First-hand experiences, diagnostics and hard-won workshop knowledge from living with — and working on — a 5.9-litre V12 grand tourer.
Whatever the old girl throws at us next — it'll be documented here.
Post-service misfires on the passenger bank only. Seven diagnostic stages traced a dead cylinder 7 to debris re-settled inside a freshly ultrasonic-cleaned injector — electrically perfect, invisible to the ECU, delivering no fuel.
All 12 plugs and coilpacks replaced at ~60,000 miles — both inlet manifolds off, all 24 injector O-rings renewed, injectors ultrasonically cleaned. The job that started it all.
ZF 6HP26 Touchtronic II service — fluid and filter.
Routine oil and filter service.
Paint protection film applied over the fresh paintwork.
Proper bodywork at the bodyshop — front end stripped, filler, booth time and fresh paint, ahead of the PPF.
Dash trim replaced and facelift-style wiper arms fitted — done before the paint went on.
Fuel filler release solenoid and its corroded cable replaced — the old cable had rusted to pieces. New solenoid is a VDO unit wearing a Jaguar part number: the PAG parts bin strikes again.
Secondary cats out, polished AMS pipes in. The V12 finally clears its throat.
New brake discs and pads at all four corners.
The big one — stripped to bare panels, filler, primer, colour. A complete respray at the bodyshop.
Aston OEM Lightning pack wheels fitted, shod with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S. The keepers.
Sportpack wheels fitted — they didn't stay long.
The facelift glass switchgear retrofit, done in stages through spring — PRND and the engine-start jewel first, then Sport, parking and fog buttons to match.
The centre-console waterfall refinished in gloss black.
Mansory rear silencer fitted mid-October — off the car again by late November.
First Raspberry Pi CarPlay build — the ancestor of AstonPi, fitted before the Mansory box arrived.
The day the DB9 came home. Everything above follows from this decision.
