When we last left off with our kitty, we were somewhat flummoxed by a persistent Check Engine light and a few codes causing it. Having tried the simple things on the list of potential solutions, it was time for slightly more invasive action. But first, a trip out of town beckoned, putting the cat into suspended animation for a few weeks. However, the time wasn’t lost, as progress was made on other fronts while apart.
I’d come across information that a junkyard in Albuquerque happened to have a wagon just like ours, but in white. Since I had to head to Arizona anyway, pulling off the freeway halfway through the trip was no big problem and thus I trekked through a yard located on a hillside with a fantastic view into the distance in search of the stricken donor-to-be. I was a bit nervous as it had been there for close to six weeks before I got there which doesn’t always bode well as far as finding usable parts is concerned. X-Types as a species aren’t uncommon in junkyards, there’s usually at least one sedan (the oldest ones are twenty years old now!) but this is only the second wagon I’d ever seen in one.
However I was in luck. While certainly a bit picked over with some damage from other parts hunters, the interior turned out to be gray like ours, the car was built within a few weeks of ours, and everything we needed that we were worried about finding was there! That included the two rear headrests, amazingly the almost unobtainable retractable cargo cover, the right rear taillight in perfect condition, and I even took the complete set of roof rails which were black as opposed to our silver ones (apparently even on such a low volume car both were available depending on option packages).
As it turned out I visited this yard twice, the first time with me on a strict and very minimal time schedule to get the most important stuff (tail light, headrests, cargo cover) and the second time on my return trip when I had much more time to consider things and take my time with the car and figure out how the rails came off etc. I should have originally taken the cargo floor panel as pictured above propping the hatch up, it was gone in the meantime, and I didn’t see it under a nearby car. Ours is fine but this one was a little better.
A few other minor bits and bobs came home with me as well, mainly wagon-specific parts “just in case” to have on the shelf as they are so inexpensive to buy when removing them yourself. Unfortunately the other tail light was cracked but I did get the third brake light which seems to go for at least $125 on Ebay if needed… (All of the above items along with a few other small pieces came out to $123 total out the door at the yard, an absolute bargain.)
Sadly the yard obviously had to force the back hatch open which destroyed it along with the rear glass, both not easy to source otherwise (although I wouldn’t have taken them either, I don’t have that much space), and the car had been in a front end collision so there wasn’t much usable there. Someone had dropped the engine/transmission/transfer case by unbolting the subframe but then left everything as far as I could tell. Curiously that’s not uncommon with X-Types in junkyards, I’ve seen quite a few over the years but only one other wagon so far. In any case I felt very lucky to have found these pieces that we really wanted/needed, although we haven’t installed any as of yet, that should be done by the next update and set of pictures.
After returning from my trip, my son and I decided we needed to move forward on the fault code issue as time on our temporary Wyoming plates was running out. As I had mentioned previously the car for whatever reason came with a spare fuel filter in the cargo area and that is in fact one of the items that could cause the issue according to the Jaguar manual. It turned out to be a pretty simple procedure, it took us about an hour all told but if we had to do it again we could likely do in less time than changing the oil.
Our new (free) filter was a Mann branded unit made in South Africa, and after lifting the car the old unit was clearly visible just ahead of the rear wheel next to the fuel tank, in this case a Hengst unit from Poland. It didn’t look old and wasn’t an original part so it’s likely someone had tried this already to fix the issue in the past.
In any case, loosening the bolt on the bracket sleeve allowed the filter to slide a bit but there was a line in the way of pulling it out to get to the rear clip (it’d be easier on a lift or if I was under the car differently, an awkward angle here), so removing the whole bracket ended up being the easiest path. After that, there is a quick clip that disconnects with pressure on either end, a quick gush of gasoline, and then the whole thing in reverse for reassembly with the replacement filter. I made a video documenting the process, having not actually done it before on any modern car it was interesting to perform. A bucket is handy to have and helps, but time for a shower once all done is critical.
