Topic: What did you do to your car today?

[Scaerio]

labour 1 hr is $148.

There are so many indie shops in Ottawa for Euro cars who offer way better labour rates.  I stopped going to the dealer as soon as the C30's warranty was up.

[ChaosphereIX]

labour 1 hr is $148.

There are so many indie shops in Ottawa for Euro cars who offer way better labour rates.  I stopped going to the dealer as soon as the C30's warranty was up.

agreed. I say buy the parts from Rockauto, save hundreds, and then take them to an indy if you dont want to do it yourself.

[2JDM]

Honda ground cables are generally a weedy and poor in my experience too. A second, aftermarket one is not a bad idea.

labour 1 hr is $148.

There are so many indie shops in Ottawa for Euro cars who offer way better labour rates.  I stopped going to the dealer as soon as the C30's warranty was up.

labour 1 hr is $148.

There are so many indie shops in Ottawa for Euro cars who offer way better labour rates.  I stopped going to the dealer as soon as the C30's warranty was up.

agreed. I say buy the parts from Rockauto, save hundreds, and then take them to an indy if you dont want to do it yourself.

Emailed/called 6 Euro indies and one replied so far. Autovation, a BMW specialist, in Stittsville quoted $385 plus taxes for both jobs! I forgot to ask what tier parts they use. If no one else responds by Monday then I'll go ahead with them.

A Gates "Belt Drive Component Kit" is ~$195 shipped on Rock Auto. I couldn't find a ground cable so lets assume OEM ~$69. I don't think I'd save much buying my own parts.

[ArticSteve]

I couldn't find a ground cable so lets assume OEM ~$69. I don't think I'd save much buying my own parts.

You're not listening.     The existing ground cable may be only 15% degraded.  Maybe only 2%.  It's still a fairly new vehicle.  The TURDS that gave you that estimate were just trying to JACK YOU.  Easy money.  You leave the existing cable on.  You look in the engine.  Look for existing bolts on both engine and frame.  Measure distance.   Go to Crappy and buy the appropriate length and install yourself.  Me thinks it's time for a break through.     

[ktm525]

Those are some nice rides. I miss my 1800E. Anyhow putting on some new Zimmermann rotors on the LR4 tonight (again). I love the Germans, detailed installation pamphlet on how the rotor must be installed. Detailed notes on cleaning the hub, checking the hub runout, mounting disc, and then checking total runout. I wonder how many places do that.  The funny thing is I will do all that because this particular vehicle tends to somehow cause brake runout.. Im blaming my wife and daughter and a hilly environment.

New Zimmermann rotors put on front and all smooth and good. 0 total runout once rotors mounted on both sides. . Existing ones I replaced were weird. The driver front had 0.001" lateral runout so good. The right had 0.004" so bad. These were recut rotors and were on for a total of 6k kms (had runout after 12k kms the first time) . Raybestos never again. 

[Firm]

Funny you mention the Raybestos thing...I had a runout issue with a set of Raybestos on the DTS with about 10K on them. Replaced with Pro Series OE+ from PartSource and haven't had a problem in 15K+.

[Firm]

Got some time in the afternoon today to finally clean up the engine bay of the XKR....slowly getting to the bottom of the list on this car.

[Scaerio]

Pretty!

[Bubba]

Cleaner than my apartment.

[ktm525]

Clean, too clean....Can't hide the impending timing chain doom. 

[draghon]

Replaced front swaybar bushings on the Acadia, helped the front end a little but there is still something else making noise, will have to dig a little deeper now...

[Dante]

Got some time in the afternoon today to finally clean up the engine bay of the XKR....slowly getting to the bottom of the list on this car.

Looks great! What products did you use?

