All these new car threads
02-25-2015, 11:51 AM
#132
All cars rust, even plastic ones have metal bits
My S is in decent fettle but there was some tin worm under the rear bumper which i removed and treated. The bottom was dinitrol'd and looked good last time i was under there
My S is in decent fettle but there was some tin worm under the rear bumper which i removed and treated. The bottom was dinitrol'd and looked good last time i was under there
03-08-2015, 03:06 AM
#133
Banned
Thread Starter
Interim service at a Jag main dealer tomorrow. £200 under the Allegiance scheme. Not cheap for not much more than an oil and filter change but the stamp's worth having plus a checkover on top of the MOT. I'll do the tie rod ends next week if the parts dept have them in. The vibration under high speed braking has worsened in the last week or so. I had eliminated it with the new front control arms so hopefully that should sort it.
03-08-2015, 08:08 AM
#134
Given the volume of oil its not bad. I paid £100 for the oil for mine from ECP
03-17-2015, 03:07 AM
#135
Banned
Thread Starter
Service was done and the health check was 100% green so that was reassuring.
Some dopey previous owner or mechanic had failed to fit the undertray properly so after a recent heavy bump on an uneven piece of road it detached itself, taking part of an arch liner with it. Someone then maliciously ran over it before I could retrieve it but the karma was strong as it punctured their tyre. Led to an amusing conversation by the side of the road.
It's this bit:
[attachment=75452:20150301_142351_resized.jpg]
I nearly ordered one off ebay for £35 before I realised it wouldn't fit the STR, due to a couple of subtle modifications for that model. New is £200+. Some judicious use of a heat gun and pliers and everything went back into shape. The arch liner had to be bought new though and that was an eye watering £90. Had a look at the other line which had some damage so I repaired that with some sections from the soon to be discarded liner from the other side and some pop rivets. The biggest problem in all this was getting the right fixings, mostly plastic rivet type things. Sprayed grease over a few bits hidden away by the liners but there was no significant rust.
Whilst down and dirty with the bumper and liners, etc, I noticed I've got a couple of broken grille sections that could put the lower rad/oil cooler at risk from debris. I quite like the look of the mesh grille to match the rad. Anyone know a supplier for that stuff they can recommend? I don't want to buy an off the shelf part from an accessory place.
Did the tie rod ends at the same time. One looked ok but the other had shown up on the advisory and looked knackered. Not expensive so I replaced both and had the alignment checked. Also discovered another contributory reason for the high speed wheel wobble - lost balance weights on the nsf wheel (probably the bump that did for the undertray) so that was sorted.
All driving spot on now. Very quick, very comfy and goes where you point it. I will do the front springs and shocks later in the year but I think I will put the car away at the end of the month and run the Datsun as a rolling tart up/fettle. See its own thread which I'll update now.
Some dopey previous owner or mechanic had failed to fit the undertray properly so after a recent heavy bump on an uneven piece of road it detached itself, taking part of an arch liner with it. Someone then maliciously ran over it before I could retrieve it but the karma was strong as it punctured their tyre. Led to an amusing conversation by the side of the road.
It's this bit:
[attachment=75452:20150301_142351_resized.jpg]
I nearly ordered one off ebay for £35 before I realised it wouldn't fit the STR, due to a couple of subtle modifications for that model. New is £200+. Some judicious use of a heat gun and pliers and everything went back into shape. The arch liner had to be bought new though and that was an eye watering £90. Had a look at the other line which had some damage so I repaired that with some sections from the soon to be discarded liner from the other side and some pop rivets. The biggest problem in all this was getting the right fixings, mostly plastic rivet type things. Sprayed grease over a few bits hidden away by the liners but there was no significant rust.
Whilst down and dirty with the bumper and liners, etc, I noticed I've got a couple of broken grille sections that could put the lower rad/oil cooler at risk from debris. I quite like the look of the mesh grille to match the rad. Anyone know a supplier for that stuff they can recommend? I don't want to buy an off the shelf part from an accessory place.
Did the tie rod ends at the same time. One looked ok but the other had shown up on the advisory and looked knackered. Not expensive so I replaced both and had the alignment checked. Also discovered another contributory reason for the high speed wheel wobble - lost balance weights on the nsf wheel (probably the bump that did for the undertray) so that was sorted.
All driving spot on now. Very quick, very comfy and goes where you point it. I will do the front springs and shocks later in the year but I think I will put the car away at the end of the month and run the Datsun as a rolling tart up/fettle. See its own thread which I'll update now.