Starting it up afterward resulted in the expected slightly longer cranking than usual until the fuel flow was reestablished but it fired right up and ran the same as before. Taking it for a quick spin proved that it also was not the solution to the problem, but at least now we know it’s new and unlikely to ever cause us an issue.
Now the choices were getting a little more dire. Either break out the new code reader and learn about fuel trims (sounds like school!) or just dive in to the intake manifold (manual labor!). Our initial hesitation stemmed from the fact that the CarFax stated that the intake manifold gaskets had been replaced in the fairly recent past and it didn’t seem that easy of a job, but we had the holidays and my son was off from school, I was looking for any reason to take a break from our bathroom remodel, so we had at it after reading up on it in the forums.
It all started well with removing the airbox where we realized we needed a new attachment grommet (now on the junkyard look-for-it list) and then the PCV valve and hose that we had worked on before along with loosening the ribbed hose to the throttle body. That gave us unfettered access to the front bank. I had ordered new sparkplugs and plug boots for the coils, but when we took the coils off the boots looked different than what the car had and the coils looked in great shape visually so we left them alone.
The plugs though we took out and using a measuring tool I showed my son how the old one’s gap was around .068 and the new ones were at .052 (Jaguar had apparently actually changed the recommended spec during the production run based on what I found). The old plugs were all at .068 or in some cases far wider, all the way up to .08 in one instance. The above shows the worst condition plug next to one of the new ones, it appears that the old was the same Motorcraft plug as what I bought to replace them.
Since the engine itself was running great that wasn’t anything we were concerned with but since they are cheap it made sense to replace them if were taking the intake off and thus had ready access to the rear bank. There was a little dried oil in two of the six wells all told, but nothing like the standing puddles that some have apparently found. Anyway we replaced the front three to start with and continued removing stuff.
We unplugged various sensors, taking pictures at every single step just so we could be sure to put it all back together correctly. Then came the bolts that held the manifold on, there are six around the front, three on the back and one hidden one that is accessed mostly by feel against the firewall. I somehow got my hand wedged in there and eventually dropped the correct wrench onto the bolt and was able to loosen it, the first time getting to that bolt was a bear, but it was doable even with my limited tool selection. With a few more attachments or a flex-head gear wrench it would have been much easier.
Still, once the bolts were off, another visual check to make sure everything else was revealed a vacuum hose on the back that just needed to be pulled off very close to the hidden bolt. Then the whole thing popped off and we carefully angled it over towards the side of the car and wired it to a hood strut to keep it more or less immobile and out of the way while still being somewhat attached.
This gave access to the upper intake manifold gaskets and they didn’t look great which was a very happy moment for me. They were also green (lots of Jaguar parts are green) so they may well be original or at least fairly old. I was starting to believe that the intake manifold gaskets that the CarFax had mentioned was really the ones for the actuators on top of the intake that are usually yellow or green from the factory, but not often black unless replaced with aftermarket ones. We picked these six gaskets out with needle nose pliers and then cleaned up both the surface of the upper manifold and where the gaskets seated.
We now also had access to the rear plugs so took all the coils off, inspected them, and then replaced the plugs and refitted the coils. So far we were quite pleased, everything was logical and with the exception of the hidden bolt (that we at least knew about), everything was easy to reach, no big surprises.
After that we tried to figure out how to take the black thing off to get to the lower gaskets. The fuel rail sits above it (actually is attached to it), and we knew that there were four bolts that needed to come off that went through everything but apparently the rail and injectors could stay in place. Well, we removed the four bolts and the black thing did not lift out. We looked for another hidden bolt, and eventually actually undid the fuel rail bolts, but no dice. We then went back to the internet and re-read the instructions we had found, but didn’t glean anything new.
Then we went back and with a big screwdriver I just inserted it between the black thing and the engine block and nudged it a bit sideways, lo and behold it popped off. It turned out there was a lot of crud around the edge of this assembly that had baked itself together over time. So we carefully lifted everything off and sort of folded it back.
