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So I'd pretty much left this thread for dead after Photobucket decided to stop sharing of images to forums etc. as that was where most of mine were hosted. Thankfully they have now relented, restoring access to bbcode links etc. although I won't be using them going forward. I just couldn't face the thought of rehosting all the images elsewhere and updating all the posts in the thread but at least I don't have to now.

So in the past year I have changed the supercharger coolant pump as the old one failed, swapped out both the MAFs, failed MOT, had the track rod ends changed, passed the MOT, had the wheels refurbished on the cheap and... not driven it much Partly due to the car being partially broken for one or other reason a lot of that time but partly also due to contention for my free time once work, two young kids and home-related duties are attended to. I have also been getting into photography, mostly car related, here's a few of my car from the last while..

DSC_0038-3 by niallporter1, on Flickr

DSC_0070-Pano-3 by niallporter1, on Flickr

DSC_4131 by niallporter1, on Flickr

If anyone's interested to have a look then most of my stuff is on Flickr, here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/97699193@N08/albums

 

[8bit]

Cheers Alec I'm undecided still on the diamond cut finish - Ive seen a few cars with that done (not sure if standard or done aftermarket) and on a lot of them there seems to be a bit of bubbling or lacquer peel on the diamond cut faces. Not sure if this is something that just happens over time or if it is due to them having been damaged. How long have you had yours done like that? Does it seem to be holding up well?

 

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Yeah, I'd thought it was leaking from around the bleed valve as that's at the top, and the flaking seemed to be working its' way down from the top of the caliper. When I got it off the car and had a look my stomach went into a knot, that could have been nasty if it had gotten a lot worse!

The new one looked so neat and shiny and well-machined (where you could see bare metal), it felt a little bit of a shame to attach it to a part of the car where it'll get dirty...

 

[8bit]

Noticed some flaking paint on the NSR caliper recently:

Diagnosed as a fluid leak, due to the fluid level dropping and this area being a bit damp Didn't realise how bad it really was until I got the old caliper off to change it out on Saturday there:

Looks like the piston boot failed, allowing fluid to leak out. I didn't get a photo but the inboard face of that disc and the inboard pad surfaces were copper in colour, I guess due to reacting with the fluid! New one installed and some fresh discs and pads:

 

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Thanks chaps, appreciate the comments

Just realised I missed a recent update. Did my front brake discs and pads last autumn. Had a grinding noise coming from the front under gentle braking. Long story short, this was the state of the inboard pads on both sides!

Pad material completely worn, right down to the studs. In my defence, the outboard pads looked close to needing changed but not nearly as bad, this was one of them:

Pad material still slightly thicker than the backing plate. Not ideal obviously but not quite MOT fail level. In fact the car passed MOT with the pads like that maybe 8 weeks prior to changing them out! Needless to say the inside faces of both front discs were shot as well so I changed the discs for EBC plain discs in the black geomet coating and installed RedStuff ceramic compound pads. The Geomet coating wears off the friction faces quickly with a few braking applications but stays on the outer rim and center section and is intended to prevent these areas going rusty and looking tatty. This was them after installation:

And after a few miles:

I've bought some proper black pack front grilles too, the ones I painted up last year have picked up loads of stone chips and look a bit tatty due to the paint and lacquer not being up to the job really. I managed to get a lower one on ebay off a pre-facelift 5.0 XK for £40 and got the upper one from Adamesh so a decent overall saving. No photos yet but they already look better than the ones I painted and should last well as they're made out of black plastic in the first place. These will go on this weekend, weather permitting.

The car will be due a service and inspection in March so will book back in to Pentland in Perth for that. The Cremona wheels need refurbished as well so that'll be the next thing - Alec, I'm keen to get the same sort of look you have on yours - unless that would be stealing your thunder?!

 

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Just a few shots from the holidays, I took the car over the Cairn o Mount road intending to get some nice landscape shots so took my decent camera. As it turned out the purely landscape shots didn't come as well as I'd hoped but I got some snaps of the car which worked better so here are some of the better ones...

 

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Did a bit of work on the car lately. Bought a new set of front grilles and painted them black, got them fitted on Saturday.

Primed:

Painted:

and gloss lacquered, ready for fitting:

Saturday's fun and games:

and the finished article, after a quick wash yesterday afternoon:

Very happy with the end result, looks much more modern and sporty, more like the 4.2 XKR-S. If I could just get hold of the 4.2 R-S aero parts at a reasonable cost, I'd be a very happy man We also changed the engine air filters while we were at it.

