Lazlo Woodbine

I'm going to try to get mine on a classic policy, that may sound crazy but some companies will cover some fairly run-of-mill cars at 15 years old as a classic. My Golf on the other hand is 20 and no-one will consider it for a classic policy, maybe quite rightly..

I thought that was what he meant by valet lock.

My first thought would be hooking up another battery with jumper cables, having the negative on to the engine block and the live on to the big permanent live cable at the starter motor solenoid. I don't know the practicalities of this as I've never done it but I can't think of a more direct route to get juice to your battery. I locked my keys in the boot once and had to break a window (I'd rather not talk about it). Cut a T shaped slit in the parcel shelf above one of the speaker holes and managed to grab the release cable for the seat back and fold it forward to get in the boot. It would be tight to get to the battery but desperate times and all that.. The cut in the shelf doesn't show.

I would go with Bilstein dampers, they make the original spec ones. B4 are standard replacement type but there are different ones for normal and sport models. B6 are uprated. But if your S-type's making funny noises you should check out all the bushes and balljoints first. There are quite a lot of them and they seem to fail much more regularly than dampers. There are videos on Youtube where an American chap goes over the suspension with a pry bar to check for wear, they will explain better and a lot quicker than I can in writing: The car he's working on has the older type front suspension but the principle's the same.

I'm replacing mine next week but am fitting them into some spare arms myself. I felt the cost of the press and arms was justified as I will use the press again and, well, I've always wanted one! I've replaced lots of metal encased bushes in steel arms, axles etc. using a vice or threaded bar but I think the alloy ones need that accuracy that a hydraulic press gives. Bare poly ones on the other hand go in so easily though you can almost do some by hand. I'm using some OE type bushes for the two outer ones as I think they're more suitable so I'd be interested to know how they work out for you.

Hmm, yes I put some extra grease in the bushes of the new rear track rods which are very similar to these. What little there is in these looks and smells a lot like vaseline.. I've been wondering what to coat the seals with, I'd be inclined to think that anything petrochemical would attack rubber rather than protect, but then they're filled with grease aren't they! I don't think UV is too much of a worry (unlike those track rod ends) but keeping the grit and muck off them would be great. Whatever it was would have to be pretty resilient. I've repaired split balljoint covers and even CV boots with self-amalgamating tape before. It's amazing stuff but I'm not sure it would last on these ones as space is tight and there are moving parts right next to them.

I know the Sport models have a different dampers at least and it would make sense that the springs were made to match. I'd really like four Bilstein B6 dampers but they cost north of £500 so will have to wait. I've been trying to justify a set because of the worn out lower front damper bush I found, but that's a bit of stretch. I'll be putting the new rear bushes which arrived yesterday in my spare lower rear arms this weekend when I've collected the hydraulic press. Hopefully the weather will stay good so I can get them onto the car as well! I can't stand a wobbly car and that's what mine is right now. I'll take pictures and make another thread for that. One of the new bushes. The central tube connects to the outer one via a nylon balljoint hence the misalignment. I have no excuse for the poor focus.. As you can see here the rubber is just a seal to protect said balljoint. I'll take the covers right off when fitting the bushes to save damaging them. The balljoint design of these bushes are the reason I wouldn't fit poly in their place. Firstly they allow the arm to move up and down in the correct arc and the hub carrier upright to rotate freely so the toe of the wheels can be tracked properly which I believe a polybush wouldn't. Secondly they are solid, as in there is absolutely no compliance to radial loads. A piece of polyurethane of any hardness simply cannot improve on that lack of radial compliance and so, as I see it, the much touted improvements in suspension component location are null and void for this particular application. Apart from that wobble this is the most comfortable riding car I've ever had. That's not too surprising as I've never had a Jaguar before but I won't know what's hit me when I get my Corrado back on the road, it's uncompromising that's for sure. But the real problem is I think the Jag's probably faster as well as comfier, hmm. Tyres. I have Pirelli P7 Cinturato on the front and have a matching pair in the shed to go on the back once the Lassa's are worn out. I've not yet actually run out of grip in normal driving, playing about on wet slip roads is another matter but that's just being a hooligan.. Oh I also changed the fuel filter on Sunday along with those other parts. It's was a lot simpler than I thought it would be. Rather than the Ford Quick Connect fittings I was expecting it had a plastic C clip retainers that passed though the socket on the end of each fuel hose. These easily prised out with a flat screwdriver and then the hose just pulled off. The Quick Connect type need a tool to release them which I'm glad I didn't have to make, I would prefer simple Jubilee clips myself to be honest. The muck and grit that came out the inlet side of the filter was quite something so I'm glad I changed it! I'm sure hard acceleration feels smoother now.

