The Voices

Quick update, car is (obviously) now running much smoother. Checked for pending fault codes again but everything is still clear. Hopefully I win one for a change ?

Hi Steve, I don't think it is the original as it is a 'pattern' replacement, heaven only knows how long it had been in there ? What seems strange is that I have spoken to the garage that has looked after the servicing for the last 50k miles and they have been very helpful and offered information regarding what has been done to the car ? They seemed to know what they were talking about but how long does it take an air filter to get into this condition ? On the other hand, I 'assumed' that it had been done due to the service stamps in the book and was looking for a more serious problem !

I used to work at Farnell Jaguar in Farnworth, my friend Andy is one of their master techs, I left on good terms so he is still allowed to look after my cars.

At least another 100k, perhaps I can just blow it clean with the air line ?

Hi Joe, Had a look on the Adamesh website. They do the 'R' back-boxes for £449 per pair, I am originally from Yorkshire and therefore what is commonly referred to as 'tight'. This seems a lot of money for two round silencers and two bits of bent pipe ! At some point I will speak to a fabrication company to see what it would cost for custom made, they can use the standard ones as a template and reduce the silencer size ? Probably just me being a cheapskate as usual !

Needs a new home !

Not had chance to check the self levelling operation ? The beam throw seems to be in the right place ! I did have to replace the adjusters on the 2.5 however. Happy so far with the standard xenons but always willing to consider upgrades !

The 2.5 is adequate but the 3.0 is better. The V8's are another thing entirely.................................. As a CAT D, that car would be worth about half what the seller is asking (if that), see what is worth if you ever try to sell it on ! The question is, why does the seller state 'HPi clear' in his description ? It could be a genuine mix up, I have seen problems with vehicles that have been on private plates showing as a 'total loss' when it is actually a claim relating to another car that has had the same private plate at some point in its history. I would not concentrate on low mileage as a main criteria, if you plan to buy a pristine collectors example and then cuddle it and never drive it, then the low mileage, full dealer history, 1 owner cars are the ones that will appreciate in value. If, on the other hand, you want to drive and enjoy it, look at condition, history and value for money ? Here are a few examples that would probably get me to go and view them, but that is just me ! http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201607175928813?search-target=usedcars&make=jaguar&model=s-type&minimum-badge-engine-size=4.0&sort=default&page=1&radius=1500&postcode=bb90at&searchcontext=default&onesearchad=new%2Cnearlynew%2Cused&logcode=p&adPos=8 4.2 at a dealer, couple of dents on rear quarter but probably easily sorted by 'Dentmaster' http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201608086596815?search-target=usedcars&make=jaguar&model=s-type&minimum-badge-engine-size=4.0&sort=default&postcode=bb90at&searchcontext=default&radius=1500&page=2&onesearchad=new%2Cnearlynew%2Cused&logcode=p&adPos=2 'R' for sale privately, 2004 'facelift' car with great spec and says full history. i would buy this myself if I hadn't just purchased my 2006 version ! http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201607316362009?search-target=usedcars&make=jaguar&model=s-type&minimum-badge-engine-size=4.0&sort=default&postcode=bb90at&searchcontext=default&radius=1500&page=2&onesearchad=new%2Cnearlynew%2Cused&logcode=p&adPos=5 Nice 'genuine' 4.2 Sport with 18" BBS alloys, at the unfortunately named 'Blakedown Car Co', hopefully it won't 'blake down' ! http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201607266204831?search-target=usedcars&make=jaguar&model=s-type&minimum-badge-engine-size=4.0&sort=default&postcode=bb90at&searchcontext=default&radius=1500&page=2&onesearchad=new%2Cnearlynew%2Cused&logcode=p&adPos=6 Well advertised 4.2 SE Plus, private sale with full history.