With my son holding it I pulled out the lower gaskets which looked in even worse shape than the upper ones. I’m quite certain that these at least were original. For some reason the uppers are often replaced but people seem to thing it’s hard to get to the lower. It isn’t, it really is four more easily accessible bolts and it lifts right off. There is no reason to stop beforehand.
In any case, we cleaned up the surfaces again, installed the new lower gaskets (again, six pieces, they are sort of a semi-rigid rubbery plastic – above pic shows an old one above a new one), and then started to button it up again. While we had been working with the garage door open, the wind had picked up something fierce, so while we had stuffed the intake channels to avoid dropping anything into the cylinders, we were very careful about flying debris and even had a shopvac at hand to vacuum it all out before placing everything back together. We had wanted to go deeper and replace the gaskets below the cam covers but after realizing that it wasn’t that difficult to get to this part, we shelved that idea for the future, I suppose we wanted to just get the code issue resolved ASAP and not worry about everything else.
I had decided to use Victor Reinz gaskets for all of this as I had liked their stuff on my Audis back in the day but it seems most people use whatever is cheapest. The costs for the two gasket sets that we used, the full internal gasket set that we didn’t use (yet) along with the six spark plugs and six (also unused) coil boots came to $145, not bad in my opinion and there were multiple cheaper options available.
Anyway, we popped the gaskets in, made sure they were well seated, and back together it all went one piece and bolt at a time, everything had been separated into separate zip-lock baggies and laid on our worktable in order to try and make it as simple as possible. First the lower part, then the fuel rail thing, make sure the upper gaskets are in and keep going.
The hardest part yet again was the hidden bolt after laying the intake down on top of the engine. But once it eventually got started into its threads even that tightened up neatly and quickly.
All told it took us a little under four hours, we worked very leisurely and methodically and took turns at everything. If we had to do it again, we could likely do the whole thing in no more than ninety minutes. Overall it was far less complex than we had feared. We were quite excited as we were putting the last screws into the airbox lid and even more so when it then fired up at first crank and ran smoothly.
Imagine our letdown when we pulled out of the garage, turned onto our street, accelerated and felt it cut out again immediately. Aaaargghhhh! We backed up, straight back into the garage, popped the hood and checked everything again but of course it all looked good. For whatever reason we decided to drive it again and this time the issue had disappeared! We couldn’t believe it. We drove a couple of miles. Then we stopped and turned it off for ten minutes. After restarting it, it still worked great. Alright, progress!
We drove it for the rest of the day for various errands and after starting it in the Home Depot parking lot to return home we noticed that the Check Engine light was no longer on. Yes! If an issue is fixed for good, the Jaguar will self-extinguish its Check Engine light after five or so drive cycles which is exactly what happened. OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoy!
Not sure if this would last we headed to the Colorado emissions station the next morning. In Colorado (well, at least in the counties on the Front Range of Colorado) we are required to provide an emissions check every two years or when first registering a vehicle. Without this, there will be no license plate issued. I was all ready to just register it at my Wyoming address but always felt it would be far preferable to do it in Colorado. Our emissions inspection stations are run by the state, a test is $25 and involves a gas cap pressure test, an OBD reading, and a dynamometer test, even if AWD. I must have done this twenty or so times over the years now with my various cars.
We pulled in, the attendant did the gas cap test while we were directed to the waiting room, then they hooked up the OBD cable to the car and then while we were waiting and admiring a surprisingly nice Pontiac GrandAm in the other lane they pulled our car through the station to the end. Oh no. I was looking forward to explaining to my son how it all works but now it looked like we failed or something. I flashed back to the pamphlet that said they make sure that the car is safe to operate on their equipment and if something like the tires are bad they will force you to fix that before testing it. Our tires were quite bad, I knew, but was hoping that the crew wouldn’t notice, the best tire was in fact the front left where they were standing.
