The Dismantler's get it right. Thank you Euro Jag.

After waiting a few days I finally couldn't wait any longer and phoned the breakers yard to see how they were getting on. He told me they had got the car from the midst of the wrecks and had started to dismantle the engine. He would ring me the following day.

Late the next day my phone rang and it was Warren. 

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?"

I told him I would have the good news first.

"We have both cats of the engine."

Dreading the bad news, which could either be they were the right parts but no good, or they were the wrong parts, I said, "go on then, what's the bad news?"

With a smirk in his voice he replied, "they'll be with your garage tomorrow."

"Are they in ok condition," I ventured. 

"They're in excellent condition, and they're on the courier as we speak."

Having assured him I would keep his number for future Jaguar emergencies, I ended the call and phoned the garage to let them know to expect the parts and to call me the following day when they arrived.

Sure enough, late the following morning the garage rang me. "They are here and they're in really good condition, and they have sent the complete units so we just have plug them on and check everything runs ok."

So, it looks like we are at the end of a long car repair, with a lot less of a dent in the bank balance and Warren's number stored safely in my mobile.

So, thank you to Euro Jag http://www.eurojag.com/ 

The Postman (Should've) Knocked

Fortunately I was at home yesterday when the postman tried to push a package through the letterbox, and it got stuck... big time stuck.

We have a letterbox guard to prevent the dogs from eating the post before we can get to it. They are generally very well behaved and don not chew, unless it's paper.

I wasn't even aware we were waiting for a package to be delivered but, here it was, well and truly stuck between the cage and the door. I opened the door to see if I could pull it out from the other side but it was solid.

Neil came and applied his engineering head, and before removing the dog guard altogether, a series of strategically placed screwdrivers and knives, along with a lot of manipulation and finally we had the box free.

Recently, I have been reviewing all our bill providers and changing many of them to more favourable tariffs. One such bill was the electricity and part of the change meant I got a 'handy monitor' to allow me to see what appliances use how much electric and be a little more discerning about leaving things plugged in 'for convenience'. The irony is that the little gizmo runs on electric, one more thing to plug in but, we dutiful have set it all up and can see it happily sit at the lower end of the scale until we turn the kettle on, the fridge freezer fires up or, and this is the real killer, the hot tub goes on to filter cycle. Fortunately, most of these are short term burst of usage and the monitor then settles back to it's relatively low reading. Certainly an interesting gizmo and one to focus just what we are paying good money for.

In addition, the postman had also brought me an envelope from the Inland Revenue. Having already had a tax refund cheque in the last couple of months I thought this could only mean one thing...

They wanted the money back.

I have 2 sources of income, along with my job I have a small pension (yes, I really am old enough!) and so my tax code is split, but both are taxed at source.

I left the envelope on my desk for a few hours while I did everything I could to avoid opening it and face the truth. With the cost of the car repair still smarting I really didn't feel I wanted to send money back to the tax office.

Eventually I could put it off no longer and sat down with my cheque book. I opened the envelope and pulled out...

A cheque...

Yes, they've sent me some more money. I'm not sure why yet as they haven't sent me through the calculation to go with it but hey, I'm not complaining, I'm spending it...

On these...  

I always clip the dogs myself and mine are a cheap model that are nothing more than rebadged hair trimmers that are sold as dog trimmers but struggle with their fur. It take forever to get the dogs done and last week I ended up finishing Brinkley with the scissors, they just would not cut his fur. I had Neil take them apart and do everything he could to make them work but, nothing. 'You need some new ones, and some proper ones this time', he said.

So, we had already done our research and decided which clippers to get, we just needed to wait for payday...

And now it's come early, I can get them ordered. 

Thank you Inland Revenue.

Do we really need a Diesel Particulate Filter? Part 2.

To keep matters simple, I am not going to go into the technicalities of what a DPF does, all you need to know is some diesel cars have them... and some don't. It's all to do with exhaust emissions, and even without one a car still passes the emissions test.

