitor coolant temperature.

Took the car for a run once the temperature gauge was up the half way mark, figures ranged between 94 and 98 degrees on a mixture of motorway and 30mph stuff.

Got back and had a look at the hoses and they seemed to be 'normal' rather than compressed once the engine was turned off.

At this point I was think 'result, faulty pressure cap'.................................................

Until I spotted the coolant leak under the car !

Think I have managed to split the hose when removing and refitting it !

Coolant is not flooding out and the temperature reading I was getting using the app is within normal parameters as far as I can tell.

Hopefully no damage done but need to work out how to sort the problem so that Andy can sort the replacement hoses (leave it to a professional !)

Can't agree on the later cars 'worse' build quality, at least they ironed out most of the 'bugs' as the lifecycle of the car progressed.

The earlier cars had less equipment fitted as standard, no satellite navigation for example, but it is down to an individual car as to what was ordered from the factory.

Regarding the brakes, I have driven both the Brembo equipped cars and the later ATE / Teves equipped cars and can't say that I noticed any difference in braking performance.

At the time when we dropped the Brembo brakes, I was very dubious that the new setup could be anywhere near as good but was very pleasantly suprised.

There are two theories as to why we moved away from Brembo as a supplier, the first is just down to cost, cheaper to use the ATE setup.

The second theory is dissatisfaction with the quality of the Brembo brakes, we used to get loads of complaints from customers about warped discs, excessive pad and disc wear and the 'dealer' replacement costs which were horrendous because of the cost of the parts.

These days, there are plenty of aftermarket brake suppliers doing 'Brembo compatible' discs and pads and the Brembo calipers look miles better !

Prices for the 'R' seem to be all over the place and not that many for sale at any one time due to the small number that were sold new.

Go and have a look at a few and get a feel for what you get for the money, bear in mind that the newest one you can buy is now 9 years old though !

So £295 per year (pre-23/3/2006) instead of £515 after that date.

I wouldn't base my choice of which car to buy on the £220 difference but worth bearing in mind.

As one of the supermarkets say 'every little helps'

I think mine is £515 road tax (anything from March 2006 ?)

Is the pre-2006 road tax £290 per year ?

If so, only a cost difference of three tanks full of V-Power, if the right car comes along and happens to be in the higher tax bracket.

6 hours ago, Andy the tyre man said:

Chrysler crossfire??

outdated merc tech in a woeful American body. 

Doesn't go or handle, like most American cars

One of a long line of dreadful Chrysler cars. 

Also, looks like a dog having a dump. 

I'd avoid but your money, your choice.  

Exactly what he said !

I would rather have typhoid !

Homer Simpson mode !

Mmmmmm...................................

Speed restrictor removal................................

Temperature gauge is fine, not moved above the centre mark.

The valley pipe has supposedly already been done once but could have failed again ?

Typically happens over a bank holiday weekend !

Russ, the header tanks from 2002 onwards are notorious for cracking on the underside of the small plastic 'spigot' inlet.

I am with you on the jubilee clips, I hate these 'self tightening' spring clips, mainly because I now need to find a set of spring clip pliers to remove them (nothing I have is big enough)

I have managed to get the part numbers for most of the hoses, but my options are to order them online (nothing will happen until Tuesday !) or wait until I am back in work in case they have any of the hoses in stock.

The main problem is that the smaller, 90 degree hose is totally squashed and I cannot manage to 'pop' it back into shape.

I didn't really want to mess about with it myself but looks like I will need to remove it to 're-inflate' it.

Really need to get the car 'driveable' so that I can get it to Bolton for Andy to sort it out when he is available (I don't think he does 'house calls' !)

There is a 'dodge' we use in Subaru world of putting jubilee clips around a collapsing hose as a temporary fix, this would be my plan and nurse the car into the dealership.

Needless to say I will refill the coolant and try a short run first !

Ah.................................................

The joys of motoring..........................................

Hard for me to say based on what I paid for mine !

I think the price for that one is a bit strong based on the mileage but it does look a very nice car ?

Condition and service history rather than 'low' mileage would be my criteria, depending on price of course !

I found this one that seems a sensible asking price.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201607236126471?search-target=usedcars&make=jaguar&model=s-type&minimum-badge-engine-size=4.0&sort=default&searchcontext=default&radius=1500&postcode=bb90at&page=2&onesearchad=new%2Cnearlynew%2Cused&logcode=p&adPos=10

The fact that it is still for sale says something about either the price, condition or both !