Eventually the attendant came to us and told us the car passed and to please pay him. Say what? I asked him if he didn’t need to put it on the dyno? He responded that no, the tires were too low profile and their equipment couldn’t handle it so it was okay. Uh, alright, they had no issues pulling our Porsche 911 with far thinner sidewalls and larger tires on to that same exact dyno at the same station four times while I owned it and they seemed to enjoy revving it up, but I’ll take it this time and not quibble. The one bummer is I kind of would have liked to see how it did in fact do in regards to emissions, but I guess I can wait two years now.
After that close call we finally caved regarding buying tires, I’d been looking everywhere for a good used set without success. In the end we decided since it wasn’t looking to be a big snow year we would just get a decent set of all seasons and call it good for now while keeping our eyes open for a set of decent used snows. We don’t have to drive it in bad weather so no real pressing need for both immediately.
Looking around we weren’t willing to settle for some cheap brand we had never heard of but couldn’t justify paying for Pirelli or Michelin’s marketing either. We eventually found a good deal on a set of new Hankook Ventus V2 Concept2 tires, sort of a semi-aggressive(ish) tread pattern with a 45,000 treadwear warranty, good reviews, and actually made in the USA. Having driven various new cars over the last couple of years with Hankooks I couldn’t recall any reason to dislike the brand. Walmart had them on sale online for $87 each in our 225/45-17 size and the local Discount Tire shop was all too happy to match that price.
With tax and installation we lightened our (ok, my) wallet by $478.03 but the car drives better and quieter now. Sadly the rumble is still there from at least one side so perhaps there is still a bad wheel bearing (or two?), something that we need to address soon.
Emission certificate in hand, we went to the County offices on the first day that we were able to get an appointment, paid the Colorado sales tax and registration fees ($225.73 total) and the nice lady handed us a set of new license plates which we attached to the car last week. By luck of the draw we got ones starting with CC. And of course so will 67,599 other residents if you do the math but we’ll just consider it part of that weird effect. We strapped them on and pulled it back into the garage to await the next phase.
We’ve started to order suspension bits, and they’ve started to arrive. I’ve also received a new impact wrench so am looking forward to playing with that as time permits. School started again and it’s gotten cold all of a sudden so we’ll have to pick our wrenching session times carefully (or as they simply permit and find a space heater for the garage), but on the agenda next are various bits of suspension (perhaps all?) to see what improves what, tie rods, brakes, the wheel bearing(s), an alignment, and the installation of some of the great used junkyard parts.
Keeping track of the costs so far starts with the total from the last time of $2,413, now we’ve spent money on junkyard parts, tires, gaskets and spark plugs as well as the emissions test, registration, and sales tax for a total to date of $3,410. I haven’t included insurance or gasoline but am including the rest as it represents the cost of acquiring this and slowly making it suitable and legal for daily use.
The purchase price was just the beginning, while not a huge amount it’ll end up being a relatively smaller portion of the overall total. In return we now have a car that is legal and licensed, has its most worrying issue resolved along with the obvious safety issue (tires). Had those items been handled before it was sold it would likely have gone for more than our total to date. Still, parts (admittedly simple ones to date) have been easily available at quite reasonable prices with numerous vendor and manufacturer choices which is encouraging for a car that has been out of production for over a decade.
It snowed today (still is snowing as I write), a bit of a blizzard, and so I took it out to pick my son up from school and take a few pictures and see how it performed in the snow. While the tires are not winter tires and thus caution is absolutely needed, it powerslides gloriously in an empty parking lot and looks to be much fun once all sorted. And my son approves, eagerly awaiting the day that he can get behind the wheel as well.
Related Reading:
Curbside Project Car: 2005 Jaguar X-Type 3.0 AWD Wagon – Will It Be A HellCat Or A HelloKitty?
Curbside Used Car Review: 2005 Jaguar X-Type 3.0 AWD Wagon – From Twenty Feet It’s (Almost) Mint
COAL: 2002 Jaguar X-Type – A Significantly Better Car Than The Internet Would Have You Believe
Great progress! The first inspection on a new (old) car can be a nailbiter, congrats on passing the first try. My older son’s 328i GT I wrote up as a COAL just failed for the window tint being too dark at the 5th annual state inspection under our ownership…..has never failed for that before. Took it to another place and it passed.