When I ask the question, 'Do we need one?' I mean does the car we have, have to have one or can it be removed, and you may be wondering why such a question would even go through my mind.

Well, after a lot of research I discovered that the parts at £145 each (see previous post) were indeed the wrong part. They fit a Jaguar without the DPF, the ones we need are to fit a Jag with a DPF. I rang the online parts company and put this logic to them and they checked and confirmed, if we had a DPF their parts would not fit. And then the real sting in the tail, he told me that the parts we needed are only available as genuine Jaguar spares at... £745 each.

Another call to the garage to question their initial estimate of £1,200 and it turns out that when they had contacted the local Jaguar dealer for a price they had been given the price for the cats without the DPF, (hence the online company telling me they were the right parts), the right parts pushed the estimate above £2,000.

And at this point I started to ask whether it was possible to remove the DPF and fit the none-DPF cats.

'Well, yes, it can be done and we could do it', the mechanic answered, 'but the engine would need remapping'.

More research, what does remapping mean and can I find anyone to remap a Jag.  And then I had  'Eureka' moment. I checked Ebay and found a pair for sale, used. Now, I am cautious what I buy from Ebay but it set me thinking about used spares, and I searched for Jaguar Breakers Yards. Another while on the internet and I had made contact with a company that specialise in breaking down Jaguars. They could supply the right parts, delivered to the garage for £430. The car was an insurance write-off, and the spares come with warranty. Result.

So, instead of £1,700 (including the sensors) the parts are costing us £430.

We are now in the hands of the dismantlers, fingers crossed it will all go to plan and we shall soon have the car back on the road.

Now, I'm waiting for a quiz question on catalytic converters & DPF's, 'cos trust me... I'd know the answer! 

George & Georgina... not as bad as it could be.

As planned, we took a peek in the bird box this morning. I did as I'd read on the internet and tapped lightly on the side of the box incase any adult birds were inside, even though I know neither have been anywhere near it for about a week. As there was no response, we removed the lid and took a look inside.

The inside looked very cosy, with lost of twigs and straw lined with green moss. There was a hollow in one corner, the shape of a sitting bird but no sign of any eggs, eggshells or, thankfully hatchlings that hadn't survived.

I am now sure that the nesting box was abandoned before the female had laid. The abandonment could have been for a number of reasons. Maybe they realised it was in the wrong position and became too hot in the sun for any chicks to survive. Maybe it was too close to the bird feeder, I have read that the noise and bustle of numerous birds at a feeder can scare away nesting bluetits, they like peace and quiet. Maybe a cat or larger birds had got too close and frightened them away. Or maybe they were just too young, and this was their first effort and it just didn't work out.

Whatever the reason, we have relocated the bird box to a cooler, better shaded part of the garden, quieter and out of the way of prying cats. Bluetits only lay once a year (generally) in April/May and so I don't expect any further activity in the box this year but we'll keep an eye on it... just incase. You never know, a different bird type may take an interest.

At least I'm happier knowing no eggs or hatchlings were harmed in our first nesting box.

George & Georgina ... Update

Over the last few weeks I have grown accustomed to watching the Bluetits flying in and out of the bird box. Every breakfast time would see them active and again in the early evening. One always flew to a nearby tree across the garden from the entrance and then flew straight onto the front of the house, the other always flew a bit further along the fence it hangs on and then looped into the house. Late last week I heard a very small, quiet 'cheep' come from inside. I felt sure it had to be a baby, it was such a small sound.

I had put the bird box up without researching where would be the best place for the birds. Once it was up some friends commented that it should have been on the opposite side of the fence, to shield it from the sun. This year we had a long winter and spring started very late, but then we had a few days of very warm sunshine and for a few hours each morning, the bird box was in full sunshine until the passing hours moved the sun behind the house at the back and cast a cooling shadow over the box.

