A long, hard day

It couldn't have been a worse start to the day. For the first time in two-and-a-half years, the 32-year-old car failed to start this morning. A combination of short runs, heavy battery drain and a dusting of snow during the night proved too much for it. Jump start from my wife's Rover at 06:30.

Clutch much worse. I only get one shot at moving off now and if I hold the pedal down the car starts to creep after a few seconds. Parked in the space by the exit at work, pointing outwards and spotted a solitary magpie. Ben later commented, 'That's the parking of a man with a dodgy clutch.'

Many thanks to all of you who wrote to offer advice. You all correctly diagnosed a leaking seal in the master cylinder.

David Marks rang at 11:00 to say the master cylinder had arrived from SNG Barratt and that he had a slave in stock. He never reseals hydraulics and often finds that a new master cylinder will quickly expose weaknesses in the rest of the system.

By noon I was ready to tackle the 40-mile journey from Peterborough to Nottingham with virtually no clutch. What followed was a virtuoso performance of clutchless driving. The challenge of approaching every junction and roundabout in neutral and selecting just the right gear for the next gap in traffic thrilled me and frustrated the hell out of everyone behind me. If you followed a very slow XJ6 along the A52 today, I'm sorry.

David Marks took just over an hour to swap the master and slave cylinders and bleed the system. The only unexpected task was the need to drill one of the slave mounting lugs to accept an oversize bolt that had remedied a stripped thread in the past. The pedal box needs to come out and the new master cylinder is fitted on the bench.

The master cylinder cost £64.63 (inc VAT) from Barratt, which was more expensive than Martin Robey, but Robey's didn't have one in stock. The slave was £48. Carriage on the master cylinder (£14.68) and David's time resulted in another sheet of paper to hide from my wife. But it was all worth it to feel a smooth, strong clutch pedal for the first time in weeks.

I enjoyed the A606 down through Melton Mowbray and Oakham, winter sunshine, white clouds and a heavy snow shower creating a stunning skyscape.

At the Shell filling station some dolt had tangled two pump hoses and when I stretched the unleaded nozzle for the far side tank, the diesel nozzle flew out of its holster and took two chips of paint out of my nearside rear wing. It was that bloody magpie's fault.

Clutching at straws

I have a worsening problem with the clutch. During stop/start town traffic the clutch starts to 'clear' and 'bite' deeper and deeper into the pedal travel, until at its worst, the clutch starts to drag. Gears become difficult to select and even with the pedal right to the deck the plates are still engaged.

But if I take my foot right off the pedal, and allow it to recover for a few moments, a good pedal action returns.

I've tried bleeding the system and it doesn't improve. There are no apparent leaks where air could be getting in and it doesn't lose any fluid. Pumping the pedal, a typical remedy for a dragging clutch with air in the system, actually makes it worse.

Any suggestions out there?

TV star car

Bet you wondered where I'd gone! Spent all day filming for the documentary to go out on Men & Motors later in the year. Cameras stuck to the paintwork (with duck tape!) and inside the car to get some wild angles. Did about 30 miles round and round the same loop of roads in the business park. Viewers will be gripped.

Taxi!

Picked up Phil at Longthorpe. He's getting the tracking sorted on the Porsche 911. A damp start for the Jaguar, but it fired straight away and ran on six, quietly and smoothly. Today's CD: Fallen, Evanescence.

Oil level

Exactly one litre of oil brought the level back to the top mark on the dipstick, just 439 miles since I last filled it. Is this normal? It also needed a lot of water, but I hadn't checked that since I replaced the split hose.