Broadsword

A good weekend has just passed, the Porsche was collected. Everyone was happy. I then did as much pre-MOT fettling on the 3.2 Sport as possible and nervously went to the MOT station early this morning. Amazingly it passed! All is well with the fleet once more!

Looks quite tidy for a cheap Disco. Extra points for it being a manual. Enjoy!

Defo 94-97 as most agree here. Also coincides with Jag I think at their best, both the X300 series with really reliable and solid saloons alongside the gorgeous XK8.

So I didn't hang around putting the Porsche on a 99p no reserve auction. That ended tonight, but the highest bidder has a new account and announced he can't collect for two weeks. If no deposit is received soon it will be back on sale soon. I haven't got my hopes up, it went at a loss anyway. More positive news from this weekend: the LPG system on the V8 Range Rover is now working perfectly. In the end I discovered that the previous owner, who also messed up the key, fitted a shiny new alternator. In the process of fitting the alternator he crushed a vacuum line to the LPG system. Free off the vacuum hose and everything is now working perfectly. Still unable to trace down the reason why the oxygen sensors aren't working on the manual XJR, even with the VCM diagnostics.. I had a spare downpipe with the pre-cats to put on, just in case the existing cats were collapsed (remember the destroyed O2 sensors!). Suffice to say swapping the parts over made no difference. Damn. The LPG XJ6 has been tidied up some more and has a new exhaust back box. It's now on the road and doing rather well. Coming back from a long break of 3.2 Sports (last one was the famous AS Red Bike!), it does feel a little slow (relatively speaking!). You can, however, hustle it a little with the J-gate. Stick it in 3rd and it can be plenty of fun.. Also it's not lethal in the wet, unlike an XJR6, which is a bonus. I'm going to MOT the car in a couple weeks. Let's see how that goes. Last weekend I made a trip down south to see some nice Jags a fellow enthusiast was working on. He has a nice unit and TWO MANUAL XJR6s!!! My friend Lee with his amazing converted car also came down. Much good use was made of the Rotunda VCM, which immediately fixed the running issues on both the ice blue XJR and the sapphire blue car, which is being restored. The ice blue car I've known for years and has never run right till I recalibrated the throttle body with the VCM. We pre-emptively did the same with the sapphire blue car, and plugged in the green car while we were at it. Literally hundreds of pounds of specialist knowhow and diagnostic labour at a specialist accomplished with my kit in less than an hour. For a serial 90s Jag obsessive such as myself this old diagnostic unit is gold dust. Had a great day fettling with the Jags, and got more impetus to sort out my manual XJR.

Fleet status: not great.. Range Rover P38 V8 manual: It will no longer run on LPG, which I don't think will be a massive headache to solve, but I can't find a professional within a reasonable distance to look at it. Still runs and drives great though, just periodically getting engine disabled. I need to find someone with a Nanocom still to put that right, then get a nice new key made. Jaguar X300 XJ 3.2 Sport LPG: Did a bit of a marathon changing front brake discs and pads, giving the car a good looking over and a full service, regrease front wheel bearings, and retensioned drive belt to fix squeal. The car tidies up not bad. I put it on the road with a view to doing a long run this week. Before setting off too far, it did some local driving first. The brakes are fine now, which is a relief as they were terrible. Then the exhaust fell off. Oh, well back to the Lupo (which did 70 mpg over 400 miles!). Jaguar X306 XJR Manual: A little tired from being used as a mule for fixing other X300s. It has been on the back-burner due to several other projects, but I think what with most other things being wrapped up now it will finally get it's turn due to the new below. Porshce 924: It's turn came this week. Now I've concluded it has to be sold spares/repairs. After peeling off the first 12 inches of outer sill on the driver's side, it soon became apparent it's well beyond the facilities/skills of a DIY enthusiast. It's quite a lot worse than I though. MOT patches on top of rust, time and time again I'm afraid. Lupo: It keeps coming back to the Lupo, which rarely lets me down, just two snapped front springs. Can't get rid of it at this point as it's just too reliable. I hope it passes another MOT in March the way things are going.. Also as some might have seen in another thread I'm still struggling to get refunded for a duff Rotunda VCM setup from someone on eBay. Hopefully the money will be refunded as promised by PayPal following it's return, but I'm getting worried it's all a scam even from PayPal's side. It was not cheap. Even with the refund, it won't cover the shipping costs (not cheap). TL;DR: Fleet fortunes in the doldrums.

PS.. I’m looking for a cheap pair of exhaust back boxes as of right now, in case anyone has any lying around (good used would do)!

