I wasn't entirely convinced the XJS would pass the MOT in one go due to a few reasons. There's Always something potentially that is not meeting the criteria like silly lights issue's playing up or some kind of leakage. In my case the powersteeringhouse is leaking minimal (read this blog:
http://erwinxjs.blogspot.nl/2016/09/the-verdict.html) Last year I had it filled up but it was now making a light noise again, meaning it has been leaking somewhere (I didn't fill it up either to avoid further spill). I suspect it's not a severe leakage but I'm not qualified in making that judgement. Also the dashboard indicator lighting had developped new creeping up issue's, ie the overall lighting brightness had become very poor despite I had replaced all the bulbs. Some other indicators are now not functioning somehow, ie warning lights or normal lights. Luckily the fog-ligth indicator was working which is a MOT requirement. Also the fuel gauge isn't working anymore (well, it has been troublesome ever since the replacement). The rear tyres were poor (dried out) as well but should be ok as for the profile. So you can imagine I wasn't completely confident.
Later in the morning after 10 o'clock or so I checked the Dutch road register website (www.rdw.nl)out of curiosity and checked if there was a MOT update. To my surprise I could see it was renewed. Yes! You can imagine I was very happy but also surprised not to have received a call. Then about a hour later they called me. But it was not what I was expected to hear. The MOT was a fail but it were only two relatively minor items to overcome. The left frontlight was faulty caused by the internal reflector (lose) which needed to be fixed/adjusted. The other item was regarding a fraction too much friction (Tim Finn 1983 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAqmHgL8lmM)
on both front wheel bearings. Also this could be easily fixed by adjusting the hub. I didn't inform him that I had already seen the MOT was passed on the official system. Meaning these faults should have been fixed beforehand. As I wanted the car to be ok I agreed with the repairs, furthermore I was expecting it was going to be a very quick and thus not to expensive fix (no parts were required either). Then a few hours later in the afternoon I got a call that my car was ready.
So at the end of the working day I picked up the car and got presented quite a hefty bill. Clearly the hourly wages at a renowned car dealer isn't cheap. The MOT itself costed € 48,- (ex VAT). The fix of the frontlight was € 89,- (ex VAT) For this they had to dismantle the complete light so likely a time consuming job. And the adjustment of the hubs/wheel bearings was € 84,- (ex VAT). Not sure if this is suppose to be such a lenghty job. So adding everything together and the VAT it was a total of € 270,- Ouch. Lessons learned.
On the MOT report there were only 2 remarks. One remark for the rear tyres - having just sufficient profile. The other remark was about a rust spot, although it was not specified where it was located (although I think I know the spot).
When driving back home I noticed immediately they have been filling up the fluids for the powersteering as the noise was gone. So at least a bit of service for that kind of money. In any case, I'm happy I can drive for the coming 2 years and also having the time to fix or improve the outstanding items.
The replacement of the ball joints and further adjustments of the frontwheel hubs had a positive influence. Still there is some noise and wobble when accelerating which I can't identify yet - maybe it's the wheel bearing somehow? So more checking and work to do. The engine is running extremely well and very smooth. Especially I have now been driving it a little more and longer over the recent days. Oh, and the engine stalling due to the gas/tank contaminaton is definately cured now.
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