[Firm]

Thanks Guys

KTM, don't be so paranoid...The number of timing chain failures reported on these, even in the Jag forums which tend to overindex in problems, is super low, and most of them that were reported were at mileage well under mine. So I feel like if mine was going to let go, it would've done so. 170K on this, not a hint of chain rattle and checking the tension through the oil fill cap it's right on spec (at least according to what others are getting on the forums). If it does bite me though; I bought the car well enough, that I could put an engine in it and still be in good shape on it 

CC; nothing fancy. I cleaned the worst off using a damp sponge with a bucket of soapy (car wash) water. Then sprayed some quick detailer and wiped it down, piece by piece with some microfiber. Then used some 'black wax' on the visible painted parts. Used a shop vac here and there as well to get dirt/dust out of the crevices.

[ktm525]

Really? I believe I am running a variant of the same 5.0L in my LR4 and the failure of the timing chain tensioners are a matter of when not if.

[Firm]

It is the same 5.0L, but there does seem to be a lot more talk of the issue with the LR groups...Not sure why. Maybe there's some internal tweaks? Or maybe something about the truck platform puts more strain on it? There's also a lot of people theorizing on the impact of oil used and frequency of changes....running the factory intervals might induce extra wear. Since mine only does a couple thousand K a year, I jut change it annually with quality oil and filter and don't worry about it. If it was my DD, I'd be changing it every 5-7K for good measure.

Regardless, I promise you I am not losing any sleep over it 

[ktm525]

Fair enough and you probably are not piling the miles on.  There could be more Land Rover reports as they probably sold  20 to 1 vs the XKR. I was shocked at the cost of about $10k CAN for a used 5.0L if you can find one.  My LR4 is at 180 K kms on the original chain and I am at the point if it breaks I will part it out.There is a class action organizing but I have my doubts if it will go anywhere.

[Firm]

Fair enough and you probably are not piling the miles on.  There could be more Land Rover reports as they probably sold  20 to 1 vs the XKR. I was shocked at the cost of about $10k CAN for a used 5.0L if you can find one.  My LR4 is at 180 K kms on the original chain and I am at the point if it breaks I will part it out.There is a class action organizing but I have my doubts if it will go anywhere.

Also may be that XK/XKR's tend to be toys, so owners keep up on the oil changes and such. LR may fall to more abusive owners more frequently.

Do you have any noise coming from yours?

[rrocket]

Thanks Guys



CC; nothing fancy. I cleaned the worst off using a damp sponge with a bucket of soapy (car wash) water. Then sprayed some quick detailer and wiped it down, piece by piece with some microfiber. Then used some 'black wax' on the visible painted parts. Used a shop vac here and there as well to get dirt/dust out of the crevices.

Am surprised you don't have a steam cleaner...given all the old cars/ interiors/parts you clean yearly.

I got one this year and I'm disappointed I didn't have one years ago....

So amazing, so easy. Plus we use it around the house to clean....everything.

[ktm525]

Fair enough and you probably are not piling the miles on.  There could be more Land Rover reports as they probably sold  20 to 1 vs the XKR. I was shocked at the cost of about $10k CAN for a used 5.0L if you can find one.  My LR4 is at 180 K kms on the original chain and I am at the point if it breaks I will part it out.There is a class action organizing but I have my doubts if it will go anywhere.

Also may be that XK/XKR's tend to be toys, so owners keep up on the oil changes and such. LR may fall to more abusive owners more frequently.

Do you have any noise coming from yours?

Nope all quiet so far knock on wood. More real danger from the plastic front and rear crossover coolant pipes. If you notice your coolant dropping even a smidge then that is a sign if the pump is clean.

[aquadorhj]

Thanks Guys



CC; nothing fancy. I cleaned the worst off using a damp sponge with a bucket of soapy (car wash) water. Then sprayed some quick detailer and wiped it down, piece by piece with some microfiber. Then used some 'black wax' on the visible painted parts. Used a shop vac here and there as well to get dirt/dust out of the crevices.

Am surprised you don't have a steam cleaner...given all the old cars/ interiors/parts you clean yearly.

I got one this year and I'm disappointed I didn't have one years ago....

So amazing, so easy. Plus we use it around the house to clean....everything.

which steam cleaner did ya get?