12-02-2016, 02:13 AM
#136
Banned
Thread Starter
Been a while since I updated this. Car has been great and turned 112,000 miles without a hitch, then, out of darkness comes opportunity...
On a motorway journey I got a coolant warning light. Temp gauge normal. Stopped and checked coolant - all fine. Restarted car and light went off so carried on. Happened twice more - restarts cleared the warning light, no sign of coolant loss. Then the temp gauge soared but went back down again almost as quickly. Stopped yet again and checked coolant ok. Carried on and again high temp level on the gauge so put on the heater to see if it was blowing hot - it wasn't and as I pulled over lovely clouds of steam out the back. Head gaskets!
After recovering the car home, the source of the problem was traced to a £30 water pump failure. It had been sticking and freeing which must have caused the erratic signals and then finally stuck which caused the terminal overheat. Had I been local and not on a long motorway run I'd almost certainly have sussed the problem before any damage was done. The car runs fine and my first thoughts were to fix the gaskets but it's a complex job labour wise and it's still a 112K engine. So I waited.
Patience has been rewarded with a bargain price 2006, 50,000 mile engine, complete with 'box and ancillaries, which will be fitted over Christmas. In fact, as the whole engine and box will come out the bottom of the car and the new one will go in the same way (as when the car was built) it will be quicker than doing the head gaskets and none of the hassle of multiple washer and gasket replacements, supercharger removal, etc. I could do the gaskets on the failed engine and sell it, maybe separate from the ancillaries to maximise my return. Alternatively I'll advertise the engine as is so it can be seen running.
Pretty difficult to find a 50,000 STR nowadays (only a thousand build up to 2007 anyway and at least half are gone) so with the all the suspension refreshing I've done on mine I've really wound the life of the car back and ensured it's a keeper. Net cost should be measured in the hundreds of pounds so a right result.
Only one question, for £158 and while everything is out, do I take the car to 440bhp? I'm not a modder by nature but this looks easy:
Powerhouse Automotive | Jaguar Supercharger 4.0 & 4.2 V8 Upper Pulleys
On a motorway journey I got a coolant warning light. Temp gauge normal. Stopped and checked coolant - all fine. Restarted car and light went off so carried on. Happened twice more - restarts cleared the warning light, no sign of coolant loss. Then the temp gauge soared but went back down again almost as quickly. Stopped yet again and checked coolant ok. Carried on and again high temp level on the gauge so put on the heater to see if it was blowing hot - it wasn't and as I pulled over lovely clouds of steam out the back. Head gaskets!
After recovering the car home, the source of the problem was traced to a £30 water pump failure. It had been sticking and freeing which must have caused the erratic signals and then finally stuck which caused the terminal overheat. Had I been local and not on a long motorway run I'd almost certainly have sussed the problem before any damage was done. The car runs fine and my first thoughts were to fix the gaskets but it's a complex job labour wise and it's still a 112K engine. So I waited.
Patience has been rewarded with a bargain price 2006, 50,000 mile engine, complete with 'box and ancillaries, which will be fitted over Christmas. In fact, as the whole engine and box will come out the bottom of the car and the new one will go in the same way (as when the car was built) it will be quicker than doing the head gaskets and none of the hassle of multiple washer and gasket replacements, supercharger removal, etc. I could do the gaskets on the failed engine and sell it, maybe separate from the ancillaries to maximise my return. Alternatively I'll advertise the engine as is so it can be seen running.
Pretty difficult to find a 50,000 STR nowadays (only a thousand build up to 2007 anyway and at least half are gone) so with the all the suspension refreshing I've done on mine I've really wound the life of the car back and ensured it's a keeper. Net cost should be measured in the hundreds of pounds so a right result.
Only one question, for £158 and while everything is out, do I take the car to 440bhp? I'm not a modder by nature but this looks easy:
Powerhouse Automotive | Jaguar Supercharger 4.0 & 4.2 V8 Upper Pulleys
12-02-2016, 03:37 AM
#137
If the hike isn't going to make other currently unstressed things stressed then why not.
12-02-2016, 11:10 PM
#138
Banned
Thread Starter
More concerned that it might change the feel of the car - which I like - but I suppose I could always change it back.
What it would do is render a change to a 500bhp XFR pretty pointless and help me to justify a 600bhp car.
12-18-2016, 01:25 AM
#140
Banned
Thread Starter
I will see the new motor tomorrow, before it's fitted, so I'll make a decision. Will be interesting to see what difference it makes to insurance.