I fitted a pair of front drop links. At least one had started knocking within a week of me fitting new Polybush ARB bushes. I knew deep down that I should have changed them then but I didn't. A little annoying as I'd undone one end of each one to allow the ARB to move freely for the bush change but there you go. On reflection I think that what with undoing and then doing them up the ball joint pin inevitably rotated and ended up in a different position therefore exacerbating the wear dramatically. I also fitted front discs and pads, used discs and pads. Yes I know it sounds tight but they came off a scrap car I had a load of bits off last year and they'd had so little use that it was worth the £100 odd saving. Whilst in there I found a nearly worn out o/s/f wheel bearing and lower damper bush and the n/s/f track rod end is near death. Also the lower front arm front bushes have a worrying amount of movement in them which I'm sure is responsible for the shake and general loose feeling in rough corners (there are lots of those here). Once I've rebuilt my spare lower rear arms with new bushes and fitted them I will move to the front and replace what's needed there. The new damper bush and track rod end will be easy as I'll just buy quality replacements, Lemforder is first choice. However, the front lower arm bushes are another matter; The originals appear to be a void type bush which to my mind may well give a more compliant ride when new but will wear out sooner than a solid one and then give a worse ride that the solid one would at similar mileage. And so, from one extreme to the other; For the front lower wishbones I'm looking at Powerflex Black series which are the hardest compound they make. I try to look at the whole picture when it comes to suspension and so although they certainly will transmit more vibration than rubber the improved location of the arms can only be a benefit as it will allow the springs and dampers to do their job and lessen unwanted geometry changes. Plus for me most journeys are on B and small A roads, we live 50 miles from a motorway and although there is a dual carriageway (yes one) I don't really use it much. So comfort around corners is what I have to consider and I've never found a floaty, wallowy car comfortable on twisty roads. In fact comfort would normally be way down the list of priorities for me but I bought this car for primarily that reason (another story) so it has to be considered. Please bare in mind I work on a budget of not-a-lot. I do virtually all and any work needed myself and although I would certainly not call myself an engineer I am experienced in mechanical repair and learning all the time, as it should be. I will probably update this thread now and again as I rebuild my suspension and let you all know how it works out.

I don't know about the engine but this is a good site for the 2002.5 onwards climate control: http://jaguarclimatecontrol.com/

Well it's only the conclusions I've drawn from messing about with such things. I'd like to feel safe to assume that the Jag stuff is superior, to say, BL. But I don't. I've had some rubbish polyurethane stuff but some awful genuine stuff as well. Car manufacturers so rarely make these little parts themselves that I think it's best to assume that the manufacture of any OEM bush has been outsourced. I've had genuine VW bushes stamped Febi (absolute crap), Meyle, and Lemforder (good). I don't actually know which and/or how many firms Jaguar use for bushes so they may be good, but maybe isn't enough to make me pay higher prices for peace of mind. The front ARB bushes are just clamped in. I say just because it's an absolute ballache of a job and I hope to never do it again. It looks quite simple but the clamp bolts are those horrible not-quite-a-bolt, not-quite-a-self-tapper sort of things. An absolute nightmare to get started in the captive nuts while fighting the ARB and trying to squash the new bush under the clamp. If it hadn't been getting dark I would have chiselled off or drilled out the captive nut and used a proper nut and bolt on it.

