JustBadly

I have found Avon tyres to be offering some of the worst quality tires out there, wear rate is uneven, low mileage, perishing and even bulges from tire wall damage. Only slightly better than the Chinese brands and 4x the price. I have Toyo tires fitted on my Jag and they are a good all-rounder and half the price of the big 3.

I have just fixed a water leak on the Jag and it's sounds very much like the one you have. Took months to find it since the leak was only when engine running and from ..... the pipe union between the water expansion tank and hosing. Someone had used radweld so the leak was 100ml per week or so. I spotted water on the frame under the radiator and since the radiator appeared sound I suspected the expansion tank. After wiggling pipes the leak was much worse so I stripped the tank and hoses. I decided to make an 'O' ring for the pipe union and placed it on the 45° ramp with some white pipe tape for good measure. Much grunting later and the leak is fixed!

Front pad replacement is simple but heavy work. While you are at it buy new bleed nipples for the brake calipers. You will need a piston rewind tool, they are stiff !Removed!'s. When you have the job set up and are ready to rewind the pistons, loosen the bleed nipple until hand tight. Then as you rewind the piston loosen the bleed nipple so the brake fluid drains out (all over the floor). Once fully recessed, tighten the bleed nipple. This dumps the brake fluid nearest the pad - which will be seriously out of grade. When the pads are in and wheel on, pump the brake pedal till firm and top up the brake reservoir with new fluid. This is a quick and reliable way to 'bleed' the brakes.

This tearful account of transmission woes has me telling you my tale of recent Jag ownership. When I bought the car (private) within a few miles I noticed a rumble when going over 30mph coming from the floorpan/transmission area. Using it for the commute, the gearbox was terrible until warm, then just about bearable - almost comically bad. Now I am a biker, and have been for many years and one thing we bikers are used to is; a multi-plate wet clutch. And one thing these clutches are sensitive to is; fluid level. I was fairly sure I would have me a good transmission once I got around to replenishing the fluid. So I got the kit together and force-filled the zf with 7 litres of lifeguard and the transmission has been wonderful ever since (as I expected). The trouble is that the refill instructions (fill until oil seeps out of the refill port - start engine, do again) only manage to put 2.5 litres or so into the 'box and that will never cure the problems manifest. Now I wanted to add an extra litre to the transmission but didn't want to drain/refill the transmission in order to do this. So after a while I thought about adding fluid to the zf via the oil cooler in the unified water radiator. Going 'in' by the upper hose did not flow but the lower hose allowed fluid to be introduced albeit at a very slow rate, about 1 litre in 30 minutes! My point is - if the rumble is apparent but the gearbox functions well when warm, add fluid the way I have described until it goes away and forget garage advice - they do not have the correct service instruction.