going for a service and wheel bearing on thurs

[hammie]

Hi all,
my black cat as ive come to call her/it?? is off back up to Bob Bates for a full service and to have a front nearside wheel bearing fitted, after reading quite a few posts on various jag sites and forums, i have decided to let bob take the strain lol, as chances are it will be stuck in there solid, and if not, then not so much of a labour charge, thanks to you mike i think ive managed to get the best price for the bearing hub, £135 delivered from neville at north east jag spares, top chap, ordered fri afternoon, arrived this morning. Bobs service covers more than stipulated by jag and it will get a full check underneath, just hoping there are no more wobbly bits, its having a brake fluid and coolent change as well, and getting the aircon checked over, it doesnt feel that cold to me, [but i have been used to saabs, and apparently they are colder than jags!!] and a couple of other little jobs, in fairness to him, he has sent me a full quote via email for the work with a breakdown of the prices, not being a rich man, i said that i would proberbly have to get it done it 2 hits, but we must have a level of trust after my cheque for the gearbox oil change didnt bounce lol, and hes allowing me to pay the bill in 2 payments, so it can all be done at once, very impressed with Bob and Mark and their customer service is excellent, you can also have a good bit of banter with them too, luckily i managed to sell my standard alloys off the car this weekend so this will help to offset the cost, then short of the towbar and back boxes she will be up to spec, trouble is i didnt realise the x350,s came with the v6 engine, and i have looking at a few of these on ebay!!!!, good job i cant afford one, but may be one for me for the future , the weathers mad, whilst alot of the country had snow yesterday, up here in north wales, we must of had one of the nicest days so far, mild sunny and dry, so i was out washing the car and getting the weeks of grime off it!!!!!
anyway, cheers for now Hammie

[J44EAG]

Thanks for the update, Hammie.

Bob is a total gentleman. Definitely to be regarded as an Elder Statesman of the JEC. His knowledge is magnificent and his articles bulletproof. I met him at the first S-type Seminar and had lunch with him. Indeed, it was Bob who inspired me to begin writing as a hobby. My humble efforts appear from time to time in the S-type Forum pages as you all know..........

No one tries harder to drive down parts prices for our Jaguar cars than Neville Anderson at North East Jag Spares. He is best known to young Jenner and I as "Wye aye man"! I have to say his prices can seldom be beaten and his interest and efforts for his customers needs are second to none. Glad you have hooked up with these two guys because they are both a pleasure to deal with and totally on our side.

The front wheel bearing unit replacement can be either a cinch or a complete cuss. I covered the replacement in a Forum article early last year. The wheel hub flange, shaft and large roller bearing are contained in a cartridge secured to the vertical leg by four bolts. Once those bolts have been removed, removal of the cartridge will go one of two ways.

The first removal attempt can be performed by simply hitting the scrap unit with a lump hammer. Sometimes it will just drop out of the vertical leg with little bother. A corrosion clean up of the leg mounting follows after which a thick coating of copper grease is applied to the new bearing unit and the mating face of the leg. The new cartridge is then bolted to the leg using thread locking fluid on the bolt threads. Once torqued up, brakes, discs and wheel may be fitted. Job done, nice and easy.

The second method is employed when the bearing cartridge is so corroded to the leg that use of the above method fails. The cartridge is steel and the leg is aluminium. Mixed metal galvanic reaction occurs which seizes the cartridge to the leg. At that point the leg must be separated from the upper and lower wishbone by removing ball joint nuts and then taking the leg complete with bearing cartridge to a bench press.

The leg and cartridge are cleaned of road debris and flooded with penetrating oil or other dismantling fluid such as WD40. Using suitable support blocks the leg is placed on the bench with the four retaining bolts screwed half an inch into the cartridge. Heavy pressure is applied to each bolt head in turn which should given enough brute force and ignorance, begin to push the bearing out of the leg. The amount of corrosion noticed is often quite astonishing! It should be appreciated that is is occasionally possible that complete leg breakage could occur. Something in the region of twenty tons per square inch may need to be applied in order for the hub to be encouraged to part company with the leg. Perhaps not then surprising that breakages can occur from time to time.