I fitted Polybush front anti-roll bar bushes to my S-type recently and have no complaints. Apparently the standard Jaguar ones are notoriously short lived, mine were completely shot at 100k and I reckon they had been for a while. I've fitted polyurethane bushes to various cars and have never had any squeaks and although I have heard that they can I've never witnessed it myself. In my opinion poly suits some bushes but not others. For example the front wishbones on VW A2 and A3 platform cars (Mk2/Mk3 Golf, Corrado etc.) swing around a horizontal fore-and-aft pin at the front with a bush that looks like a cotton reel but at the back have a vertical one and a bush that is shaped more like a donut. I believe the front one is fine in poly as there's only rotational motion around the pin, the bush is purely an isolator. However the forces on the vertical back pin are trying to twist it side to side and so the bush is being severely deformed with every suspension movement. I have seen poly bushes fitted on these arms and the rear ones last no time at all, I don't think the load they're being put under suit poly at all. The material around the pin deforms permanently and quite quickly ends up allowing more unwanted movement than a standard void bush like the one in the picture. (Personally I use a poly on the front and a standard VW solid rubber (Golf R32 spec) one on the back whenever I rebuild these arms and they last.) This is why I would happily put polyurethane all over the front of my S-type (my early type suspension anyway) where there is one motion (rotational) but am going with the original "pillowball" type on the lower rear arms because with normal use they have to flex around the pin.

It looks like Tijuana to me.. Nice pictures, I like the reflection on the flank in the last one. I'd like to share one. It's not artistic but it does involve the Jag, just. Well it amused me anyway.

Excellent! I'm glad it's improved. As Joe says it's worth checking for leaks. I'd be inclined to check the level again in a fortnight and if it's still full then change the oil completely just in case there are any little metallic bits floating about.

I've actually taken the gear stick gaiter off along with any other necessary bits before and got someone to sit inside and pour the oil down a funnel on a tube while I watch the level hole. I didn't this time as it looks like a lot of interior would have to come out, I've never had a car with so much sound deadening. I hadn't thought to look at the linkage as I assumed it was within the box casing. It would be nice to be able to get to it as although the stick on mine self centres from the left it's quite weak from the right. It's way down the list of things to do but it would be nice to have both sides near the same. Has the biting point changed noticeably? If it hasn't I'd be inclined to thoroughly check out the hydraulics for the clutch as it sounds to me like it's not disengaging fully.

Note to Silver Wheels, this is for the 5 speed Getrag 221 'box. I believe the 2002.5 on cars like yours use a different one. I used Fuchs ATF 3353 from Opie Oils. They're down the road from me and know their stuff. You may have seen the name "Oilman" on various forums, he's from Opie. The 'box needs 1.1l so I bought 2l, it will also work in the PAS system, which is handy as mine leaks and needs looking at... There is a drain plug, so that was nice. The fill/level plug is too high up to get a funnel in to so I used a pump. The hardest part is keeping the bottle of oil upright while watching the hole and pumping as well. I did it on a gravel drive on ramps. Having the car on a lift would make it almost pleasurable in comparison! You will probably spill some oil on the floor and get some in your armpit but it's an easy job really. Make sure you have a good pump, I don't. It's the first time I've used it and it leaks out oil and sucks in air where it shouldn't. Fill and drain plugs are 13mm hex and don't have crush washers. Neither does the sump plug on the engine!

I changed the oil in my 2002 cars gearbox (a different box to yours I think) a couple of weeks ago and it made a reasonable difference to the change. The clutch on mine is not as low as I'd like but hasn't got any higher. After a year I'm still not used to it to be honest. I'm not really sure why, it's almost as if it behaves differently every time I use it. It's my first car with a DMF and it does have a very eager idle speed circuit etc. The engine management doesn't seem to let me have much more than half throttle on pull-away or when changing up but conversely will give me an artificially high tickover when changing down or on the overrun, very annoying. Oh yes, my gear stick vibrates as well. It rattles really loudly as I approach the red line, it's quite handy actually..

