Re: Today I mostly .....
Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:09 pm
Little package arrived this morning containing the replacement switches for the Jag. Not hard to spot the difference is it?
The other two have a little bit of crazing in the lenses but nothing that sticks out so badly so I'll keep my eyes peeled for a hazard and interior light 2 switch turning up cheap. I'm guessing these are prone to cracking like this based on the mental prices that new ones seem to be advertised at on eBay. I don't care how special you think it is..I ain't paying £75 for a switch!
Second task was reinstating the glove compartment lid...
Fair to say that's improved the interior immeasurably. I look forward to getting the strips on the doors done too...not so much looking forward to having to strip them down to get the strips off though!
Main useful job for the day though was to try to track down where the oil leak I noticed yesterday was coming from.
Despite looking quite impressive based on the spatter on the back of the car and the smoke that had come off the exhaust, there wasn't any obvious drop in the engine bay.
Engine oil still sitting on full (reads about 1/2" high here because of the slope of our drive).
Gearbox oil likewise is sitting on maximum (if anything slightly over full). Not horrible burnt looking fluid either which is nice to see.
Power steering fluid is sitting on the "add" mark, but it hasn't moved since I got the car.
Looking underneath the car didn't immediately reveal anything obvious. The marks on the ground were from where oil has dropped from the exhaust fasteners and heat shields.
The complexity of the rear suspension of this car is quite something. Having seen it on diagrams is one thing, but it will take a while for the novelty of looking under the back of my own car and seeing a pair of springs on each wheel to wear off.
There were a couple of areas which I wanted to take a closer look at.
The rear of the left hand cylinder bank definitely has a leak from the cam cover.
Looking at it I suspect that the connection to the air conditioning expansion valve will want checking out given it's visibly oily. Hopefully being a flare nut it will just need to be nipped up a bit.
The other area that's obviously oily is the front end of the right hand bank. While these areas are only, neither looked wet enough to explain the degree of splatter on the back of the car I'd seen.
A common area to cause issues are the pipes to/from the front mounted oil cooler...which looks absolutely disgusting, but in half an hour of the engine running didn't produce a single actual drip...so I think a thorough session with the degreaser and pressure washer might be in order here to pin down where this is coming from.
So definitely attention needed there but I'm pretty sure it isn't the main issue.
Having a dig around did reveal a horrific mess below the brake servo though due to the small fluid leak spotted earlier.
That will want cleaning up sooner rather than later.
Eventually after the engine had been running for about 30 minutes I spotted a fresh drip on the driveway away over on the far side of the car.
A closer look at the new drop revealed that it was definitely engine oil.
This is right to the rear end of the left cylinder bank, and looking up from by that exhaust flange shows this assembly up there...
This is the engine end of the lines to the oil cooler.
My guess is we've got a failed seal in there which is allowing oil to be forced out at higher engine speeds.
Given this is a bit of a pig to get to without a ramp I may well chuck this at my local garage to sort as it shouldn't really be too bad a job on a four post lift. I'll probably just get a set of seals for everything involved here so I've got everything necessary in hand. It's probably the difference between it taking me two to four hours scrambling around on my back getting oil in my eyes versus it taking them fifteen minutes on the lift.
Finally actually got the service items ordered...
I thought I'd already done this...however it turns out I'm an idiot and while I had the items in my basket I'd never clicked the button to complete the order. Yes I am indeed an idiot.
The other two have a little bit of crazing in the lenses but nothing that sticks out so badly so I'll keep my eyes peeled for a hazard and interior light 2 switch turning up cheap. I'm guessing these are prone to cracking like this based on the mental prices that new ones seem to be advertised at on eBay. I don't care how special you think it is..I ain't paying £75 for a switch!
Second task was reinstating the glove compartment lid...
Fair to say that's improved the interior immeasurably. I look forward to getting the strips on the doors done too...not so much looking forward to having to strip them down to get the strips off though!
Main useful job for the day though was to try to track down where the oil leak I noticed yesterday was coming from.
Despite looking quite impressive based on the spatter on the back of the car and the smoke that had come off the exhaust, there wasn't any obvious drop in the engine bay.
Engine oil still sitting on full (reads about 1/2" high here because of the slope of our drive).
Gearbox oil likewise is sitting on maximum (if anything slightly over full). Not horrible burnt looking fluid either which is nice to see.
Power steering fluid is sitting on the "add" mark, but it hasn't moved since I got the car.
Looking underneath the car didn't immediately reveal anything obvious. The marks on the ground were from where oil has dropped from the exhaust fasteners and heat shields.
The complexity of the rear suspension of this car is quite something. Having seen it on diagrams is one thing, but it will take a while for the novelty of looking under the back of my own car and seeing a pair of springs on each wheel to wear off.
There were a couple of areas which I wanted to take a closer look at.
The rear of the left hand cylinder bank definitely has a leak from the cam cover.
Looking at it I suspect that the connection to the air conditioning expansion valve will want checking out given it's visibly oily. Hopefully being a flare nut it will just need to be nipped up a bit.
The other area that's obviously oily is the front end of the right hand bank. While these areas are only, neither looked wet enough to explain the degree of splatter on the back of the car I'd seen.
A common area to cause issues are the pipes to/from the front mounted oil cooler...which looks absolutely disgusting, but in half an hour of the engine running didn't produce a single actual drip...so I think a thorough session with the degreaser and pressure washer might be in order here to pin down where this is coming from.
So definitely attention needed there but I'm pretty sure it isn't the main issue.
Having a dig around did reveal a horrific mess below the brake servo though due to the small fluid leak spotted earlier.
That will want cleaning up sooner rather than later.
Eventually after the engine had been running for about 30 minutes I spotted a fresh drip on the driveway away over on the far side of the car.
A closer look at the new drop revealed that it was definitely engine oil.
This is right to the rear end of the left cylinder bank, and looking up from by that exhaust flange shows this assembly up there...
This is the engine end of the lines to the oil cooler.
My guess is we've got a failed seal in there which is allowing oil to be forced out at higher engine speeds.
Given this is a bit of a pig to get to without a ramp I may well chuck this at my local garage to sort as it shouldn't really be too bad a job on a four post lift. I'll probably just get a set of seals for everything involved here so I've got everything necessary in hand. It's probably the difference between it taking me two to four hours scrambling around on my back getting oil in my eyes versus it taking them fifteen minutes on the lift.
Finally actually got the service items ordered...
I thought I'd already done this...however it turns out I'm an idiot and while I had the items in my basket I'd never clicked the button to complete the order. Yes I am indeed an idiot.