Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

How are those sacrificial tires on the XJ6 holding up?

The (used) parts source.

I'll bet inquiring minds want to know!

I had been fussing with the slow leak in the left front tire for over a month. I knew that I needed to replace that wheel with another stock rim.

I contacted Jaguar Heaven in Stockton Ca. and they could provide me with a replacement set for a bit over 500.00. The going price for alloy wheels at Pick and Pull was usually 25.00 for the wheel alone. There would be an additional charge of around 25.00 bucks if a usable tire was mounted.

I visited my two local yards with no luck. So I kept a watch on  Craig's List. I've bought several sets of wheels there and the usually run around 50.00 each with a decent tire. I checked a couple of times a day for a couple of weeks with no luck.

I happened to have some business a little bit further north in the Fremont/ Newark area. After I was done I decided to swing by the Newark Pick and Pull yard to try my luck again. We were experiencing an unusual heatwave and the temps were up into the 90s.

I asked the guy manning the entrance booth if he could check and see if they had any '97 Jags in the yard. He checked his computer and couldn't find any listed. Seeing as how computer inventory is an iffy thing for this business he said that I was welcome to take a look, but please deposit the two dollar entrance fee first.

I really hadn't brought any tools with me except my 4 way lug wrench. I left it in the truck.

The "large European" section, that referred to the size of the car, not the amount of the selections, was waaaaaay in the back, about as far away as it could be and still be contained within the yard. I did however bring a pair of mechanic's gloves. Maybe I would get lucky and find a good wheel resting in the back seat.

I set out through the brutal intense light and heat. As I made  my way back I was somewhat saddened to see so many once noble steeds that had been reduced to a crumpled disaster or had been harshly disemboweled. I finally made my way back far enough to discover the wretched remains a several Bimmers. There were Jaguars: a few S types, and a XJ8. Sometimes it's hard to identify which model a car is if it's missing it's front end and has a smashed up rear section. Still no '97 XJ6.

I decided that I would walk all the way to the farthest corner. Right at the end I saw what I thought was an XJ8 but no, there was a straight six under the hood. It was even British racing green! But it didn't have any wheels mounted. There weren't any in the back seat. I lifted the trunk and saw that it was filled with junk. I pulled it all out and saw that the spare tire cover was still in place. Would I be lucky or would it have been a waste of time?

A great find.

I lifted the cover and sitting there as pretty as ever was a dimple alloy wheel, just what I hoped to find. It was unchromed featuring the original "diamond cut" (machined) finish. It was shod with a pretty good looking Pirelli P4000 tire with quite a bit of tread. However it was flat. I turned it around and around and saw a screw head visible in the tread. The rim was in great shape but I wasn't going to let them charge me for a tire with a screw in it!

Maybe it's a very, very, short screw?

I hoisted the wheel up on my shoulder in preparation for the long walk back.

I was tired from my morning's work, but I was jazzed about my find. I walked for a distance, then stopped for a break. As I continued, an old Black gent was coming my way pulling a hand truck laden with his tool box. "Hey Brother! You know they rent wheelbarrows?"  "I didn't know that I would find anything!" was my reply.

I am getting a bit too old for this stuff. After a couple of more breaks I reached the office. I hoisted the wheel up to the purchase window and the cashier asked if I wanted the tire. I quickly pointed out the visible screw head. "Okay," he said, "25.00" Score!

My XJ6 already had a good used tire mounted on a leaky rim. Now I had a good wheel with a possibly bad tire. My plan was to have the good tire mounted on my junkyard find. But.... Maybe there is an easier way.

Dang, that's a long screw!

The screw was in the middle of the tread. Maybe it was a a real short screw that hadn't pierced the tire carcass. I grabbed a screwdriver to remove the screw. It wasn't real short, it was an inch and a half long! How do these things happen? Punctures of this type are often repaired with plugs. I had picked up a repair kit at Harbor Freight on my way home. Why not try the easiest solution?

I've always preferred the internally applied patch.
But this how it's done DIY.