*Hears scraping noise at 60 mph* what’s that then… Ah, right…

Very well bought, insanely good value for money. My first car was a Yaris. I was desperate to get into something more powerful after two years in it, but I look back and realize it was an excellent car that gave next to no trouble at all (one fractured spring, and that was about it!).

Hmmm, I think this spark plug might just be past its best!

It’s definitely a very AS kind of a fleet. You are living the dream! One question about the 1.9 SDI engine. Does it rattle one’s bones in the same manner as the 1.7 SDI in the Lupo?

Assuming the battery is ok (and they are very fussy on this front, they do not like modern calcium batteries, proper lead acid batteries make a difference because the alternator can actually charge one of those), have a look at all ground points, and also the infamous XYZ switch on the side of the gearbox. Does the light on the gear selector definitely illuminate constant on drive when you select it? When the XYZ goes iffy (usually in wet conditions) you will see the gear position selector flickering (corresponds to flickering on dash screen). If it is doing that try a good blast of electrical contact cleaner direct at the XYZ switch (can be done by reaching in from passenger side engine bay).

I've been quietly working on a project to facilitate repairs on the many Jags that come and go to Broadsword HQ. What I wanted was dealer-level diagnostics and the ability to program various things, mainly the throttle position sensor and do oxygen sensor calibration. Particularly on X300 Jags having this ability elevates you above the masses somewhat. The correct tool for the job is called a Rotunda VCM 1. This is a old diagnostic unit produced for Ford, but works on Jaguars and a few other makes too. A few months ago I decided, particularly for the sake of the manual XJR, that I really need this unit to stop doing fault diagnosis in the blind. Along the way I got to see one in action with a fellow Jag enthusiast, who turned out to have tucked away the most amazing Daimler Six X300 4.0 in Kingfisher blue/green, which he had single-handedly reshelled using a unused X308 shell. Truly amazing. He had a Chinese clone VCM, which contrary to the usual trend actually worked and had worked for over a decade. Naturally he opted not to sell it when I asked. I had already bought one VCM 1, which was a clone. It showed signs of promise, but would not connect to an old Jag (I still think it will talk to more modern stuff though). Once I had seen the VCM talking to an X300 via software called IDS I became more determined. I decided to budget more and buy a genuine VCM. One came up on eBay, a bit job lot with lots of extras. The seller was very clear that it all worked. Paid quite a lot to win the auction, collected it in person even if a bit far away aaaaaan..... it doesn't work. In fact there were two in the pack and both are broken. I'm currently embroiled in a bitter dispute with PayPal to get a return initiated and a refund. The seller is playing silly buggers. I know it was a con-job. I just want to get even. He can have his junk back. Despite paying on a card via PayPal, the buyer protection they proclaim is not shining through at the moment. This was a low moment. Still.... another genuine VCM turned up and for whatever reason the auction ended at a very reasonable price. The seller sent this on Special Delivery to me and it worked immediately when I plugged it into a Jag! Finally I have what effectively is god mode on these cars, and it was really worth the effort. Repairs and diagnosis will be greatly accelerated going forward on the old Jags. Happy to help fellow Shitters out on their X300s/X308s/S-type/X-type/XK8 etc. After that exhausting exercise the new P38 decided to revert to type.. I got properly locked out the car when the key fob battery failed and I changed the battery. The car was locked. The battery in the fob changed, EKA lockout, alarm going off lots. Stress sets in at this point. I was told to resync the key you turn the key in the driver's lock whiles holding buttons, this didn't work. After a while I decided to unplug the alarm siren so that I could tinker in peace. It later transpired the key would sync with the car when in the ignition and holding the lock button. Now everything is back to normal, but I really want to find someone with Nanocom to disable as much of the immobiser system as possible. It only succeeds at stranding the owner. If you have a problem with the key (and I do because the keyfob is a cheap remake), you could easily get stranded on the roads. Other faults on the P38 is that the LPG system is tripping off all the time under loads and there is some issue with the passenger electric window. It sticks somewhere and that triggers the "window blocked message". I can get it back up by pulling while raising the window. It's still magnificent to drive, just I think it wants the shock absorbers changing to make it a bit more composed on the road.

Really, really handsome vehicle and prime AS! The 605 is definitely one of those cars I regret not having. I like the colour and spec on yours. Looking forward to seeing more progress on it!