Sounds like about £2k tops to me !

I would not pay anywhere near the price of a 4.2 for a 4.0 myself, as I have mentioned previously.

The 3.0 V6 is a good engine, once again I would always go for the 2002 facelift cars with the 6 speed auto and electronic parking brake.

Here are the pictures.

The first one is of the hose under the supercharger air inlet.

I presume that the metal piece it connects to is the thermostat housing ?

Second picture is the short length of the radiator top hose connected to the plastic 'T' piece.

What I don't know is whether the collapsed hoses caused the problem or whether it is as a result of something else ?

The 2.5 has now been sold from my Autotrader advert.

I have a new problem with the 'R' however !

My wife called me yesterday and said that there was pink coolant on the floor under the car.

Had a look when I got home and couldn't see anything obvious, other than coolant level low in the header tank.

Checked the two plastic fittings that usually crack on the header tank and no sign of a break.

Off this weekend, so had a look today and one of the top radiator hoses is 'compressed' for want of a better word (not quite flat ?)

The short 90 degree hose under the supercharger air intake is even worse !

Car is off the road until I can get an insight into the problem, tried to speak to Andy who does all the work on my cars but he must be away this weekend.

Any suggestions guys ?

Someone mentioned a possible faulty radiator cap or just hoses are fatigued due to their age ?

Wife is not happy as she will have to drive the Impreza instead !

Now sold via Autotrader !

Thanks for the update Russ, I prefer the same all round if I can.

I still haven't made my mind up but I bet that I end up 'wimping out' and buying the Michelin Pilot Sport 4's (just because of the reviews)

The Continental Sport Contact 3's that are on the rear at the moment are legal but on dry roads I was getting the DSC light flashing under hard acceleration yesterday !

Hi Russ, my experience with remaps on N/A cars is that you will get better 'driveability' and throttle response rather than a noticeable power gain ?

Combining the remap with an uprated filter (K+N or similar) helps a bit.

£300 is not bad value if it does improve things ?

Quick update.

I fitted the washer jet cover this morning, had been putting it off in case I broke the plastic bracket on the cover or the washer jet itself.

Went more smoothly than I expected, used a drill bit (by hand) to slightly 'ease' the holes in the washer jet and the cover (because the aftermarket aluminium cruciform brackets are a very tight fit)

Pre-fitted the cruciform bracket to the cover and used a 'pick' type tool with a 90 degree tip to hook into the hole in the washer jet and pull it forward out of the bumper.

I then put a small plastic spring loaded clamp onto the body of the washer jet to prevent it retracting into the bumper.

This left me with two hands free to clip the pins on the cruciform bracket into the two holes on the washer jet, release the clamp and job done !

Spent the afternoon starting to clean things up under the bonnet, used a trim cleaner on all the black plastic items but not the kind that leaves everything 'artificially' shiny (I hate it when it looks like it has been varnished !)

I need to replace the sound deadening felt under the bonnet at some point, it has 'shrunk' so pulled away from some of the clips but not a major priority at the moment.

Next job was to clean the alloys again, looks like the previous owner used kerbs to slow down instead of the brakes !

Alloy refurb is on the cards at some point as well but need to sell the 2.5 first.

I have it advertised on 3 Jaguar forums, Autotrader and eBay at the moment with little success.

Only calls I have had are from a teenage lad that didn't look old enough to drive when I met up with him.

Turned up with two of his mates and just wanted a joyride, not impressed when I said 'no problem, just need to see your driving license, insurance that shows you are covered to drive it and the cash ?'

Hi Russ, the £180 you are paying is very good value (even if it is in December)

I had a quick look on Google maps and Goodwood is too far for me, any further South and you end up in the sea !

I would be interested in a track day type of event if we could all agree on a more central venue ?

Yellow stuff gets great reviews as a 'fast road' pad and I seem to remember some test results done at MIRA showing improved stopping distances versus OEM pads.

Type 90 approved for road use as a 'standard' pad replacement, so no insurance issues.

Redstuff creates less dust apparently but not as big an improvement over standard.

Cheers Russ !

I have managed to make one decision (finally)

Ordered the EBC 'yellow stuff' pads for the rear brakes

These are around £64, compared to the Pagid or Brembo pads from Eurocarparts for £23 (using the 25% sale code)

I know that if I had bought the standard ones, I would end up swapping them again !

Let me know how you get on with the Nexens if you do proceed.

I will need to make a decision soon as the Continentals on the back are just above the legal limit.

Buy the car or the kitten gets it !