Thank goodness it’s “only” emissions stuff looked at here…
Jim, I had quite an emotional reaction to this story – you remind me of the meticulous way my father taught me how to take apart and fix my first cars, how he’d go the extra mile to find scrapyard parts and how we would somehow manage to get an MoT (the U.K. annual test). Well done on clearing inspection and thank you for triggering some fond memories of someone who died too young.
Yeah, same with my own Dad (in all respects). I think my son is better at listening and absorbing the info than I was though. Which makes it fun. It would suck to do it alone while he was out doing something else or not having the time to do it at all.
The Jag has been great fun to read about and it’s no doubt been fun to refurbish along with spending quality time with your son. Is there a downside with all of this? I’m not seeing one.
It also seems like you have whooped the biggest issue the wagon had, so it could easily be smooth sailing for quite a while.
I had to chuckle about the “CCO” on your plates. From my mental calibration I read that as “Chief Counsel’s Office”.
That’s definitely the issue that worried me more and more as time went on. I didn’t let on though, just kept being methodical about going down the list and rechecking stuff…glad it’s solved though!
Very Nice! I have been fortunate in never having to get that deeply into a modern engine, but you have ably demonstrated that this is not rocket science as long as you do a little homework in advance and are careful during the job. And there are few feelings as great as confirming that the problem you worked so hard to fix is actually fixed!
And this let me re-live the many times in my life when I have found little odds and ends pieces in a junkyard that are better than the ones on my car. It always feels good to improve something, especially when parts can be hard to come by.
I will admit that I was a skeptic at the beginning of this project, but am coming around to your way of thinking that this could be a really good choice.
Yes be glad about that, I suppose it’s inevitable eventually with any car if enough time or miles accrue. That’s the best part about junkyarding, all the treasures that can be gotten for cheap to make a real difference.
Very nice! Congratulations on tracking down the source of the check engine light with minimal expense and frustration.
I liked the video too, I’ve never changed the fuel filter on a modern car so that was interesting. Also it gave me a good look at the relatively un-rusted undersides of the wagon, color me jealous on that. And one of your lousy tires got into the shot as well 😉
Getting closer to that dad & lad road trip once your son gets his license.
I was concerned that there was too MUCH rust under there! Glad to hear that’s not the case from an expert. Yes, my first time with a modern fuel
filter as well, not terrible at all.
Good to see the work on the car was not that difficult!
The rumble may come from a rear wheel bearing. I had a garage replacing the LH rear side on my 3.0 Estate and seeing it was pretty easy to do, I replaced the RH side a couple of months later without problems.
Hop you enjoy the car as much as I do mine, 5 years now and counting (bought at 88k kilometres and now 145k kilometres). If the big bills and repairs stay away I see no reason to replace it with something more modern. It is my “modern” car even though it is now 18 years old.
I’ve been considering the rears especially as the entire rear hub assembly seems to be being offered (with bearing) for under $50 a side from known brands. Seems far simpler than the fronts. And yes it could be (or also be?).
PS – if you ever visit that white scrap Wagon again, prise off the lower door screen and rear side bottom window rubbers. The aluminum profile inside has a bad habit to oxidize which shows. I have not been able to find good replacements yet – new one are available but expensive (and I am not sure the Wagon pieces even are available).
Do you mean the inside of the lift gate piece, not sure what the “screen”
is? And the rear most (wagon area) bottom side window exterior moldings? Not quite understanding which you mean, sorry. I may in fact have another bite at the white apple soon so would be interested in which pieces to look for….
Hi, you can purchase waist seal stainless covers “bottom of windows ” for x type online and they will transform the look of the tired rubbers. Just remove original seals carefully and scrape out corrosion to flatten bubbling, refit and simply stick the self adhesive covers in place. Job done in well under an hour for less than £40.
Great read! I’m loving this series!
Thanks!
