First Full Week Fun and Games

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Jun 17, 2025 | 07:46 PM
  #1  
Well...first full week of ownership. List of things that needed repair (you have to wonder whether dealers really go thru the car other than just washing and tire dressing...but, then, I'm a bit OCD about my rides.)

1. Lube, oil, filters (air, oil, cabin). That was easy. Cut open oil filter to see if motor was making metal. Nothing found...looked through the oil filler opening in the valve cover and the chain on the driver side (US car) was tight. We'll keep an eye on it, but the engine is not making any noise (hooked up SDD and everything was right where it should be; if there was looseness, he said, it would show up in the readings...but have a 3 year engine/tranny service contract, so at the first hint of noise...will take it in).
2. He noted there was a coolant leak from the front standpipe. So, told him to go ahead and dive in. Replaced the front standpipe, the crossover pipe in the back, and any of the 'hard to reach' coolant hoses (he does a lot of work on the LS variants in both Jag and LR, so he zeroed right in and just did it all 'while he was there'). Obviously, new gaskets, o-rings, etc. where needed. Test drive up to temp, and everything dry.
3. Someone had tried to fix a broken pin on the left side MAF sensor, so that pin wasn't even connected. He had part in stock (It's a standard Ford part), replaced. Didn't notice any performance issue (the pin was the OAT sensor, FWIW, and the other MAF on the other side was ok...so thinking it was getting a valid signal in any case, and wasn't throwing any codes.)
4. Battery not charging error on the MFD. Replace with a new AGM (existing one had a mfr date of 11/24...thinking it ran down and froze over winter, trashing a cell.) Installed, and alternator was not charging. Reman on the way to be installed tomorrow. ($200 reman vs 1200 from JLR? Easy decision, with 2 year warranty...)
5. One of the smart keys was bad. Smoked trace on the board. Ordered 2 more, so will have a couple spares (keep one in my Jetta just in case); has the SDD, so he will program all the fobs (I seem to recall that you can have up to 4 of them registered to the car...) to work.

Rest of the car, on his inspection, was in 'good nick'. Plenty of brake pad material, no other leaks noted, underside clean. Will do the tranny filter and fluid change in the fall before winter after absorbing this bill, which all up, comes out to a little under $4K USD. Not my first Jag (I have had XJ8s, an XJR, XF, XE) and expected to have to spend some capital getting it right (for now, anyway).
Reply 1
Jun 18, 2025 | 05:49 AM
  #2  
Sweet, its nice when someone keeps it up to snuff.
Theres plenty of people ignoring the core basics out there.
Reply 0
Jun 18, 2025 | 08:12 AM
  #3  
Quote: Sweet, its nice when someone keeps it up to snuff.
Theres plenty of people ignoring the core basics out there.
My experience is that deferred repairs only get more expensive down the road. These things are so complex (as compared to, say, my '74 Lotus) that the failure of one component can end up affecting other parts which then take a (well, 4K worth of repairs is not inconsequential...) bigger sum than if you addressed the issue up front and moved on.

Do it right, do it once. (Or, as my dad used to say "if you have the time to do it over, you had the time to do it right in the first place" That goes for a lot of things in life...lol)
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Jun 18, 2025 | 11:19 AM
  #4  
Pictures??
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Jun 18, 2025 | 11:23 AM
  #5  


Reply 1
Jun 19, 2025 | 12:27 PM
  #6  
Thank you very nice pics
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