It worried me that any babies may find it too hot, they would be unable to get a drink and be reliant on what ever the parents brought back to the nest. It was too late to move it, I could only keep watching to see what happened.

Last Sunday I realised I hadn't seen either George or Georgina all day, and I wasn't sure whether I had seen them the previous day either. Maybe it was because we have breakfast later at weekends, maybe it was just a timing issue.

Monday morning came and over my bowl of muesli I kept a close watch on the garden, but still no sign. Now, a week on I am convinced they have left the nest. Whether they had laid any eggs, I'm not sure. Whether they managed to hatch any eggs, I'm not sure. I am sure that no babies grew as there was never any signs of the babies ready to fledge. So, tomorrow we will open the box to check. I am prepared for the worst, the possibility that there were babies but they didn't survive. I've checked a number of websites to see how best to check for occupancy and so, fingers crossed we shouldn't disturb any activity if there still is any.

I have found a new spot in the garden to hang it, it will be in the shade all day. It won't be as visible from the house, but that has to be secondary to being the right place for the birds to raise their young. Unfortunately, Bluetits generally only lay once each year, in April-May, so I shall have to wait until next year to see if the new position attracts new occupants.

So, tomorrow the best outcome when we open the box would be to see empty eggshells proving chicks had hatched and fledged, but somehow I think that's unlikely.

Do we need a Diesel Particulate Filter?

Neil's dream car to own was an S-type Jaguar, a la Inspector Morse. 3 years ago when we returned from work and were car shopping we found one that fitted the budget. We knew repairs would be costly but with the low mileage Neil does, we have been fortunate over the 3 years that nothing major has gone wrong.

Until now.

It started with an occasional bit of smoke coming out the side of the bonnet when the engine got hot. A suspected oil leak dripping onto a hot engine. The car was due a service so when it went in, we mentioned this and when we got it back they said they had tightened something up.

A few days later, more smoke.

Back to the garage and then came the bad news... there was a fracture on the Catalytic Converters, the repair bill in excess of £1,200.Parts alone would be near £1,000.

Wow.

We decided to try and source the parts ourselves. We have done this before and saved substantial sums on the cost of the parts. I found an online website that sold the 2 cats for £145 each. I rang the garage to check we needed both the left hand and right hand cat. Yes, both were fractured. Then the phrase that would lead to a lot of stress. 

'Make sure they are the DPF'

Logic told me to ask for the part number, to make sure I got the correct parts. I was given the necessary number. I rang the online parts people and gave them the part number. 'That's the number for the DPF, not the Catalytic Converters', I was told. 'Are you sure that's correct?' As I'd been told to make sure it was the DPF I confirmed that was what I had been asked to get. 'Well, the cost of that part is £600!' 

Gulp!

'And I need the pressure sensors', I said.

'Another £180', was the reply.

We would still be saving over £250 on the repair so, not knowing what else to do I ordered the parts to be delivered direct to the garage.

A couple of days later I got a call, the garage had received the parts... but they were wrong. 'They've sent the DPF, we need the cats that go with the DPF'. 

'OK, can you get the correct part numbers for me, to make sure these at £145 are the right ones'. I also asked them to send me a photo of the bits I needed. This is what we needed:

The best price I could find for these, genuine Jaguar parts was £745...

Each!

This is what we were being told was the correct part to buy: 

At a price of £145... Each.

Having already bought a part, only to find it was the wrong one I was extra keen to make sure I got the right ones this time. After all, the Jag was off the road, engine dismantled awaiting parts so it could be rebuilt.

The people at http://www.onlineautomotive.co.uk/ were incredibly helpful, and kept assuring me that the part numbers I was giving them related to these parts, as Jaguar replacements. 

I wasn't convinced, the length of the down pipe made me feel something wasn't right. I said I would get back to them and that night I sat down and did what I do best.

I did my research, with my trusty aid... Google.

It was an evening of education, a steep learning curve, and of being proved right...

And opened up a whole, new can of worms...

To Be Continued...