Congrats on dialing the Jag in! Hope your son appreciates all the efforts dad has gone through with the project so far.
I think he does…I need to take him to the parking lot again soon to give him another taste.
Congrats on sorting out the running problem and getting the Cat plated and on the road! That’s a good deal on those tires, walmart’s online site has consistently been my go-to for several years now, most recently for a set of $72 Kumho Ecstas for the I30 flip. My local Belle tire does mounting/balancing/disposal for 4 tires for $100 even and doesn’t hassle me about the tires being purchased elsewhere (and in fact will price match walmart’s online prices for stuff that they themselves stock).
There’s a ton of satisfaction in taking an older used car and making steady and very measurable improvements in how they run and drive as you fix stuff up. That’s honestly a good but of my own motivation with flipping cars, it’s just nice to get an older car back up to snuff (and then I take them for a nice long road trip before selling).
Yeah that’s similar to what Discount Tire does, I’ve taken them my own stuff and they are reasonable regarding mounting. They’ll even fix flats for free as long as they mounted it, without even buying the tires from them…
I’ve been wondering about progress, and am happy for the good news from someone braver than me. A value can’t be put on one’s time, but the total financial outlay to date is still *amazingly* small. I greatly appreciate the took-four-unhasty-hours-but-might-be-ninety-minutes-the-next-time appraisals of these tasks, even if I’ll never be doing them myself.
I was pleased with my Hankook tires in Wisconsin winters, and hope the next few months OK for you, too!
The bills are adding up quick but definitely less than if we relied on someone else to figure (or not figure) things out. As you said though, the time component is difficult to measure. Having a space to work in is important too…
Excellent update. Car is coming a long very nicely.
I can relate to the huge sigh of relief to get through the inspection. Glad to see yours go so well.
Thanks, yeah the emissions inspection was a huge step with a time deadline…glad that’s done and the car is fully legal. On to the next step as time allows!
Awesome progress, does not seem quite as intense as I would have anticipated. Glad
to see you went with new tires.
Yes, the difference between new and used for tires was far less than it seemed to used to be. Likely worth the difference over the long haul. I was definitely concerned about the difficulty of doing the gaskets but eh, it did go far better than I was expecting, which is good for building confidence for the next steps…
Your Jag is coming along nicely, my old wagon is also daily driven ready, very handy too as my daily drive has developed a fault I dont have the time or know how to fix, the AC fan is dead and its a very hot summer here and unlike my prevous Citroen there is no airflow thru the system with a window cracked open, research on the interweb has produced various results but all seem to point to removing the entire dashboard and replacing things I’d have to search/wait for OK, I rang a well known Citroen service agent described the problem and apparently its an easy fix for them so next step is to retrieve the wagon and deliver the C5 into their hands, a replacement car cant be found and since my C5 just passed its annual roadworthy which cost repairs for the first time I want to run it for the next 12 months summer I can deal with but when the colder weather sets in heat and demisting will be required and without the blower fan that doesnt work either.
Cheap aftermarket parts? No. Of you can get/afford OEM use them I used aftermarket suspension bushings on my Xsara twice then bit the bullet and got OEM they lasted 3 times as long and only cost less than double.
Hopefully the Cit gets fixed quickly! Having a spare car is key, too hard to rely on anything “interesting” otherwise.
Score! Good job you weren’t after a right front taillight; those are damn near impossible to find in any condition.
(Srsly, tho: it looks like your right front side marker light is out, along with your right front position “parking” light. The two are on the same branch of the same circuit, which has me hoping, on your behalf, that it’s just a coupla dead W5W bulbs.)
Yeee! That’s big enough to drive a Volkswagen through, as Gus and Stan used to say at the Model Garage. Lucky no coils got cooked with the much higher secondary voltage those gaps would cause. As I was reading about this, it seemed to me a likely cause of at least some of the driveability faults.
Looks like the manifold destiny got well fulfilled, too.