 

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Did my first track day in the XKR on Saturday at Knockhill. Loads of fun, despite getting passed by lots of much lower-powered cars. Knockhill really favours smaller/lighter cars due to the short straights and twisty back section so I knew I wouldn't stand much chance but I wanted to see what it was like on track anyway.

Brakes and tyres seemed to limit the car a bit, which I thought would happen, also heat soak seemed to start to creep in towards the end of each session. Still enjoyed it though.

I didn't take many pictures really, a friend was with me who took more so I'll post some of his once he's sorted through them. I did get this after my first few laps though while letting the car cool down a bit

 

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Thanks guys,

Pat, if you decided just on the back box then that's easy enough, I'm sure I'd have managed myself on Monday if my mate hadn't been available. I didn't do the mid section myself but I reckon now I'd be confident enough to do it. See what you think, the other thing is if you went to Elite to do it then you've got to get your existing parts home somehow and there's no chance of getting it in your boot No need for a remap unless you're changing the cats. At least, I've not had any issues so far, I'll check for fault codes tomorrow.

xfs3.0s, I declared my Spires stage 1 when I fitted it as "stainless steel exhaust upgrade" so I'm already covered I think. The only options they gave me were for the exhaust (presumably covering all or part of the pipework and silencers) and the cats, no differentiation between different sections comprising the exhaust apart from the cats.

 

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Cheers Pat My downpipes are just the standard ones, they have the cats built into them. I changed the middle section for the Spires stage 1 last year, which removes the two small silencers and adds a crossover section between the two pipes. The Elite middle section (which you'd get if you bought the full setup) still has one silencer and no crossover but the pipework diameter is a little wider than stock or the Spires. I wouldn't think there's much difference in sound between the two different mid sections in addition to the Elite back box.

To be honest most of the increase in volume and growl comes from the back box, the Spires part made about 20 - 30% increase in volume but no change in tone, the back box upgrade made a far bigger difference. If I was starting from completely standard but knowing what I do now, I'd probably just have gone for the back box personally. You're more than welcome to hear mine in person and see what you think though, if you'd like to arrange to meet then just pop me a PM. If you didn't fancy the drive to Derby and back then I'd easy give you a hand fitting it if you like too.

 

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So this arrived the other day

This is the Elite RR back box from Elite & Performance Jags in Derby. No time was wasted getting it fitted, a friend came round the same evening and we cracked on, finishing the job in about 90 mins total.

Old one off and brand new heatshield fitted:

New box in place:

Nice shiny new tips:

And of course I did a couple of video clips for those interested in how it sounds

First start:

And some revs:

I was a little worried that it might be a bit loud with the Spires stage1 pipes but it's fine - quite barky on cold start and until warmed up but once it has it's still possible to avoid making excessive noise, which is what I wanted, but plenty of volume when hoofing it. Chuffed

 

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Car passed MOT a couple of weeks ago with flying colours

Managed to get a few jobs done recently. Replaced the broken alarm sounder - complete PITA but at least it's done. Sorted the glovebox opening, it had stopped opening in a nice, controlled way and started just dropping freely. See here for more - http://www.jaguarforum.com/showthread.php?t=82601

Finally, got round to changing the R badge on the tailgate. The original one was starting to get tatty and the coloured bits were coming off, I bought a new one ages ago but never got round to sorting it until now. Remembered to take a few pics (excuse the quality, my phone camera seems to have deteriorated)...

Old badge, looking a bit sorry for itself:

Used some detailing tape up the side and a ruler and pen to draw lines, so I could get the new one back in exactly the same place (or near as dammit):

Forgot to take a photo once it was off, but here's the finished item. Small things but it was annoying me...

In case anyone's wondering about the method - I marked up the position of the badge as in the second photo. Borrowed the wife's hairdryer to heat the badge until too hot to touch - this is to soften the adhesive foam holding the badge in place. Once hot, I took a length of dental floss, hooked it round the back of one end of the badge and started "sawing" until the floss cut through the adhesive foam and the badge came off. That left a bit of foam where the badge had been so I heated that with the hairdryer again and carefully peeled it off with my finger. Once that was off there was a bit of dirt round where the foam had been and a little residue from the glue so I dabbed some tar spot remover onto an old cloth and cleaned that all up. Once that dried off and left the surface clean I applied the new badge using the tape and lines to position it correctly, removed the tape, job done.

