January 2010
Anyone know where I can find a guide to cleaning the engine bay up (I think they call it detailing) not to a ridiculously anal level, but just so it puts an additional smile on ones face when bonnet popped up (as rest of my car does).
For details of the car in question, see separate post on Jag XJS.
I would love to get the engine bay looking better in time for a Jaguar event coming up.
I realise it is a whole world itself, and some people spends £1000s on this, but not me, I just want to know what I can do myself with the right cloths and detergents or WD40 or whatever.
Guy Read more
My car is comming upto 200,000 miles and so im going to getting the cambelt changed. I was told it was done around 140,000 but when I looked at paperwork I can only see evidence of one done at 94,000.
Ive only ever taken one car for a cambelt before and paid around £150 with a new water pump on a 96 306 1.9td. However I dont use this mechanic anymore!
I was wondering if anyone can give me an idea of cost for this car?
Also I was considering getting the water pump done at the same time, would it be worth getting the crankshaft pulley done too?
cheers Read more
Engine overheating - Intermittent Heater
Hi all,
Just aborted journey from Liverpool to Bradford as Engine overheated. Things started to go wrong when the blower started pumping out cold air (from initially being on full hot). Temperature gauge then quickly rose to red. Slowed down, but bubbling noise from engine bay persuaded me to stop. Water level slightly below "min" level, but I've not checked it in months so am not sure if its related. Opened up water cap (lots of steam), topped up and drove off 20 mins later. Same problem 2 mins after driving, no warm air from blower, and temp gauge rose to red.
I decided to get off motor way and try and limp back from Manchester on slower roads. Heater began blowing out hot air again as I travelled back down the East Lancs. Got the car back up to 60mph with temperature gauge back to normal. Every so often the heater would jump back to blowing cold air out and then return to hot. Turned heater off when going through Mersey Tunnel and temp gauge started to rise again. Turned blower on when out of tunnel but remained on cold whatever I did. Temps again stared to rise but stuck to slow roads and then got home before it became too serious.
I've read a fair few explanations for this problem on this and other sites but am not sure if they describe exactly what I have written above. The best answer so far seem to be replacing the Heater Control Valve though Other solutions such as flushing the cooling system and collapsed pipes seem just as plausible. If any body has any ideas then I would be very grateful to hear them. Also, if you need anymore info from me i'll do my best to answer your questions.
Thanks for taking the time to read
Adam
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I had the same problem. Turned out to be the thermostat for me, make sure you flush the system after you?ve done the stat.
I?d check to make sure the head gasket?s ok seems as you continued to drive the car while it was overheating
I have one of these and noticed over the cold spell the heater was blowing just luke warm.
Sent it back to the main dealer who said "working to specification"
Had the usual arguments and made the workshop Supervisor check it out after a run of 10 miles and he confirmed by placing the trip computer in test mode that the engine temp was only 50c and it would need a new thermostat.
New thermostat fitted and heater now running a little warmer and engine temp now up to about 65c even though the outside temp has now increased to 6/7c
Has anyone experience this problem over the cold spell and does anyone know what the normal running temp shoul be.
Also the fuel consumption has dropped from a reasonable 59mpg to about 45mpg
Any help would be appreciated in preparation for round 4 at the local Ford Dealer next week
Many thanks
Barry
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Just wondering if anybody can help my xantia has just failed the mot on a leaking front centre sphere. Looking at it the leak is coming from between the metal plate and the end of the sphere. Can anyone tell me whether there is a seal inside and can you just buy the seal or the whole sphere. Can any help with info on bleeding the system after this is done.. Thanx Read more
I will leave it to you Richard LOL
So I decided to wash the car after all the snow and salt has gone. Thick with grime and muck and the labouring task of unravelling my hose and extension cables. Took me nearly 3 hours to go round inside and out. But the results paid off. Bit cheeky I suppose as I live next to a hand car wash, still I dont fancy the swirls and scratches of their many used sponges and brushes even though really I shouldnt be bothered as my car is 12 years old. Used my christmas present of a microfibre wash mit and I can recommend them espically when using two buckets. Now settling down with a can of beer.
Anybody else put their car washing off until now? Read more
I cheat, but at least they blast off the worst of the dirt with a pressure washer before it goes in to the mechanical hand washerm and it get a wash underneath as well.
Come out gleaming
Hi there,
Have noticed over the last month that when driving at low speed and revs I am getting what to me appears excessive emissions. Have had for just under 1 year and got about 14k on the clock.
Have taken the car into the dealer who have stated that this is normal and is just condensation, although they did say that the oil levels were high so have taken it back to the garage that serviced the car to rectify. The thing that concerns me is that I see nothing similar with other cars on the road.
Have read the discussion thread on Mazda 6 DPF filter problems and am concerned that this could be something similar although it is a petrol DISI engine.
Anybody have any thoughts? Read more
I bought a 2 year old CX7 with 9500 miles on the clock 2 months ago, 3 weeks ago it started to smoke occasionally after a few minutes at idle. 2 weeks ago it started to smoke after hard acceleration. Booked it straight into my local Mazda dealer who is now replacing the turbo under warranty;The only problem is, there aren't any in the country and the dealer can't as yet tell me when they can get one.
The powers that be and others want car use diminished. When I was young hardly anyone had cars and people worked within waliking distance or a short cheap bus ride. Now we have a situation where there are millions of cars and people have to use them to get to work. I remember my dad saying in the not too distant past this was a seemingly big country taking a long time to get round and now you can drive top to bottom in a few hours. You just can't go back. Read more
Under what logic train travel costs more than car travel?
Have you factored in everything that the rail companies have to? Like the commuter's car, it is mainly used at rush hour. Services have to continue through the day when they make less profit, and at off-peak times when pay rates may be higher. Your car incurs heavy hidden costs which you pay for in tax etc.
Think about it. Then make an offer to run the railways at a profit.
Having 9 years NCB, when I reversed into a truck the other day (no damage to truck) I decided not to claim for the repairs to my estate tailgate on the insurance as it is almost time for a new policy, the repairs would be £350 -v- £100 excess and loss of no claims.
Now, just 5 days later, I have had a parking accident whereby I have scraped my neighbours front wing and damaged my rear passenger door and rear wing. Realistically, it's going to have to be an insurance job - thus negating my 'savings' from the earlier bump.
Is there a practical way to get the first bump dealt with at the same time? Both incidents were my fault, both within a week of each other & only one other driver will need compensating. Read more
clearly its an unlucky motor.
Nah, I don't go for that - if anything is unlucky it's the driver (and I hope my wife doesn't swap that!)
I want to dye preserve some leather this is on our sofa but im sure this applies to car seats (there leather too moderators).
I have give it some leather cream i got from a car spares shop and it does look nice and tidy but a friend has said there is a dye available at approx £60.00? that will cover the seats anybody used this and can comment?
The colour is red oxblood.
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Following on from this, the front leather seats in my Bora have gone a bit shiney compared to the semi matt finish that the rear seats still have.
Is there a product that can return them to this semi matt finish ?
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I have a 1984 XJ12 and have been through this exercise. What you should avoid is splashing a lot of water around the engine. A very useful tool is an electric steam cleaner. The one I have is like a large electric kettle that has a flexible hose and a nozzle. I use a range of small brushes and engine degreaser to loosen dirt and oil in a small area. Then I arrange some absorbent cloth to one side of the area and use the steam cleaner to move the degreaser and dissolved oil and dirt into the cloth. It's not fast, but it does a good job without water getting into the electrics. Enjoy your XJS!