I applied the plug and it wasn't as easy as I thought that it would be. I aired it up and in a gesture of positive thinking mounted it to the car. Tomorrow morning I'll know whether or not I was set.

I was. But of course my luck couldn't hold out forever.

I started driving the car as much as possible. Last week I was dropped off my Wife for an appointment. As I waited at the metering signal I noted that the temp gauge was starting to climb. As soon as I entered the freeway I saw some steam escaping from under the hood. I took the next exit and found a place to pull over and park at the curb.

I knew what had happened. The upper hose had popped off and was completely free from the radiator fitting. Coolant had gushed out of the end of the hose as well as the radiator. Luckily I knew how important it was to shut down the engine as soon as possible. Failure to do so could easily result in a blown head gasket or worse.

I was carrying an empty anti freeze bottle in the trunk and set off to find some water. I wasn't near a gas station but I was near a Target store. I picked up two gallons of coolant and walked back to the car. If I was near a food store I could have bought a couple of gallons of drinking water which usually will run only 1.00 or so a piece. I suppose that I could have bought that water at Target, if it would have occurred to me at the time. Yes, I know that an aluminum engine should have anti freeze but I was only interested in getting the car home.

Most of the tools that you might need. 

I had recently put together a small toolkit that would fit in the fender well space.  It contained a four bit screw diver. A medium sized adjustable wrench. A pair of basic slip joint pliers. A pair of needle nose pliers with a wire cutter. A couple of clean rags and a pair of sturdy disposable gloves round out the kit. I keep a flashlight and small pocket knife in the glove box. I used the screwdriver to reattach the hose. The clamp hadn't come loose. The hose had just slipped off of the fitting! The hose wasn't split but it was kind of soft and spongy. It was soft enough that ( maybe) the clamp couldn't tighten it as well as it might.

I can't say that this was a total surprise to me. The same thing had occurred a couple of years ago. Luckily after my big trip up north. The first hose pop off. That should have told me something.

Several months back I was driving my Wife to the oldest Daughter's house to do some babysitting. I noticed that the temp gauge was rising, When I arrived and opened the hood I saw that the upper hose was leaking coolant at the radiator fitting. It even looked like the hose had slipped back a bit. I had noticed some fluid on the driveway under the Jag a few days ago. I should have checked, but I didn't. I ended up getting a ride to work that morning.

After getting a ride back I just tightened up the hose clamp, topped it up with some water and was good to go.

The hose felt a little soft so I decided to replace it with one I sourced from Rock Auto. I also put together that little toolkit.

The hose arrived and I stuck it on top of the inactive XJS and decided that it could wait for a while.

That wasn't the best plan. It couldn't wait. It never can.

So I decided that the best course of action was to replace that upper hose.

This is the troublesome fitting.

Besides the soft hose, the upper radiator mounts were somewhat perished so I used some foam water pipe insulation to tighten them up a bit. I thought that perhaps the movement of the radiator, although slight might contribute to the hose slipping off.

The new hose arrived from Rock Auto.
It was much firmer than the old hose.

I used these two containers to catch most of the spilled coolant.

Anti freeze is kind of messy when it's spilled in your driveway so I used a couple of containers to catch as much as possible. The large tray is the top of a large storage bin. The smaller white container is a dish pan from the Dollar Store. I poured the recovered coolant into the dish pan from the large tray.

I poured the recovered coolant through the proper filtering medium
 (a piece of one of my old black t shirts).

The recovered coolant had some leaves and dirt floating on the top. I didn't want that junk to get in my radiator. At first I was going to pour the coolant through a coffee filter to clean it. However that was taking way too long. A piece of clean old t shirt worked just as well and was much quicker. I put three anti freeze containers of water in the trunk just in case this event should occur again. I was going to be prepared!

Oh, about those sacrificial tires? So far it's been over 950 miles and I can't detect any abnormal wear. The car tracks and steers straight and except for a few little clunks, things seem to be fine.

The list of jobs that need to be done on the XJ6 is getting longer and longer. It's time to move forward on those repairs.