What an afternoon I have had ! I sorted out the nasty headlamp lenses (detailed in a separate thread) and set off to Bolton to get the service and fault codes sorted. On the way I had to call in to collect an oil filter I had ordered from the local motor factors. The engine management light came back on and the car stalled before I had traveled more than a mile ! Never seen an automatic stall before, it was horrible ! Had to put it back into park to restart and hold it on the brake with my left foot so that I could keep the revs up with my right foot. Stalled four more times on the way to collect the oil filter, by this stage I felt physically sick. All sorts of things run through your mind, not least the 'I told you so !' from all the people who have a heart attack at the thought of a 155k S-Type R as a rational purchase. I had also just added a bottle of fuel system cleaner to the tank, running it on V Power but figured that the cleaner couldn't do any harm. Next thought is 'oh no ! it has disturbed some muck in the system and clogged the fuel system or injectors ! The car was running fine once it was moving but I had to get to Bolton which would involve stopping at junctions and so forth. Choice was either to see if I could get it there or get home and arrange a recovery truck ? Called Sue and at least she didn't panic (unlike me !), suggested that I try to get it to Bolton, she could follow in one of the other cars if necessary. Had a slightly eventful journey, used the 'J' gate to change down through the gears approaching junctions and traffic lights. Leaving it in 2nd and not touching the throttle until setting off worked most times, other times had to go back into park and restart using the 'two footed' method to set off. Called Andy (the master tech who was going to take a look for me) whilst I was on route to explain the new problem, his first thought was vacuum pipe come off or split but needed to take a proper look. Got to Bolton at 5pm, after what felt like an eternity, Andy was all over it in the workshop car park before I could even get it inside ! I stopped worrying at this point because at least the car was in the right place for a diagnosis, resigned myself to calling Sue to pick me up (70 mile round trip) as I thought that there was no chance of a 'fix' before the business locks up at 6.30pm. I babbled on about the fault codes and whether fitting the replacement engine cover could have disturbed something or the fuel system treatment caused the problem ? Andy could not spot any obvious problems so got it inside and hooked up to the diagnostics to get any stored fault codes. He ran a quick smoke test but still no signs of a vacuum leak ? Whilst the intake hose was disconnected he had a quick look down the hole into the airbox with a torch and said 'you have, of course, checked the air filter' ? 'Well, I was planning to put a K+N or similar in there soon so didn't bother' was my answer ! I have attached a picture of what we found. The moral of the story is this: NEVER, EVER, OVERLOOK THE ****ING OBVIOUS ! Luckily, Daniel in parts was still around and had the right filter in stock. Andy fitted it, cleared the codes and problem solved ! He also carried out the service but did not have time to fit the new fuel filter (he was also concerned that the one I had purchased might not be the right one !) All fine on the trip home, no re-appearance of the engine management light, checked for codes with my OBD reader when I got home, no fault or pending codes either (was showing the P0171 and P0174 codes as 'pending' after each trip) Fingers really, really crossed that the 'air filter from the Black Lagoon' was the cause of all the problems ?

I thought I would start a new thread about this rather than add it to my ongoing one about my recent purchase of a 2006 S-Type R. The plastic headlamp lenses had deteriorated badly, I purchased the Autoglym restoration kit for about £20 to see how much of an improvement it would make. Basically the kit consists of a small backing plate to fit in a cordless drill and various grades of sandpaper with a foam polishing attachment plus a small bottle of finishing compound. Sorry for so many pictures but shows what I achieved in a couple of hours, I am sure the results would be even better with more time spent ? Started by washing and drying the headlamps, first pictures show the 'before' state they were in. Used 2 inch paper masking tape all around the lamp unit, make sure you put on several layers (especially between the two headlight lenses) Paintwork could be damaged very easily. With hindsight, I would cover up everything under the bonnet with an old sheet, I have not cleaned under the bonnet on this car yet but splashes go everywhere ! I used a water spray bottle to clean the lenses and 'rinse' the sandpaper. Start with the 800 grade sandpaper, clean the lenses with the water spray and a microfibre cloth between polishing attempts, once you have a 'uniform' finish, move onto the 1500 grade. Repeat the process using the 1500 grade, cleaning the lenses regularly with the damp cloth and also cleaning the sanding residue off the sand paper (otherwise you end up with stubborn streaks on the lenses and will need to sand them again) Once you are happy with the results (lenses should have a 'milky' appearance), move onto the 2000 grade foam backed sandpaper. It helps to spray the lenses with water to help with this stage and with the 3000 grade foam backed sanding pad which is the next stage. Give the lenses a final wipe with clean water and a clean microfibre to get rid of all the dust, at this stage they should already look vastly improved but still slightly 'misty'. The last stage uses the foam polishing attachment, wet it slightly before applying a liberal 'dollop' of the supplied finishing compound. This next bit is 'VERY IMPORTANT' Spread the polish onto the headlamp lenses before turning on the drill ! Use the drill in the same way as when you were sanding, making sure that you do not stay on one spot too long. Final stage is to clean and polish the lenses with a microfibre, I then polished it with normal Autoglym polish in the vain hope that it will delay the ongoing deterioration.

Result on the back boxes ! I scan the classified ads and ebay but the 'R' uses 60mm pipework unlike the rest of the range ? I have run K+N and Green filters in other cars so will probably give one of them a try once my fault codes are sorted. Just about to set off for Bolton to let a Jaguar master tech take a look at it.

My Impreza is running a Green filter. Given the mileage on my 'R', I need to sort the current issues before any tuning but a re-map, 10% pulley upgrade, intake pipe and panel filter are all up for consideration. Replacement exhaust prices are scary for decent performance systems, £500 just for back boxes !

