Lazlo Woodbine

Scratch that. If course I had to open the hydraulics, I took the pistons out to get to the cam. I went a bit mad there for a minute Ted.

Welcome. I'll tell you what I've learned from my experiences, of course this is just what I've found on my car, yours may differ somewhat; I've had a bad experience with cheap replacement rear track-rods. The ball-joint (inner) ends on both had such play in them within only a few months that it made the car steer from the rear on the throttle, over bumps, braking etc. Bare in mind that parts have a 12 month warranty whether bought by a garage or private individual, but even so make sure they use a quality part. Front drop links generally make a high frequency chattering type noise rather than a clunk or a knock. My hunch is ARB bushes, the knock from them is quite distinctive. The best way I can describe is "bonk-thonk" (tm). The bushes ovalise allowing the bar to move back and forth rather than twisting as it should. You can definitely hear it move one way and then the other and it will send quite a knock to your feet through the floor. The bushes are a pain to change so I think it's worth using Polybush replacements, they cost about a fiver more than standard ones and apparently last much longer. I fitted a pair earlier this year and they seem to be working just fine. The rear exhaust mounting hooks hang off the rear bumper beam. It rusts around the hooks and the exhaust can end up supporting the hook not the other way round. My car has done this on the n/s and it's on the to-do list, I'll probably pop-rivet a plate on to attach the hook to rather than take it off and weld it. I would ask the garage to sort this out as a matter of course as it could cause exhaust problems sooner rather than later. The handbrake is built into the rear caliper and the cam mechanism can seize up but they're easy to take of and clean without opening the hydraulics. I've done both of mine, one was like it when I bought the car and the other seized despite being in much more regular use than it was with the previous owner. That sounds like ARB drop links. In my experience if they're not in the first flush of youth they should be replaced if the ARB bushes are being done as they have to be removed for the job anyway and they probably won't last long if reused. Inner front track-rod joints are available but I've never had need to work on mine so I can't tell you anything about them. Of all the advisories though I would be most concerned by the front wheel bearing. The parts can be had quite cheaply but fitting them is a right pain. Also, it would be silly not to change the lower ball-joint at the same time as the hub has to come out to replace it anyway, again the part is cheap. It's almost certainly the most awkward job I've had to do to my S-type (touch wood) so I'd be inclined to insist on it being fixed as a matter of course, or at least for the cost of the parts. I'm sorry if that all sounds a bit negative, it's not supposed to. However, if you're buying from a dealer under the pretence that the car's all in good working order then it's better to be informed and able to point out any faults that may be present before you do a mile in it.

The way I would approach the corroded hose issue is to first get a good general consensus on their expected service life from various people who know the cars, specialists etc. If your findings indicate that either the corrosion should have been obvious at the time of the pump change / that it should be replaced with the pump / the pump should not have been changed / anything favourable etc. then see if someone with a bit of clout will back you up arguing the point to Jaguar. If you can argue convincingly that there was specific negligence involved rather than just saying that you would hope it to last longer than it did and that you don't think the pump should have been changed then you will be in a much stronger position. Unfortunately ten months is a long time for bad workmanship to show up and far exceeds the limitation for mechanical faults following an MOT for example. Also a seven year old car is considered old by manufacturers. I know, I know, it is ridiculous. Personally I don't have any experience arguing this sort of thing when the sale or servicing of goods are involved but I have put negligence cases together so know the value of a short, sharp and to the point argument (with plenty hidden up your sleeve). To be honest I'm not optimistic of you getting too far with them but if you're really going for the throat then my lack of confidence should do nothing but spur you on!

You're welcome. I seem to remember that to get the passenger window to move you need to have the switch on that door plugged in, awkward. Also, be careful of the rod that runs from the door latch up to the exterior handle. Moving it can make the window move on its own, that's not fun when your hand's in the way.. I think it must be something to do with the full closure locking doodah. I only had it happen with the drivers door but the passenger side may be the same. Thinking about if you do run into trouble with the regulator plug being different then you won't want to wait for me to reply so I'll tell you what I did; Now it is a bit of a bodge but I had to get it back together so I didn't have much choice. The pins lined up fine but the socket on the regulator was a different shape to the plug so I cut the hollow part off leaving the bit around the pins intact and attached the plug with a cable tie and several wraps of self-amalgamating tape. Just make sure to test the window before putting it together properly to make sure the switch isn't working backwards as without the socket it's possible to get the polarity wrong.

Take the rubber mat out of the bottom of the "handle" (not the release handle, the bit you pull the door shut with) on the door trim to expose two philips screws, remove them. The door trim will now pull off the door, it feels like it's going to break but it you got all around it pulling carefully it wont. The plastic around the door release handle is awkward and you'll just have to fiddle with it to get it past the handle. Before walking away with the trim in your hands undo the electrical connectors. They're all different to each other so you can't get them mixed up. The regulator is held in by four nuts or bolts (I've seen both) with a normal 10mm hexagonal head. Once they're undone it's just a case of wriggling the assembly out and undoing its electrical plug. It's surprisingly easy actually, as is fitting the new regulator. Ensure all electrical connectors are back together and test them before putting the trim back on. Refitting the trim involves lining up the plastic clips. Make sure you do otherwise you'll get broken clips. Note: I fitted a used aftermarket regulator from a 2000 car and the plug was different to the one in my 2002 car which was odd. If you have the same issue get back to me and I'll explain what I did.

