 |
| Step one, remove wheel. |
Recently I've been so busy that I haven't had much opportunity to work on any of my cars, even a little bit.
Now it seems as though I'm finally going to get a free moment or two.
I've had to face a basic truth, that I like to drive my cars, and I miss them when I don't.
Driving them is my little reward for all the hard work that I do.
It is the whole reason behind all this hobby car business.
My XJS has been sitting on ramps and jacks for several months now. I found that the battery has gone completely flat. The most important question hasn't been answered yet. Gonna put that on hold for a bit more.
My XJ6 has been sitting because the bad suspension has worn out the inner treads of the front tires. I also recall that the steering felt very twitchy. After looking at the old tire I realized that it had also sustained a tread separation which caused a bubble in the tread. Replacing it with the spare settled down the steering again. The real problem has been that I've needed to use my truck every day for the last couple of months. So I just let the car sit, I'd get to it eventually.
But I really wanted to drive my car. Last week I started it up.
I noticed that the car was making a bad squealing sound and the steering was very hard. Sure enough, I checked the power steering fluid level and it was pretty low. I topped it off and the sound disappeared as well as the stiffness. I had noticed a red fluid leak so it appears that the power steering system is leaking.
 |
| Down to the cords. What a shame the rest of the tread is still pretty good. |
The next day I drove the XJ to work, but I was concerned about having a blowout from wearing the tire down to the cords.
Well, I would prefer to properly fix the suspension first, but what I needed right now was to replace the front tire. I took a trip to Calderon's, the used tire store. I found a pretty good tire that cost me 60.00. Those used tires aren't as cheap as they used to be. But the price includes mounting, balance, and disposal. I brought the spare wheel in loose. I've had a bad experience at another used tire shop. They were very sloppy in lifting my minivan and damaged the pinch weld on the rocker panel. That really ticked me off since it made it look like the car was owned and worked on by a klutz. I've had much better luck at Calderon's.
The installer was taking quite awhile putting the tire on. He told me that this rim was in really bad shape. It is a chromed stock alloy rim. He pointed out that he had found water in it, and the tire bead sealing lip was badly oxidized. It did look a mite pitted. He said that It might not hold air. The tech scrubbed and sanded the seating area and even applied a heavy coating of sealer, but still wasn't sure if it would work. I told him that I would hope for the best.
After installing the left front tire I checked the right front tire and realized that I'm going to have to replace that one pretty soon also.
 |
| Here's my 60.00 used tire prepared to give up it's life. |
The title mentions "sacrificial tires." What does that mean? It simply means that I know that the worn suspension is going to grind the inner treads off of these used tires. I know that they aren't going to last that long, but it's more important, (to me) that I get some use out of this car. I spent 180.00 on a new battery last year. I don't want to ruin that! I'm going to keep a log of how long these used tires last.
 |
| The fault lies not in the stars, but in those suspension arms. |
After the XJ passed the smog test last year, I realized that I had two years before I had to go through the whole hassle again.
I don't like just putting on band aids, but I also don't like letting the car just sit. So there are a few things that I need to attend to.
Replacing the worn front tires will eliminate the possibility of a blow out.
I've noticed a clunk going over bumps which I think is from the upper shock absorber mounts. I've ordered those from Rock Auto. It's not too big a job, I've done that on the XJS already. More about that on my next post.
On the drive back from buying the car in L.A. I had the rear view mirror fall off. I stuck it back on, but there is a problem with the mount. I tried tightening the clip but that didn't seem to work. I came up with this bogus idea of sticking it on with tape. I figured that the velcro tape would stick better and resist melting in the high heat of the windshield area. It doesn't. It's a bit surprising to me that the adhesive actually melts. I've lived with this problem for quite a while.
 |
| Not my finest hour. |
I went to the wrecking yard and found a mirror from an XJ8 and another from a regular Ford. If I get that fed up with the Jag part, it's easy enough to just glue a new mirror mount button on.
I'm going to fix it one way or the other.
Today after I filled up the gas tank the CEL came on as I drove away.
I've have driven the car for a long time with the CEL on. The car has always run well, and even the fuel economy hasn't been affected, so I don't think that it's dumping tons of extra pollutants into the atmosphere. For some reason aging Jaguars are very susceptible to triggering codes. It's a common problem well reported on the forums. My '96 Mustang with over 200,000 miles has only tripped the CEL when a leaking intake manifold allowed water into a couple of spark plug enclosures.
I just hooked up the code reader and cleared the code. Better than covering up the CEL with a piece of black tape!
Since I passed the smog test last year, I've got the remainder of 2019 and all of 2020 before I really have to worry about passing smog again. My goal is to get the XJ6 into good enough shape to drive around locally. Then I'll go on from there.
Like I stated at the beginning, bodges and procrastination, nothing to be be proud of is happening here.
No comments:
Post a Comment