Hopefully will be doing an oil service later today, I am taking it in to my old place of work to let my friend take a look (two heads are better than one) I have spoken to the company that looked after the car for the last four services. It had the 'valley pipe' replaced at 100k. New plugs at 112k (recommended at 100k or 10 years) gearbox oil and filter done at the same time and radiator expansion tank replaced as well ! I would not have liked to be on the receiving end of that bill ? Radiator was replaced at 128k, I thought it looked in good shape. The K+N filter is an 'oiled' filter so I have occasionally heard of them 'fouling' the MAF sensor but there must be millions of them in use worldwide ? I actually ordered one yesterday from Euro Carparts but not in stock and had second thoughts !

You have PM !

Tickover when cold is a little uneven but driveability seems fine (even when the engine management light comes on) Throttle response seems a bit 'on and off' but could just be me getting used to the car.

Cleaned the MAF sensor and played about with the hoses, nothing obvious in terms of splits or hose popped off. Cleared the codes and went out for a 15 mile run, no engine management light but 'pending' P0171 and P0174 codes. I have ordered one of the elm327 code readers with bluetooth and downloaded the 'Torque' app to my tablet. This should let me monitor the 'fuel trim' to help with the ongoing diagnosis. My 2011-12 navigation disc has arrived as well so put that in, took about three minutes to update (seemed like forever !) but seems to work fine.

Hi Russ, the Nexens are on my 'budget' shortlist, but again, mixed reviews ? The Kumho KU39 also seems to get decent reviews based on price. There is a set of 'staggered' Vulcans on ebay at the moment with a start price of £200 which are not in bad shape. The ones on my 'new' car are all kerbed so I am watching to see what they go for.

Hi Russ, unfortunately I can't find them in the 275/35/18 size I need for the back or the 'R' ? Only thing Google can find is a translated website entry from Japan showing this size !

The codes indicate a fuel/air issue. Worst case scenario is that it damages the catalytic converters ? The fact that it is throwing codes for both banks of cylinders indicate that it is a 'shared' component causing the issue. Could be as simple as a vacuum hose that has come off or a split in a rubber pipe causing an air leak (finding which one is the pain in the neck though) Wondering whether I moved / disturbed something when I fitted the missing engine top cover ? Might also be that the mass airflow sensor (MAF) is faulty or dirty, I will clean it as a precaution. Or.............................. None of the above !

The London postcode won't help, you need to move to the Outer Hebrides ! I will try to remember to do some before and after pictures but raining here at the moment so no progress so far. Now I have another problem to worry about, replacing the bank 1 upstream oxygen sensor got rid of that fault code and reset the engine management light but yesterday I got EML again plus P0171 and P0174 codes. Codes are for 'lean' running on bank 1 and 2 ! Spent most of last night looking at various forums for inspiration, could be a vacuum leak as affecting both banks ? I did notice a slight variation in revs on tickover, which might point to the same thing. Now I need some fine weather to start messing about under the bonnet, check pipes to see if anything has popped off or split.

Thanks Steve, the funeral was for one of our neighbours who passed away suddenly last week. He was a Jehovahs witness so I found the 'service' quite strange compared to other funerals I have been to.

As per the title really. Real world recommendations please from practical experience ! Every time I start reading tyre reviews, I find loads of contradictory information because the reviews are based on a variety of tyre sizes and mixtures of vehicles. What might be a great 17" tyre on a FWD hot hatch may be a death-trap on a more powerful RWD car with 18" tyres. I want a good all rounder but wet weather performance is a priority as my wife will also be driving the car. Due to the low mileage the car is likely to cover, tyre 'life' (mileage) is not really an issue. A 'long life' tyre will probably need replacing due to the effects of ageing before I have had the benefits of extra mileage. Good value for money is also important, I don't mind paying for a 'branded' tyre as long as the benefits are 'quantifiable'. The Subaru boys have always liked the Toyo's and the Falken FK452 was well liked but now replaced by the FK453. Some of the 'budget' names seem to get decent reviews from performance drivers (Nexen and Kuhmo for example) ?

I have the Autoglym kit, comes with various grades of sandpaper and backing disc and the foam polishing disc to use with their polishing compound. Used it on the 2.5 with good results but not had chance to do the 'R' today. Remembered we had to go to a funeral this afternoon and needed to clean the 2.5 and take the photos for Autotrader as a priority (Sue is fed up of 4 cars around the place)

I have been busy again today, swapped the Parrot kit over from the 2.5 to the 'R'. It already has factory bluetooth but can't stream audio and doesn't have USB connection so the swap over made sense. Need to polish the headlamp lenses next, hope we get a bit of good weather tomorrow.

My Impreza is insured with A Plan, not cheap but cheap compared to other quotes !