Yes, I’ve stored the right rear taillight spare next to the hot water heater for now…
There are several bulbs (hopefully just bulbs) out, I need to do a full
inventory, the license plate ones are out as well it seems. Interesting/thanks RE the circuitry, I guess I can start by just transplanting the other side onto this one…
Engine wise it drives great currently…on to other stuff next…
I agree that that .080 gap was at least contributing to the driveability issues, if not the root cause.
Tell me about it! …I found this left front tail light in a wrecking yard in Arizona, but it was broken =(
The sedan is not my favourite but I really like the wagon. Modern engines like this intimidate me, so I am very impressed with your progress. I think you have a winner.
Re “ With a few more attachments or a flex-head gear wrench it would have been much easier.”. I think you missed an opportunity here. To me this sort of situation is my justification to go tool shopping!
You are not wrong in regard to missed opportunities, but the next steps require them as well so I get another shot at shopping. I do like convenience and ease of doing things but am cheap too…I’ve never regretting spending money on a good tool to make a task easier but it takes me a good long while to get to that point. Usually the specter of paying someone else even more to have them do it with their tools is a very good motivator…
What makes this all MUCH less intimidating is having a huge knowledge base on the internet of people who have had the same issues and solved them. Between write ups and videos it’s so much simpler to do anything now rather than puzzling it out alone…
Way to get in there and get at it! I’m glad it was a successful repair!
Modern gaskets are so much better than the old stuff – it’s always a bit of a surprise when one causes a problem.
Yeah, but I guess 16yrs and 168k miles will do that. Many cars never make it that far…then again some go far longer and never have an issue. It was gratifying to figure it out at least.
No dyno for low profile tires? Has there ever been a better case for the otherwise questionable trend towards low profile tires? Lol
I went to a CO testing station last time I was in Denver, bringing in my Mom’s Prius that just passed the 7 year mark where it had to go in for the first time. No dyno for it either, they plugged into the OBD port and checked the gas cap and sent m to the checkout at the end of the garage.
I do much prefer the state-run stations to the privately run scammer crap we had in California. While it is sometimes a little bit of hassle, for the most part it’s professional and dirt cheap…
I can’t see you in a Prius…there must be a pic somewhere!
Luckily I had my trusty Covid mask I could disguise myself with while driving it haha Actually believe it or not I talked my Mom into keeping it (was my late grandfathers)!
Yeah nothing but good things to say about CO testing, IL is pretty easy too(done it with the Focus, Cougar is exempt). I know of what you speak with CA based on some tales from friends it’s varying fees on top of fees and “I know a guy” type of workarounds.
I count myself lucky to live in a place where there is no such thing as a mandatory inspection. We had a safety inspection that got enacted in the late 60s and was then repealed around 1979-80. It was run through private garages and proved a rich opportunity for revenue enhancement if you went to the wrong place.
The emission test protocol on the Front Range is hit or miss. This year I didn’t have to take my car in because it had gone through “N” number of highway on-ramp portable testing stations. When I have to take it to the testing station sometimes it gets the dyno, other times not. There must be an algorithm based on the year, mileage, and/or OBD readings that determines if the car gets dyno’d. Maybe long term fuel trims? IDK. It was nice this year not having to go to the test station.
Congrats on extinguishing that CEL. I bet it’s a huge relief.
There’s an interesting story behind those highway ramp test stations. Thanks for reminding me; I’ll put together an article.
Yeah, I’ve gotten lucky with the on-ramp drive by tester too, that’s a great invention/operation to actually benefit the public and save them time and money.
I am most impressed with the methodical disassembly and assembly of the engine and the resulting successful repair, as it’s a great lesson for your (apparently attentive) son. My father applied a similar process to not only car maintenance and repair but also projects around the house. While I appreciated the one-on-one time with my father, I felt more like a conscript and didn’t pay much attention, to the detriment of my wallet as an adult with my own car and home. In this case, your son will get a cool ride as his first car (I love this car in wagon form, not so much as a sedan) so the payoff is abundantly clear.
Also, I can appreciate taking four hours to do a job that could have taken and hour and a half, as I find I am much less likely to make stupid mistakes. If only I had more time!