 

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So, been a while since I updated. Since last time, I've had the transmission fluid and filter changed and the N/S/R upper wishbone changed, both at the local dealer. Thankfully they seemed to get both jobs right. I only really used them due to lack of time to do the work myself but thankfully it all went well.

Haven't really been taking photos lately but today I fitted some new interior trims, which I bought from a member on here and had painted piano black by a friend:

And gave the car a wash in time for the meet tomorrow:

 

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Can't argue with that, Jamie! That's appaling, it really is. On top of all that, £400 for wheel alignment is ludicrous as well. In case it helps in future, I've used Reidline in Kintore (used to be Clark Motorsport's workshop) for alignment, they have a Hunter laser rig. I've used them a few times, had the Jag done there last summer, felt noticeably more sure-footed as a result. Think I paid under £100 for the full check and a couple of minor adjustments.

I never call the call center personally, I always ring the branch themselves and ask for one of the local service people. I have been put through to actual techies as well, I took one of them out in the car to let him hear a knocking noise which he quickly (and correctly) diagnosed as an anti-roll bar droplink. I guess I may just have been lucky. I only use them for servicing, I do what I can myself or take it to Reidline for other work, but I would advise to anyone having to use them just not to accept any of their nonsense, kick up stink until you get what you're paying for.

Pat, I have an OBD to Bluetooth thing that I use with an Android app called Torque. That can scan for fault codes, although I'm not certain it supports all the various control units in the XKR. You can see all sorts of live engine data as well, boost pressure, timing advance/retard, exhaust O2 readings, MAF/MAP values, you name it. If you want to check your car with it then feel free to send me a PM and we can arrange to meet. Oh by the way, if you fancy a guinea-pig car to test your detailing gear on then I'm sure mine will be willing!

 

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Pat, I stay in Aberdeen but not far from Cults (close enough that the BBC weather app on my phone thinks I'm in Cults when I'm sitting in my front room!), if you've seen a black '08 XKR Coupe in and around your area then there's a good chance it's me.

Jamie, that sounds horrendous, what did they do to it? To be honest, the only issue I had with them was last year when they serviced the car, including a brake fluid change. The healthcheck showed that the rear caliper bleed nipples were corroded and couldn't be opened. When I queried how they had managed to do a full fluid change (or at least charge me for it) I got "umm... erm... well..." and eventually the confessed they'd only done the front end. I then pointed out that the healthcheck also found some corroded brake hoses at the rear and they'd need to change the fluid again after changing those, so why did they bother doing the fluid change at all?

Ever since then I've had no problem with them, they even managed to get warranty to cover a seized rear caliper last year. I do wonder if there's a tick box on the customer records that says "don't chance it with this one"... Like you, I'd now only be 15% less out of pocket making a day of it and heading to Perth so maybe next year.

 

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Customer service there has been patchy to be honest. The girl that used to work there (Lorraine) was really good but she's moved on now. It was someone called Donna that I dealt with this time, she was very helpful and called or did stuff when she said she would so that was fine. I'd recommend calling the local place and asking for someone on the local service team though, if you say you want to book in for a service you'll just get someone at their call center in Glasgow - that's fine, but if you're getting something that's been a running issue looked at then it's easier to speak to someone who knows the history.

Pat, you don't also have a red, current-shape XJ with a private reg. ending PAT do you? One like that drives past my house every day...

 

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Good point! What I meant though is I'd have to take a day off to drive to Perth and back to get the car serviced and, being a contractor, I don't get paid if I take time off.

 

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Yep, no cause for complaint this time, even with the health check results. I only really used them to keep the Jaguar history up. I could have gone to Pentland in Perth or Edinburgh I guess but that would have meant losing a day's pay.

 

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Car had its' seventh annual service last week, thankfully just an "A service" so a minor one. Health-check spotted a few fairly minor things which I'll try and sort out myself. Have to say though, the dealer actually did a decent job this time and even made a reasonable job of washing the car.

Managed to get the car swapped back onto summer wheels and tyres yesterday, much nicer

 

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Car now back on its' winter wheels and tyres:

I definitely prefer the Cremonas, they'll be back on come spring time. I renewed all the wheel nuts too, including a new set of locking nuts - the last time I had wheels off the car I found that they were a bit creaky and dry to loosen off so decided to change them, clean the studs and apply some copper grease.

Also gave it its' first wash in months!