State of the fleet address! The V8 Range Rover is officially on the road!!! First hiccup was that one brake caliper appeared to be slightly sticky from being laid up. This despite my religiously starting it up and running it around the "farm" as I do with all my cars in storage once a week. I had to shift a load of furniture today, so it was earning it's keep immediately. Later on I took it for a good hard hoon and I think all the brakes are now ok. Initially I had once very shiny brake disc on the driver's side front and three dull. Now they all seem fine. Anyways later I'll inspect the front brakes just to make sure. There is no pulling to one side on the road, so I think things will settle down once I remind the thing that is is in fact a car. The issue with the problematic key and "engine disabled" fault I think is down to the fact that the previous owner tried to re-shell the original key. I suspect everything was fine till he touched the innards of the keyfob. The shell of the key itself is very fragile and comes apart very easily. The moment the battery loses touch with the circuit board I think the car no longer recognizes the key and the engine is disabled upon inserting the key in the ignition. If you are very careful with the key and don't let anything flex on the inside, the engine starts every time, even after locking the doors. I might try building a new remote key as a more permanent solution. It can get a bit fraught when the "engine disabled" message comes up on the dash! The diesel never, ever would do this. So, what is the V8 manual P38 like? Totally different car from the diesel. Remember it has EAS and the engine/transmission could not be further removed from the outgoing diesel. I must reiterate that the sound of the engine is AWESOME. Handling is better admittedly on EAS, but I have to live with the thought that the system is definitely going to give me trouble. I have a very slightly inkling that the Terrafirma shock absorbers are not in their first flush of youth just going by feel and the reports from @Cooper1 that fitting all new shock absorbers to a old P38 is a real game changer (more the latter I think). Not withstanding that the V8 drives really nice and it's surprisingly quick for what is is. It's not fast as such, but piles on the speed remarkably quickly for it's size. Progress is utterly effortless, and the V8 is smooth even if very old-school. I've had to adapt my driving style on account of the manual transmission. Some skill is required to avoid lurching as you progress through the gears, but that is to be expected piloting such a heavy things. I'm delighted. It's very tidy and presentable, nice to have one car that is. One other major project I'm currently working on is getting proper dealer level diagnostics for Jaguars. The unit I need is called a "VCM" by Rotunda. This would satisfy all Jag diagnostics/programming from 1995 onward (utterly invaluable for my purposes). A recently purchased clone doesn't work on my old Jags, but I think will work fine with newer Jags post 2005 and Fords. It came with a Toughbook and I will likely sell it on and try and get a genuine VCM (I'm really determined after a fellow Jag enthusiast with a working VCM showed me one in action!) More to come on that front. So the core fleet now is the venerable and increasingly leggy Lupo, the V8 P38 and the XJR manual. The Lupo recently got new front tyres. The fitment of tyres on the Lupo was a complete disaster. I treated it to a full fresh set, but a garage refused to replace the rears claiming they should be a different size!!! That whole debacle was utterly baffling and lost me time/effort. It runs and drives fine, but need a good check on the underside and some rustproofing. It feels really soft and wooly, but I think I drive so many cars now it's just the effect of going between so many different cars. The XJR manual is still as is with a misfire at idle and the interior not sorted just through lack of time. I really need the VCM to diagnose the XJR properly. Even with the oxygen sensors replace it's running really rich. It's still blisteringly fast. My main gripe with it is that that I can make it presentable without much trouble when I get a moment, but I really don't like the colour. X300s look best in british racing green, blues and turquoise in my opinion. Carnival red seemed to be a really popular and moderately dull colour in my opinion. On the periphery of the fleet is the Porsche 924, which now really benefits from living in a garage. I've been putting off the welding too long now and really need to sort it out. I will need lots of welding I'm afraid, and not looking forward to that bit. I will be sorted and emerge a totally transformed vehicle, much like the Herald. One more thing... I've just picked up another LPG car that will take the load off the Lupo somewhat. Based on the drive home from west Yorkshire, no it has front brakes. The seller said slight* brake judder. It was an understatement. More to come on that soon. It was exceedingly cheap. You may well guess what brand it is. Clue: it has six cylinders.

I’m not going to get rid, I’ve decided to fully commit to the whole EAS thing. It works perfectly now but I’m sure it will throw a curveball soon. I want to have the right diagnostic unit for the car ready when the time comes. Not 100% sure what I need, I have heard of the Nanocom and EAS kicker. Then I saw the Bearmach Hawkeye Total. If I understood correct that will do anything I ever need to do on the car modules wise, but they don’t make them anymore. Any suggestions regarding the best diagnostics kit for the P38 are welcome. Also, here is a little walk around the V8..