I'm a long time Jaguar owner. I got my first S-Type in 1978.
Currently I have a 420 in need of tlc and my wife has a 2002 S-Type.
It was this latter car that had me Googling for a Workshop manual which led me to this forum. I now know which thread to follow on that one.

The S-Type had an occassional misfire which became 'permanent' earlier this week and I was reduced to calling the AA. It was raining of course!

Chap used an OBD reader to determine it was a misfire on cylinder 3, so either spark plug or coil pack, I assumed.

Got the car home and - guess which is cylinder 3.

Yup, the middle one in the right hand bank underneath the inlet manifold. Hey ho says I, tedious because of all the plumbing, but straightforward enough.
Disconnect all the plugs and plumbing, start to remove studs holding on the manifold. One is inaccessible with any of my tools. Scratch head, repeat all usual Anglo-Saxon terms, make coffee, have a cigarette and with a deep sigh start removing plastic trim from scuttle area under windscreen. Realise must remove windscreen wipers first, THEN faff about with 'orrible plastic clip things. DONE!
Now realise have to remove bracing bar across suspension turrets too. Grab rachet and socket, stick onto bolt and with one carefully applied torque-calibrated heave of my right arm.....shear bolt. So jack up front, remove wheels, grovel under front wings with toothbrush sized wire brush, liberally apply PlusGas. Apply right arm to next bolt. Bit of righty-tighty, lefty-loosy, jiggle and it comes free without shearing. Success! Repeat five more times and yet another component added to the growing pile on the workbench. From there on it's plain sailing.

So - to change spark plugs on an S-Type:
step one - remove windscreen wipers.
step two - jack up car and remove both front wheels
No wonder the service schedule says change plugs every 100'000 miles! Don't you just love Jaguars! Good to see the modern ones are just as delightful as Sir William's ones.

Now I've found the thread that looks as if it will tell me how to fix the wayward climate control temperature control as well. Great, next I get to grovel on the floor upside down INSIDE the car!

 

Welcome. Your story reminds me of the last (British) car I tried to self maintain, an 70's era MGB. Twin sidedraft Su's. AHHHHHHHHH![>:] Replacing floats every six months. Main maintenance schedule had nothing approaching 100,000 miles. Everything was three or six months and that usually wasn't soon enough. Damn it was fun to drive around with the top down, though. On the bright side,I kept itup well andsold it three years ago for three times what I payed for it new.

Now it's off to my local Jaguar dealer.

 

three to six months! Blimey that was a reliable one then.
My first car was a Sunbeam Talbot 90 then an Alvis TA21. Recommended service intervals on the latter was every 1'000miles. I don't think I got more than three WEEKS before tlc was called for on either of them!

 

Hey rtcosic.....welcome to the forum
What a great intro post, had me in stitches....lol
Why not post up some pics of your Jags for all to see?

All the best

Jim

 

Too much to read[sm=insomnia.gif]..But Welcome anyways

 

LOL Dennis
Welcome anyway

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Jaguar ownership.
Hee Hee - those bolts are famous for shearing, luckily I got warned before removing mine, don't go crawling under the car to apply the penetrating oil tho'. I just bent the free straw that comes with it into a handy J shape and fed it thru that handy square shaped hole in the turret top.

 

Now why didn't I think of that!