Frankly I’m terrified of ending up with a couple of extra bolts or something after finishing and not knowing where they go…better to take pix and use lots of ziplocks with a sharpie and line them up in the workbench.
I think he sometimes feels like a conscript when I wrangle him to do house projects. Usually I pay him for that but after a long day or roofing the shed or shoveling rocks or whatever the lesson is always that there’s nothing wrong with choosing to do these things yourself but later in life it’s far better to be able to do those things because you want to than because you have to. And knowing what you are paying for if you choose to hire someone is useful too. We talk about it’s good to have options…
Last week grades came out and we were very pleasantly surprised to find that he somehow placed literally #1 in his 9th grade class of 450 or so kids. (He does work his butt off at school). We congratulated him and he grinned and said “now I have options!” Not bad for a kid that also loves to hang out at the skatepark and dyes his hair random colors…
Some car disassembly/reassembly experiences may come in handy for college application essay time……”Name a time when you were challenged” or “Write about something that amazes you” are common prompts. Nationwide they spend an average of under 30 seconds (some elite schools admit it’s 11 seconds or less) on each application/essay before putting you in the yes/no/maybe pile.
They want to read something they have never read before, it makes the applicant stand out. Tearing down an engine probably doesn’t cross their desk often.
My oldest wrote about washing rocks at a local Native American archeological dig. My middle child wrote about the architecture of the Renaissance. Youngest child wrote about why it’s clear Johnson had Kennedy assassinated.
I really hope all goes well for you and your son with this project. I’ve always found the X-Type very attractive and the interiors are beautiful. And that wagon is so rare. There is plenty of owner history on the web to indicate that if maintained well and the owner knows how to wrench a bit, these Jaguars can be fine little used cars. I’ve enjoyed watching ChrisFix on YouTube fix up and maintain a sedan for his Dad. I love the British categorization of this car as “compact executive saloon.” Keep us posted. This project more than makes up for losing the one for Keith’s XJ!
Yeah, me too, so far so good…I’m not particularly a British car guy (beyond all my kids have a Brit car brand somewhere in their names) but the Jaguars for whatever reason I like, particularly the ones from the Ford era as they seem to be a bit better engineered with decent parts availability but before the designs got a little too modern/anycar.
I too wanted to see how Keith’s XJ6 turned out but understand that sometimes life gets in the way. But thank you!
Good job Jim, sticking your hands into the innards of a Jag is always rewarding. In California a used car has to be sold with a positive (passed) smog test. All car lots will be required to provide that. Although the buyer can agree to waive that requirement with a private party sale. With that smog certificate the car can be registered for the transfer, and for the next two years. That at least gives you some time to enjoy your purchase and gets some use out of it. As you stated, modern Jags are pretty good cars, with a lot of character. Of course every older car will need work, but barring an extensive failure, you could be rewarded with a positive experience.
Great to see the progress and impressed with the professionalism and preparation you’re putting into this.
Annual and/or registration inspections are always a sensitive subject here.
You can get a pass on the MoT check in January but that does not mean your car is safe in July.
But an annual check does ensure a professional assessment of the car at least once a year which cannot be bad thing.
Here (in the UK) there is a set maximum fee for the MoT which covers everything you’d expect and requires a rolling road, vehicle lift and emission sensing equipment, and named trained and accredited inspection staff. The attraction to the garage is the rectification work, and there are many many tales of unnecessary work being done. My recommendation would be to avoid any where offering a cut price test, be careful about a national chain exhaust/tyre shop and perhaps go to a smaller independent. I do and at the last but one test of my MX-5 he said “It’s a pass but has anyone spotted the tyres? You’d get points in your licence for these….” There weren’t that bad but were more than borderline.
Test covers all vehicles to 40 years old – many suspect there’re should be an MoT-light for older vehicles – the brakes on a Morris Minor clearly aren’t gong to be great but should they be that bad? Perhaps insurers could offer a discount if you had the test?