You can buy a mechanics stethoscope at Harbor Freight for $5, has a bit more reach than a toy model. About a meter / 3 feet

 

Installed Rearview Camera

Brand and Model

 

@joeleerj How did you managed to attach camera right under the boot open button?
In had to shift camera it off center: see last post in this thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x.../#&gid=1&pid=3

 

I drilled the hole at a downward angle and avoided the switch.

 

Finally pulled out the rubber seal that broke off number 8 coil and stuck itself firmly to the spark plug hampering my spark plug maintenance. Ended up using some 2-part cold weld which worked well enough to get the rubber seal off of the spark plug but lack of room back there means you inevitable bend and put a strain on the seal which was probably only halfway bonded anyway, and it popped off the coil again. At least it was loose now so I was able to get some tweezers in there and pull it out. So finally got all new NGK Iridium plugs on there now. It had a set of Bosch Double Platinums on there which I don't know if anyone can tell me if they are correct or not. I thought these cars needed Iridium plugs. Good news is they all came out nice and dry and looked in good shape with light tan deposits. So now to my broken coil.... Number 6 coil looked to have a nice solid factory glued rubber seal so I popped that one in 8 and 6 took the repaired one which I did with some more cold weld. If I ever need to pull 8 again, I'll just pray and hope for the best.....

 

For the life they deliver, the NGK's are inexpensive (if but bought wisely), seem to last near-as-dammit "forever".

Not a lot wrong with Bosch plugs ... or injectors.

My XJ8-L has been purring along happily for many years on a set of ignorant "Champion" plugs.
It can have NGK's next go, now that I know where to get them at saner prices than was the case at the time.

New ignitors back then turned out to be "Made in China". Didn't expct long life, but those haven't yet set a foot wrong, either.

I do try to keep the whole mill and all around it - underside as well - a great deal CLEANER than the average bear. Long habit, all makes, and one of the first things I do soon as a "new" used-car is acquired.

Helps with reducing some types of faulting, identifying other faults faster and more precisely, making any and all wrenching cleaner, safer, and easier.

That might be a factor, too?

 

If it's of any interest, cost here in Spain was 148€ for 8 x NGK's. Seemed to be good value. I picked them up from Amazon of all places instead of my usual supplier "Autodoc".

 

February 6, 2024 USD $89.95, or $95.35 with State tax, also Amazon. For the AJ133 5.0 in the Rover, but still.. you can see why I considered them cheap-enough to not chase sunstitutes when your ones were very close to exactly DOUBLE my "stateside" cost?

And that for goods Made In Japan, thereby "imported" in both our cases?

Our state GST ($5.40 - Virginia, this order @ 6% ) is typically but a third or so of your VAT as well - unless in Kalifornikya SSR or "Now Borked Shiddy" AKA "The Big...Road Apple".

 

VAT here is just ridiculous…. Sparkies are 123€ pre the 21% VAT. But then we have public healthcare, pensions, etc….. And I say public, not free, because that’s a dumb idea that anything we have here is free paying 21% VAT!!!

 

Aye. VAT registered my UK company 'back in the day'. Wasn't so large it was mandatory, but the Accounting was easy enough.

Irony of Ironies.. Value ADDED Tax was conceived as a more fair, more egalitarian/widely applied, more easily applied, more easily accounted for, more easily Audited, harder to cheat on, with less incentive to even BOTHER cheating on... "perfect" tax.

That would REPLACE.. all OTHER taxes.

So folks bought-in to the concept of VAT. Life being simpler alone was attractive

Part Two:

REPLACE a tax? Heresy! Blasphemy! Even kinkey-f**ckery ..... to the looting classes..

Raised them rather!!

What did we THINK was going to happen?



BTW: Since we are comparing US/EU Jag parts?:

Left & Right cat converters last October were @ US $291.50 the set of two.

Aftermarket front air struts (no ECATS solenoid) as just arrived yesterday @ USD $ 311.20 the pair of two.

Coilovers, all four corners, bought as "future proofing" against worsening Bidenomics and in case the air struts come a cropper, @ USD $ 285.00 the set of four.

The VA 6% GST is in all of those figures.

Shipping is usually included AKA "free" or I look harder before paying even the typically mild costs.

Time was, we planned a retirement home in Asturias or Cantabria. No longer. Your taxes render it cheaper to stay in Loudoun County, VA, despite it not, otherwise, being the least bit friendly, taxation-wise, as it is what we call a "blue" county AKA "looter culture" governance.

 

I had been noticing a little front end shake, so I Took my car to an Indie the other day for a 4 wheel alignment. While I was there he noted that I needed a driver side motor mount. I already knew about the mount and had plans to replace it. However, the Indie quoted such a low price to replace it, I let him. After the alignment and motor mount replacement, the shake was a lot less, However today, I replaced the transmission mount, Now the shake is completely gone.

 

Thanks for that. So it wasn't a Neil Peart soundtrack, after all?



As age & mileage climb, we are all at-risk of that "eventuality". Some times already in-progress but not yet noticed.

Not new. Books were being published on it by the early 1930's.
"Rubber" - and how we apply it - has improved, since. Bigtime.
But Physics doesn't quit trying.

Most "stretched" mount fails first, then transmission mount.

Worth checking for now and then, so as to catch it early and at least risk of even more expensive surprise or inconvenience.

 

joeleerj,

Thanks for the post.
Am I interpreting your picture correctly......the only visual sign of deterioration is the stretch marks that I think I can detect (I put a red oval around what I think I see)?
I can't make out any tearing or delamination in the photo.

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding, this is the new part. The white mark is something left from the factory

 

I thought it was too clean....but who am I to judge

Did the worn mount have any visible obvious failures, or did it look quite normal but had just become softened with age?

 

It was visibly warn and very easy to move by hand, due to warn/soft rubber

 

Changed the oil and the oil pan gasket on the Cat. This is my first time doing the job without supervision from my father and while it was kind of challenging, it gave me a lot of valuable experience and the Cat runs great afterwards!

Also had a quick look under the engine and thankfully, the front timing cover doesn't seem to be soaked with oil. Hopefully the new oil pan gasket will solve the oil leak that we had to deal with for quite some time.

 

Always daunting the first time without supervision! I need to do mine, a bit leaky... Anything I need to be careful with or did the pan come off fairly easily?

 

Nice Jag Tommy
Pity you have to work on the street,
You will save yourself a great deal of money over a lifetime
by DIY.

 

Make sure not to tip the pan when you have the pan down; there is a little oil on the pan that cannot be drained. Other than that, clean the sealing surface well and torque the screw down evenly and gently