Fortunately I got to take a load of parts off a scrapper when I first got my car, including the rear arms. The complete arms would be a lot more convenient but if I get just the bushes I can justify buying a bearing press, something I've always wanted. Thank you for the link. I wasn't actually aware of anyone else in the UK who did just the bushes. I "bought" mine off Racing Green and I'm not going to slag them off but I will honestly recount my experience of dealing with them: 5.4.17 - I placed the order for 2x p/n: RG109 over the phone. It was gone 14:00 and I was told apologetically that they probably wouldn't be shipped that day. About ten days later (I forget the date) I called to see why I hadn't got my purchase, it was only then I learned that the bushes weren't in stock. I said I would have expected to have been told this previously but that I would wait for them. So two days ago, over a month since ordering, I phoned again and was told they were still not in stock but that they would call the supplier to see when they were expected. I got no call back so I called them yesterday 10:00 to cancel the order, at this point I was told that I would get a call back to confirm cancellation (?). By 16:30 they had not called so I called them, yet again. I was told rather abruptly that no payment had been taken (I knew this) so there would be no refund (I wasn't expecting one, obviously) and that yes the order was cancelled. So, over a month of waiting for safety-critical parts with absolutely no communication from Racing Green and a rushed apology right at the end when I expressed my annoyance at their incompetence. That's just not good service, I will not ever use them again. The bushes are, and have been since I ordered, advertised for sale on their site with no mention of them not being in stock. http://www.racinggreenparts.com/Jaguar/Parts_details/RG 109/b|/S-Type 1999 onwards.htm

Yes I'm trying to convince Mrs Woodbine that having louder exhausts won't get us burned at the stake. She still shudders at the thought of some of my old cars.. We did see a CLK today which sounded amazing and she said as much so I may be making progress. I'm not a good welder. I have stuck some thicker stuff ok though and I did weld an exhaust with a stick once.. My discovery has a couple of rotten outriggers, battery tray, sills, roof edges etc. On the chassis the turret for that tubular cross member that (I think) the A arm hangs off has gone to dust. But also the main rail right next to the turret has 4" of the top edge missing and a crack down the outside edge. There's a body mount at the back that needs work, the body has dropped so far I can't open the back door as it's resting on the bumper. Just reading that back makes me want to reach for the matches.. The boot floor is good though. Erm, funny you should say that because the last time I jacked up the o/s/r the jacking point changed shape. I've been ignoring it until I get the suspension sorted as it feels like it's trying to put me in the hedge at the moment.

Ah, they do just the outer bushes as well. I've never heard of the rubber (inner) bush failing so I may well just get these. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-S-TYPE-X350-LOWER-REAR-WISHBONE-BUSHES-OUTER-/222206363126?hash=item33bc8805f6:g:tRUAAOSwyQtV3u6N

Good, I'm glad you've seen it, there could of been a big misunderstanding there.. Yes I've got a 1990 V8i manual. I bought it because of the wonderful noise. The first thing I did to it was replace the back box with a straight pipe. It's kind of in limbo at the moment, the chassis is rusty in awkward-to-repair places. It's been sat for over a year now and I really need to get on and learn to weld properly or get rid of it.

I have been waiting for over a month now for some bushes from a well known British supplier to arrive. I've had to chase them for updates as they have not been forthcoming and I'm getting fed up with it. Does any one know much about these Portuguese ones on eBay? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-S-TYPE-X350-LOWER-REAR-WISHBONE-BUSHES-FULL-SET-FOR-TWO-ARMS-/222215078539?fits=Model:S-Type&hash=item33bd0d028b:g:IbMAAOSwT6pV51rP If there are no horror stories then I'll cancel the existing order and get them instead. They come out at about £10 more but do include the rubber bush as well as the spherical ones.

That's a bit easier to see.

Having a peek at the documents I have it looks like the X200 with memory seats talks to a module in the drivers door. If that is the main drivers door one, rather than a separate unit, then it could get complicated and that's before taking into account any possible changes between X200 and X202 systems. I don't have a similar manual for the newer car to compare them. t By the way I'd be interested in a non memory/heated black leather Sport drivers seat... Mine is tatty and the squabs gone a bit "dead".

Ah, that's a shame, the apparent developing nature of the fault(s) convinced me it was power related. I don't have any direct experience with the newer cars' electronics, hopefully someone who does can help. There are Jaguar-published electrical guides floating about here and there that may help you track down the fault.

You've checked the voltage since this steering lock failure?