Whilst the car is on the ramp and before beginning a wheel bearing change, it is the right time to also examine the lower ball joint for wear. This is simple. With the front wheels raised, take a tyre lever between the ramp or ground and lever directly under the tyre. Any noticeable vertical movement noticed at the lower ball joint should be investigated. If joint wear is excessive, the joint and or leg should be replaced or reconditioned at the same time as a wheel bearing is replaced. This would save in labour costs by having to only pay one labour bill.

It is best that ball joint replacement be discussed in a further post on the subject. I believe we have already covered this procedure on another post heading within the suspension section of this BB.

We escaped the snow here over the weekend down here near Portsmouth. Just a biteing wind to contend with .Could be worse at this time of year. -4 tomorrow morning again. Something to look forward to on the Marina pontoons at early hours.

Mike

[hammie]

Car back from Bobs after a full service, new trackrod end, and brake fluid renew, clean bill of health given, apart from my dodgy spare and needing a new radiator and one of the top hoses which is seeping from where the sensor goes into it [see other post], a least now its been given a good going over from an expert and no horror stories found on it, along with the gearbox oil change last month, shes now up to spec apart from the fun and games i will have next month when i can afford and get round to buying and fitting a new radiator.
Looks like you do not have to disturb the aircon side of things which is a plus, although on the research i have done so far you have to remove the expansion tank, air filter housing, and rad fan and surround before you can attempt to take the rad out, along with the upteen pipes and electrical connectors that will need disconnecting,stand by for some skinned knuckles me thinks.
So the towbar and exhausts will have to wait until april now lol.
cheers for now Hammie

[J44EAG]

So far so good then, Hammie.

Removing the header tank and air filter box should not be too bad. Be very careful removing the small rubber pipe on the header tank. The stub pipe is part of the plastic tank, is of small diameter and is very liable to break off. The plastic becomes brittle with age. This part of the job is just nuts and bolts. When you have the air box out, that is the time to check that the wiring loom underneath is not damaged. It is put in quite tightly and it is not unknown for cables to chafe through on the body structure. Worth checking while you have access.

Connector blocks can be a cuss. They almost always have locking clips and sometimes they can defy logic when it comes to working out how to unlock them. On the plus side, few if any are identical and is difficult to get them mixed up when it comes to reassembly.

Be prepared for oil spillage when you undo the cooler pipe unions. A tray under the car would be helpful. Try to keep gearbox oil loss to the minimum and have cable ties handy. You can then immediately tie the pipe ends up above gearbox oil level and avoid oil squirting out. You will loose oil from the cooler so again you need to catch that when you undo the unions. I`d be tempted to try to return the oil back to the gearbox via the tied up oil pipes using a small funnel or perhaps better, a syringe. Take care to avoid muck being dropped into your oil tray or bowl for obvious reasons.

Some, if not all the coolant hose pipe clips are of the squeeze type rather than a traditional Jubillee clip. Small water pump pliers are useful to release the squeeze clips but better still would be to have the correct tool which avoids slippage often encountered when using water pump pliers. I`d apply a little copper grease to bolt threads where appropriate. It makes reassembly easier and goes some way to prevent corrosion on threads in the future.

Mike

[hammie]

cheers mike, the header tank was new last year but i will bear it in mind, good idea re the gearbox oil, i have several different sized syringes for the brakes etc on my bikes so i will replen that, speaking to bob about it, the amount of oil in the cooler is very little so hopefully not too much mess, yes i have read about the connectors too, i will wait for a nice dry and maybe warmer day next month, and as its just my toy, i wont matter if its off the road for a couple of days even, so i can take my time, plenty of smoke and brew breaks lol.
cheers H