I quite like the funny looks. Mind you I could be well within the age demographic and still not match the image of the car.. Well done for diving in there and repairing it. I would have thought a fuse of a breaker of some sort between the DCCV and control unit would save it next time. My car has the older unit so I haven't really looked into it to be honest. That's great knowing that it has a good service history. His loss is your gain!

Welcome. I think I'm fair way below average age at 35, I reckon you probably are the youngest. A donor car's a great thing to have. My advice is to make a list of all the bits you know don't work on it or you've already taken off, it can save a lot of aggro later.. A faulty DCCV can often cause a climate control module fault on face lift cars like yours. I messed about with one for ages before finding out that someone had not only done it all before but written down everything it took me a day to work out. http://jaguarclimatecontrol.com/diagnose/ If it's an auto then it's worth changing the gearbox oil at 60k. Jaguar say it's filled for life, that's nonsense.

Go here: http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do Put you VIN in and you should get a fairly comprehensive build log showing what options you car has.

That's a shame. I must admit that the significant difference in temperature left to right that you described made me think DCCV. But I was hopeful that it could be down to flaps due to the scratching sound. Check out that link I posted above and have a look at the DIY section. I'm not suggesting you delve into it yourself but it could be very useful to know when looking for someone to do repairs. Bare in mind it's an American site so some translating may be required. Nice looking hund by the way.

You're welcome. Lettuce know how you get on with your car. If you need or want more input then just ask away, it's what the forum's for.

Just in case you do end up suspecting the DCCV don't let a garage just replace it. Anyone worthy of working on a car is capable of testing it first. This popular tactic of just changing parts until the problem goes away is wasteful and wrong. Unfortunately main dealers are often the worst for this lazy approach, personal opinion.

There is a procedure for resetting the blender flaps. They can get out of sync and make scratchy noises in the dash as one or more try to go past their stops. It's worth doing this sooner rather than later as the motors are DC and don't appreciate being powered with nowhere to go. They can fail, but all four at once? No, the chances are so minuscule that I'm happy to say that that is absolutely not the case here. • Select full cooling -Lo • Select full heating - Hi • Back to full cooling • Select face followed by floor • Then select face again • Finally select defrost A favourite cause of hot-one-side, cool-the-other is a faulty DCCV or Dual Climate Control Valve. It's an electric solenoid controlled water valve (like the fill valve on a washing machine) which regulates the flow of water to the heater matrix. One side of it failing can cause the symptom you describe. But I would try to get the flaps to behave themselves before delving into that. This is a very handy site; http://jaguarclimatecontrol.com/

The major expense there will be the suspension arm bush. Jaguar only offer a complete arm and not individual bushes. Their rationale is that us mere mortals could never change the bushes without cocking it up and damaging their finely crafted aluminium arm. Well that's rubbish in my opinion, several companies sell after-market bushes and a good garage should have no qualms about fitting them to the arms. I'm not a qualified mechanic and I did just this the other week. See the link below for my write up. I'd wager that the garage is quoting for a whole arm as most, if not all, motor factors don't offer the bushes. While it's true that the labour costs will be higher the savings on parts will far outweigh them. You should be able to get both sides re-bushed for far less than one side this way. It's good practice to balance suspension work side-to-side plus the other side will not be far behind the one that's failed. The dust boots are worthwhile assuming the ball-joints have no play in them of course. If the drop links show even the slightest wear then just have them replaced as they're relatively cheap considering you will be paying for labour. I touch on the subject of track rods in the post above and would say that if they need replacing then it's definitely worth spending the money on quality, maybe even genuine, ones. The cheapy ones I had were awful and actually made the car dangerous to drive in no time at all.

I don't know if this is of any help at all but; My S-type has electric folding mirrors and someone hit one at some speed a while ago folding it back against the door. After this it was very loose and would fold back and forth with very little effort and no dedent. I had to set the switch the folded position and then manually move the mirror shell about until it clicked and re-engaged with the motor mechanism. It may be worth trying a similar procedure with yours.

I think I'm correct in saying that the vast majority of users here are in the UK. If you want to try selling it abroad then it would be worth pointing out how easy it can be to export/import cars between US/UK respectively. Showing that you're willing to organise what's necessary on your side would surely help swing any potential buyers who are intimidated by the idea of importing a car. You are on the right coast for it to come in this direction at least! We get a lot of rust here and so the state of your cars bodywork would be a pivotal issue and worth mentioning in your advert. I hope you find it a good home.

It would definitely be worth getting that switch working what it should before looking elsewhere. In case you haven't dealt with those rear door windows before I'll tell you about them; The glass sits in a short channel which is part of the regulator. There is a hole of about 1/4" though the sides of the channel and a corresponding one in the glass. There's a two piece plastic plug that passes right through to secure the regulator and glass together. The big piece looks like a roll pin and the smaller piece pushes inside of it to swell it and make a tight fit. Make sure the small piece is well in there or both will fall out and cause mayhem, I know.. There should be a small round black sticker on the inner skin of the door covering a hole which will line up with the hole in the channel of the regulator when it's about halfway up. It's not very generous but short of a hole-saw it's the best you'll get.