LairdScooby

No problem Dominic, if you are assured of a good local supply of LPG for the foreseeable future i'd definitely recommend it. Hope you get over your reaction to your double-jab soon, i politely declined mine this year!

Six-Mile (a place near me)

It will suit any car as long as the engine gets to a certain temperature during each journey. The performance is the same (possibly better as LPG is ~105RON) and as mentioned above, the economy is a smidge down but at ~£1/L for my nearest place that doesn't really matter. If i'm near a Morrisons i try to fill up there as they are about 80p/L but the seem to be phasing it out. There's a station in Dorch at 99.9p/L as of yesterday and one in Wallisdown, Bournemouth and another in Swanage, both at similar prices. Not sure exactly where you are but you mentioned going from weymouth to Dorch before so you should be able to fill up somewhere. https://www.filllpg.co.uk/index.php?page=lpg.php If you type Dorset into the "Search for area" box it'll show you where and how much and if you click on the price/location flags, it gives you detailed info of exact price, when updated and so on. Modifications - needs an add-on LPG ECU, tank and injectors and asociated parts. Mine is running a BRC system, good when it works but i had a bad experience with a BRC system on a Jeep Cherokee several years back so not my favourite brand. That said, it works well, changeover is seamless and it can be switched back to petrol if needed or switches back automatically if the LPG runs out. I only do ~5k miles a year as well but would still recommend it - installation costs might take a while to recoup though. Bought the car with it already on there which was useful. Owned a few LPG vehicles in the past and converted 1 myself, definitely better for the evironment, your pocket and also your engine - it burns cleaner so less oil contamination. An excellent choice - i was going to fit those to mine but the price earlier this year was nearly £150/tyre! Settled on Maxxis Primetra which so far have performed as well as the Falken Ziex ZE-914s i had on my Rover but at ~£350 for 4 was a considerable saving on the Falkens but similar reviews. Whether they still perform as well in a years time remains to be seen, if not then it'll be a set of Falkens bought piecemeal and then fitted as a set. My insurance isn't agreed value (but is classic) and cost a bit more than yours, not much but given our different areas, i've experienced a similar difference in the past. Peter James were quoting a lot more than what i'm paying for some odd reason. Surprised you needed a rebuilt gearbox, both the ZF and AW boxes (mostly ZF on the 740 GLE) were sturdy boxes, same as fitted to the 1986 on Jag models including the XJ40 models. I suspect it probably just needed an ATF change and paybe a new filter and sump gasket and the garage was trying to make some money. I had three 740GLE auto estates before the 760 GLE auto estate, all good cars but i needed something easier to get into and preferably newer with fewer things likely to wear out through age. Had a litany of problems with the CR-V largely due to neglected servicing. Latest problems (after renewing the front caliper guide pins) is the brake fluid is waterlogged so that's the next job for the Honda. There you go, taken while fitting new plates and because of the slight curve on the front plinth, i had to leave it like that for a few days facing the sun for the new plate to stick properly on the plinth - it had fallen off because i didn't do that and i still have a long cable tie on each end with a cut piece of chopstick at the top to help the top corners curve as they should. Must take those off soon! A couple of other relatively recent mods include the clear side repeaters and Adamesh stainless back boxes plus some logo puddle lamps that display the JAGUAR name and leaper on the tarmac with the door open at night. No pic of the logo lights as yet though! Enjoy your weekend!

Base

Train (from me mishearing Freight train, freight train, going so fast when i was about 4 years old!)

You're welcome Dominic, i've achieved similar figures from mine on longer runs, for example a trip last year to the Kinson area of Bournemouth for a friend to collect a car he bought on ebay returned 31mpg. I should add mine is on LPG so the general multiplier to get the "correct" petrol consumption is 1.3 so arguably i would have returned ~40mpg on petrol. Knowing the roads you mention and roughly what i get around here on similar roads (but without the hills) i generally get 27mpg which works out ~35mpg when "corrected". Where possible, on unrestricted roads, i try to keep my speed at an indicated 78-80mph which is (by GPS) a real 73-75mph as i've found this gives the best economy on a longer run, ~2500rpm so the engine is just into the power band properly. Talking of winter motoring, i had a nasty scare last year when i encountered some ice and nearly got intimate with a telegraph pole. Since fitted a new set of tyres as the ones on there were all 10+ years old and had obviously gone hard, despite having good tread. At the time my other car was a Volvo 760 GLE on near new cheap tyres and that had gone round the same junction without even a twitch hence pointing to the tyres being the cause of the problem. If your tyres aren't reasonably new, it would be worth double checking them before winter in the light of this. 😉 😄

Glad to hear it's all sorted now Dominic, it's surprising how sensors interact with each other on many cars. There are many schools of thought on auto box use, one is put it in D and forget it no matter the length and terrain of your journey (assuming it's all forward of course). The other is to use the manual override for hills (both ascending and descending) and also for restricted speed areas. Rough rule of thumb is at 2000rpm (the beginning of the power/torque band), 3rd gear gives 30mph and 4th gives 40mph so besides helping avoid a speeding fine, it should (in theory) improve fuel economy. I'm currently testing that theory but thanks to some recent town driving don't have any conclusive results. Using the auto box purely as a manual seems a bit unnecessary IMHO, fine to use it on hills ( as above) etc or for slightly more control through a series of twisty S bends if you're driving "enthusiastically". Either way, it shouldn't cause any problems using the box as a manual, it will in fact help to keep the various hydraulic valves moving easily, especially if combined with ATF changes every 24k miles to keep it fresh. Early S-Types upto 2002 used Mercon V (roughly equivalent to Dexron III in viscosity but i'd be reluctant to use Dexron) and later cars used Dexron 6 (ZF 6 speed) which is much thinner and causes problems in the older (Ford) 5 speed auto. Mine is an early car and when i change the fluid i will be using Carlube ATF-U or NAPA MVA as both meet/exceed Mercon V specs. Another reason for me using ATF-U is my other car also uses the same so saves me having two different ATFs lurking in the shed! 😛

Dread

Phobia

Clown

Government

Excursion

Tenacity

Trivial (as in strictly for the birds)

Immigrant

Frontier

Exploration

Wanderlust

Hopefully the ABS sensor will fix the gearbox too and you don't have two separate faults there! Keep us posted Dominic!

Boonies (Boondocks)

Province

Cadillac

Do you know what fluid was used in the box? I have a couple of ideas but some more info is needed before i have any firm ideas of where to start looking.

Hi Fiona, just to clarify, restricted performance is in fact limp mode. It should be ok to drive but expect lower performance and hgher fuel consumption. If you can find an alternative route avoiding the motorway, i think i would probably do that, not that it's likely to break down but if it did, at least you wouldn't be stuck on the motorway. My thoughts are with you for your mum, i also have a (sort of) family member in hospital at the moment so i understand what you're going through, hope both your mum and car make speedy recoveries!

Welcome aboard Jacques! Check your sills, particularly the rear ends of them as they have a habit of being the first places to corrode badly, often hidden behind plastic covers. Good luck with your X Type, they're good cars! 😉 😄