Heater failure

[J44EAG]

An old scrap fibreglass hull, Phil.

Mast, furler, sails etc, etc all up for grabs to fund the rework as a shed/workshop.

Hull ok, interior rotten as a peach which doesn`t matter, engine water damaged and now removed complete with delaminated engine bed.

Rebated and epoxy glass sheathed ply panels pre cut and glued into place with epoxy/cotton fibre slurry mix. All pulled together with slave screws which get removed once the goop has cured. Internal joints quarter filleted with cotton fibres using a round ended mixing stick as a shaper. First stage as here.

Now the front end is stable, the back end needs similar treatment. Note the radiused molded shape which will be tackled using three epoxy laminated layers of bendy 4mm ply. This ply has all the grain going in the same direction with a flexible interlayer which holds it all together as the ply is bent around a radius. Dead handy stuff. Tody`s job plus I hope a couple of panels fitted. Messy old game.

Detail of the radius to be attempted.

The worst bit is getting going in the morning. I know it is going to hurt!

Mike

[ecosselynx]

Hi Mike

You only got that one tool in your box or is it the only one in the photo!

be safe

[J44EAG]

A lump hammer is the best reaction block in the World, John. Hit it better!

The result of the days labour today then.

Glass fibre thinned to 4mm where required, Bonding surfaces cleaned of crud, then three layers of bendy ply epoxied and screwed together as a laminate whilst the goop cured. Quite a job. Screws then removed. Inner and outer side panels gooped into place and screwed top and bottom to existing structure. 3mm gaps back filled. Internal panel edges filleted. Minor fairing carried out to external face of bendy ply.

Then then after speaking to `Orrible Rob on the phone, I trod on my reading specs which are now a write off...............

The same process now has to be applied to the other side of the boat. Another repeat session coming up.

Dust and muck dominates. A pint badly needed.

Mike

[oldtimer]

Hi Mike ,
Just been browsing through your last photo's. Have you made some good progress over the last few days with all this sunny weather?

Phil

[J44EAG]

Thanks for asking, Phil.

Quite a busy week so only a limited amount done. Also had to wait for some more epoxy and other ancillary materials to arrive. 9kg of epoxy used to date with about £260 spent in total.

Just another three metres or so of boarding to go in now and the external structure will be dine. Then there is the filling, joint tape runs and final fairing ro be done. That will be a long and exhausting job.

Came back today with a load of scrap kitchen work tops so they will be mist useful.

A few more pics here then. Note first doubled up and extended deck to cabin roof extension upright in 068 and coffin cuts in ply forward left to allow ply to be bent around the curve of the boat. Quite a struggle with that panel and have to do the same again on the other side of the boat. Loads of clamps, screws and timber bulks needed to persuade the ply panel into position. The panels are externally epoxy glassed so the outer skin is in tension, the centre in shear and the inner skin in compression. Hence the need for the coffin cuts. Those get back filled with epoxy and cotton fibre slurry to restore structural integrity. So far, so good. Stinky, smelly, dusty job.

Popped a headlight bulb last night. Both fitted as a pair five years ago. Uprated +50%units from Halfords. Great lamps but one failed. Got a 120% uprated set from Halfords today for £30 with my trade card and fitted this afternoon. Have to say they are incredibly good. Bi-zenon technology and road legal at 55w. Called Ultimate Brilliance and very good they are too.

Mike

[Martec]

Mike, nice to see you are progressing with your new workshop, but although it is open sided and so 'air con' is a possible forum category, shouldn't it really be 'Bodywork'?

Brian

[J44EAG]

How right you could be now all the structural paneling has been fitted, a window cut in, cockpit washboard runners extended and final filling and fairing done to the aft cabin vertical sections.

A few more pics then beginning with the window and panel section at the front end of the cabin. All faired in, epoxy glass cloth applied together with a filler mix. Once cured, the fairing mix was flatted smooth, window cut in, edges routed and epoxy applied to exposed plywood end grain. Once cured, rough flatted, primed and finally the window screwed into place on a bed of polysulphide sealer.

To the aft end of the cabin, the washboard runners needed extending to cope with the additional height built into the cabin. I had also dropped the lower edge of the runners to make access to the cabin easier. Hence the extra sections needed. One new washboard will need to be cut and routed as the cabin roof has been raised exactly 11.5 inches to gain headroom. Careful building ensured that the cabin width retained its original dimensions.

So that is the work done over the last couple of days.

More pics soon.

Mike

[oldtimer]

Hi Mike,
Just been looking through the last batch of photos, and a bit of sunshine then.

Keep at it you're doing real well

P

[J44EAG]

The next batch of work complete and primed up. Just the sides to fill and fair now. Then the gloss paint can go on.

