Brake Caliper overhauling

As per blog:

http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2016/09/the-hunt-part-ii.html (item 4 on the list) and

http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2017/03/mot-pass-apk-goedgekeurd.html

I still had this outstanding noise/wobble to overcome. Since the ball joints are fixed now I definately could rule that out. The wheel bearing can't be the culprit either. The wobble felt more like a worn out cross coupling (homokineet). But since this car doesn't have those on the front that can't be it either. I remembered from an old invoice that only the left side caliper had been overhauled - including new brakepads. Click the picture to enlarge:

This was done at the Jaguar dealer Kimman in Haarlem. So I figured that maybe the right side had one of the caliper pistons playing up causing the wobble.

As such I ordered an overhaul kit consisting of a seal service kit and 4 new caliper pistons. Total costs including VAT and shipping: € 86,-   I was not sure if this was going to fix it but then at least I knew the caliper was in an equal good state as the left side. The kit arrived earlier this week, turned out the seal kit was covering both sides, so I have got spare on my stock.

I also found this link: http://www.jaghelp.com/2012/03/1996-xjs-front-brake-caliper.html

Which was a useful resource. Especially for removing the brake pads first. I have to say this is nicely engineered. So removing the caliper was a piece of cake:

Remarkable to see this old skool protection used:

From the pictures it's clear this was a necessary piece of work to be done. The seals were completely dried out and damaged and also resulted in rusty pistons. I managed to get them out but one took a little more effort and I suspect that one must have caused an issue at least. I don't understand why they overhauled only one caliper at the time? So putting in the new pistons, seals and mounted everything back. Filling up the brake fluid and presto. Time for a quick test run.

Wobble gone now. So this did do the trick. I'm very happy with this improvement. Still there is some vibrations left but that might require balancing the wheels. Something I can look into next when I'm going to replace the rear tyres.

upper and lower ball joints replacement

This old blog: http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2016/09/the-verdict.html from september 2016 highlighted the torn rubbers on the lower ball joints. Which is a fail for the MOT. And last week I got reminded the MOT is going to expire by the 31st of March. So I had to fix this now. I thought it was going to be an easy task but it was still quite a bit of work. Eventually the whole arm with disc and caliper had to come off. It was a very heavy item. When I had it finally off I was surprised to see a completely different lower ball joint was fitted. The one I ordered superseded the old one. But I was unsure how it could be fitted as the arm was fitted with a special clip (spigot) to hold the ball. The new ordered ball joint is more sophisticated and more or less a fixed item. The old one can be completely overhauled and I found an online turtorial by someone. But clearly that is to much hassle. You can order the new replacement for only € 12,50. I thought I was clever by using the new one and tried to push out the spigot. This didn't work out and also resulted in damaging the rubber. Today I learned I have been a fool as the spigot was suppose to be pushed out the other way. In order not to damage the arm it was decided to cut it with a small grinder. This made it easy and the spigot got smashed out easily with a hammer and a spanner. Yes! As I had to order a new one I also decided to get the upper ball joints replaced as everything was off. This was a good choice as one of them was also in a very poor condition - see pictures below. Remarkably the upper ball joint on the other side was very good and I suspect it has been replaced recently. It makes me wonder why they didn't the replaced the lower ball joint. If you read the mentioned blog link you will also read that I have an invoice which states they had the ball-joint replaced, so it must have been this one. I wonder why they didn't do both sides and also skipped the lower ball joints. You can also see they had replaced the bushings for the "anti roll bar link". And also both brake discs and the brake pads are in very good condition. It looks like they have been replacement very recent. Perhaps this was also done by the previous owner but I don't have an invoice for that. One of the calipers was overhauled at least and for that I do have an invoice though. In any cause everything got mounted back. Once I had done the right side had fill up the brake fluid as quite a bit was spilled. Once sorted I took the opportunity to make a test drive. I could feel and hear a huge improvement. In the afternoon I fixed the left side but since it started raining I didn't bother to make another test drive. I also had to buy more brake fluid as more got spilled. So by tomorrow I hope to do some driving. Can't wait. I also updated the costs spreadsheets. On the right bar of this blog you will see a label called "costs" in case you are curious as well ...

Fuel filters and fuel pump replacement

Today I had some time to finally build up the fuel system. The parts were delivered earlier this week, 1 new seal, 1 fuel filter for the sumptank, 1 fuel filter and 1 new fuel pump

 This looks clean now:

When removing the normal fuelfilter this is what came out of it! Heavily contaminated. Clearly not replaced for a long time:

The sump tank I had cleaned last week. Just filled it partly with gas and partly with small stones. And then shaked it for a little time untill it was mostly shiney inside. I also had it soaked a little using Forte but I think that was a complete waste.

When placing the new fuel pump I noticed a small mistake. The large screw which should be used for plus is marked minus. And the small screw which should be used for grounding is marked plus

When everything was build up again the engine didn't want to start. When connecting the old fuel pump again it worked instantly. However it wasn't running great and eventually stalled. Then it run again but it did not ran smooth and was playing up. I really suspect the old fuel pump is worn out, which does not surprise me seeing the heavily polluted filters. And the brushes are likely also poor. Hence I had already decided to have it replaced. The new fuel pump is however a very cheap one, I will do some further checking again but I sense it needs to be returned. Unfortunately I ran out of time to properly check it. Not happy, I should have ordered a new Bosch fuel pump instead.

Dashboard instrument panel lighting

When I used the car once in the evening I noticed how poor the dashboard lighting was. Also I was in doubt if all warning lights were functional. So time to get this checked and remove the dashboard. On both corners there was a hidden cover which had the holding screw behind it. In total it had 17 light bulbs 12V 1.2W (15)and 5 12 2.2W (14) light bulbs. However one light bulbholder (12) was missing. Sigh. So I have to find a replacement. Unfortunately these are not newly available. I also upgraded the 2.2W lights to 5W to increase the light level. I checked last evening but I was not impressed by the 5W light bulbs, I couldn't see an improvement. Oh well.

AAV replacement - part II

As per previous blog: http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2016/09/auxiliary-air-valve-high-idle.html

Now the follow up. The parts arrived earlier this week. The hose appears to be China made :-(

 The gasket however is German made :-)

The AAV is likely made in England by Lucas:

Here the air intake in a cold state, it's not entirely open though.

And hereby a test I carried out to check if the valve was working in hot and cold water. It's not exactly an entertaining video to watch, but it shows the functionality:

Today it was time to mount it and put everything back together

And yes, it worked perfectly, this was only shortly afterwards. When fully warmed up and after a small test drive it was steady at 800 RPM.

What a huuuuuuge difference this makes. It drives almost perfect now and I did not even had to adjust the AAV. On to the next job.