Also partially completed bulkhead extension infills and widening of opening to allow washing machine installation at future date. A work bench with bar type flip up centre portion top will allow access to the front cabin. A bath was also to be installed but a cunning plan now hatched to make use of the cockpit area by flooding as the bath tub itself! Hot water to be heated by a 3kw in line heater pumped into the cockpit to fill to the brim. Shaln`t know myself!! I`ll be doing that job once I`ve constructed a shed over that area. Complaints will be flying around otherwise!

Mike

[dhdove]

Mike

Isn't it waaaaaaay passed time you moderated yourself for being "off-topic"


TonyS

[J44EAG]

Good point, nicely presented, Tony.

Indeed, I did chastise myself for the crime earlier in this thread. However, as I would appear to have a climate control issue with this floating hulk, I decided to continue the thread even though a valve wouldn`t fix this particular issue! In this case, the large volume of open area does indeed give a potential heating problem!!

Mike

[dhdove]

None Intended!



TonyS

[ParaHandy]

This might be past it's sell-by date, but, my S type's heating failed with it on full blast. The 2 culprits were either the CCM, climate module behind where the sat nav screen is, or the dual control switch which switches hot water on to either side of the cabin and is positioned somewhere near the front. The third which was the actual culprit is a broken wire to the water valve.

The CCM is very expensive but a USA company will exchange and return for couple hundred bucks (much, much cheaper than a new one) and the valve ain't cheap either. Good write up in jaguarforum.co.uk with url's etc.

Is, was, the boat a Westerly? My boat's not far from you; we also had a tough spring; between the 11th to 13th March we got 6 coats of epoxy and 2 antifoul on. Only days up to then when the temperature throughout the 24 hours was above 5c. It might be that there never has been 3 consecutive days since ... what a spring?

pps have you used JagCare for repairs or servicing?

[J44EAG]

Hello Douglas,

My car is still in need of heater attention. Too busy to do much about it at present. The same symptoms as you had.

What you describe is typical of the number of issues that can all have similar effects upon the operation. Valve failure can lead to the ecu giving up and a part of the pc board burning out. This can often be resoldered but before that occurs, one has to ensure that the cause of the burn out has been fixed. External fusing would help. Martock (Brian) has posted recently about this problem here on this BB and describes how he sorted his car out.

if the module is beyond repair, second hand can be a good remedy provided they come from a reputable source such as Eurojag. Generally, second hand parts fetch about one third of their new value.

John Grieve at Jagcare near Port Solent is a real star. he has been repairing Jaguars for more than thirty years. He fixed up an old XJS I had recently. All done and dusted in a couple of hours.

My yacht is or was a Kestrel 22 designed by Robert Tucker. Not much done recently due to recent commitments but this old hulk is proving very useful. Named "Piecapoo", it describes its condition magnificently. Not much left in it now but a set of modified old steps and some internal clearance has made this old heap a very useful acquisition. It no longer leaks or sinks and floats the right way up. Something of a small miracle as bits were falling off as we craned it into the Creek. Come and have a look sometime.

Mike

[J44EAG]

In an idle moment just now, I decided to pull and inspect every fuse and relay gizmo in the under bonnet fuse box on J44.

The first fuse I pulled top left of the fuse box was blown. This was a red 10amp mini type. Grabbing my fuse supply box, I found a correct rated fuse and with keys removed from the ignition switch, fitted the fuse. A loud click was heard from just below the fuse box and the new fuse remained unblown.

Starting the car made no diffeence to the fuse condition so I switched the heater controls back on. I`d run the car for over a year in this condition because each time I switched the heater unit on, all I got was hot air! Most uncomfortable in the summer as most of the time I`ve driven with the drivers window open and the sunroof open. Most people would not tolerate this condition.

Apparently it is most unusual for a heater valve to fail in the full hot position and the general consensus of opinion indicated that probably a break in the wiring loom behind the bumper had occurred. Nowadays I find great difficulty working on my hands and knees due to a back condition and I was loath to dismantle the car and cause myself physical misery in the process. Taking the line of least resistance, I elected to switch off the heating system and just live with the problem.

So back to the replaced 10amp fuse. Getting back into the car and driving it, I found to my delight and astonishment that I now have full control of the heating system again. Cost, 70p for a fuse! Happy days indeed.

I`ve driven the car around for half an hour now and the heater control is still working. One wonders for how long that may continue and if the fault which originally caused the original fuse to blow, will reoccur.

So far so good and my cheapest S-type fix ever. The obvious answer when the heater failed should have been the classic "start with the basics first" but at that point I just walked away from the issue out of lack of interest.

There we have it then. If your heater goes full hot, check the top left hand fuse on early models in the under bonnet fuse box.

Happy as larry now. Well pleased.

Mike