Shagged XJS - GOT THE MOVES LIKE JAGUAR. NOW with inept attempts to start after one year on its bum

[beko1987]

If you promise to release me you could shut me in it for a few minutes? Or is the boot light connector easily accessable to unplug for a bit?

[red5]

I'ts a bit of a trek, but throwing hat into ring. Odd electrical drains are a bit of a specialist area for me. Wierd isn't it.

 

Also - only need to disconnect earth lead to stop vehicle battery drain (or if determined to disconnect both ,earth off 1st, earth on last please)

[skattrd]

Also - only need to disconnect earth lead to stop vehicle battery drain

 

You disconnected it and it still wouldn't start the following day, this makes me think it's not charging properly.

[hauserplenty]

Charge the battery with a 10Amp charger first. While it's on the boil, check both battery cables at each end for corrosion and proper torque. If you can turn the eyelets by hand, or if the connections look rusty or corroded, remove and file them to bare metal. It's also good to file the battery clamps on the inside. A round file is best for this. Also check the alternator output terminal (The big red wire innit guv) since it might be loose.

I'm not sure about whether Jhag-U-urrs of that era used an external voltage regulator, but yours could be knackered at best or duff at worst. Check the engine ground cable too. If you have a voltmeter, lob it on the terminals, and lean it against the windscreen, then fire it up. If it drops to less than 10 volts while cranking, the battery likely would fail a load test. If the car starts, charging voltage should then read 13.4-14.5v depending on temperature. With a discharged battery it will read lower, which is why charging it first is advisable.

Slowly increase the engine RPM and look for the voltage to rise slightly. If it fluctuates, turn on as many accessories as you can up as far up as they'll go and see how far the voltage drops. It should remain steady, and if not a failing regulator diode is likely.

If it stays below 13V at any of these points, I would suspect a failed regulator, then a failing alternator, after ruling out defective battery cables/connections.

[skattrd]

I have one of these for a lazy alternator testing device ... it's usually in my Beta

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

Thanks for helpful hints, but I have neither the equipment nor the ability to have a clue requisite for technowizzery such as that described above, though I might purchase an electrowidget to shove in the socket as mentioned by skattrd and others.

 

Actually, the car is newish enough for one of the local garages to have a look at, but they are all booked up for weeks  (everyone around here has ten modern cars each, I kid you not, and although there is a garage every mile or so, they are all constantly booked solid).    Also pain in the bum dropping off cars at local garages cos local taxis scarce and uber spenner, and no one at home to pick me up (former Mrs BV is no longer Mrs BV, BV mutha not driving at present, mad Polish blonde mostly in London) .  Maybe will try the old Landy specialist, as they are quite good, and usually give yer a lift back when you drop off a heap at theirs. 

[beko1987]

Feel free to have a passenger ride in the zx of many rattles. Can have a drive if you want but application of incorrect revs causes much alarming rattles until you get above said incorrect rev range

[Guest Breadvan72]

Cheerze, must get organised and book car in somewhere.   Some bloke I know in Thame has been promising me for ages the contact details for his tame old heap mech, but he keeps not giving me the number and never returns calls.  Mucho frustrato.  

[twosmoke300]

Pop down to cornwall for a holiday , borrow my starlet / Landrover / Saab while I fix !

[Guest parki]

Great thread.

Here's mine:

 

3.6 manual. Its abit hanging and its a liability but its also easily the most fun car I have owned.

 

I posted to say check your radius arms for corrosion. Mine sheared as I was tooling along and it felt like the wheels were falling off! Joy!

[Guest Breadvan72]

Charging problem seems to have gone away after fiddlage with alternator connections.   Heater valve and headlamp dipper unit need replacing.  Main problem: badly designed ridge shaped speed bump in an hotel carpark - gearbox mounting ripped to buggery  (I went super slow, but the car is super low) . Weldage needed.  

 

My local garage is asking 3K for an A plate 4.0 convertible, a bit scruffy but said to be OK.   Could be a good buy for someone.  

[Guest Breadvan72]

I am negotiating with an eBay dude for a new gearbox mounting.  Spenner.  Also buying a headlamp module, as the main beams are on the fritz, and a heater valve, and  .... and...

 

Still drives like a beaut, though.  

[Six-cylinder]

My local garage is asking 3K for an A plate 4.0 convertible, a bit scruffy but said to be OK.   Could be a good buy for someone.

Is it a full convertible or an SC?

 

Is A-reg a private plate?

 

A-reg does not make sense if it’s a 4.0 LTR, they did not move from 3.6 to 4.0 until 1992 and at A-reg it would only be a 3.6 SC.

[Clanger]

Paging BV... BV to the red "get rich quick phone" stat.

 

Send me your Jag and I'll make a handsome profit for us both.

 

Based on the price of this shonky old XJS I see a rosy future ahead...

 

Yours for a very reasonable $69,500... apparently owned by someone called "old blue eyes" - you've got blue eyes - right?

 

WCPGW?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yo bready, keep in touch, I am in Oxford 50% of weekends nowadays (just left there today actually) and could come and have a squizz at this if you like.

[beko1987]

I've not had a perv yet either thinking about it. Am 68% sure I saw you the other day too somewhere on the road...

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Paging BV... BV to the red "get rich quick phone" stat.

 

Send me your Jag and I'll make a handsome profit for us both.

 

Based on the price of this shonky old XJS I see a rosy future ahead...

IMG_20160102_133920.jpg

 

Yours for a very reasonable $69,500... apparently owned by someone called "old blue eyes" - you've got blue eyes - right?

 

WCPGW?

 

Bollocks to that, more pics of the '60 Cadillac parked next to it!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Paging BV... BV to the red "get rich quick phone" stat.

 

Send me your Jag and I'll make a handsome profit for us both.

 

Based on the price of this shonky old XJS I see a rosy future ahead...

IMG_20160102_133920.jpg

 

Yours for a very reasonable $69,500... apparently owned by someone called "old blue eyes" - you've got blue eyes - right?

 

WCPGW?

 

 

I remember the fiasco surrounding the sale of Frank Sinatra's XJ40 a few years back!

[Guest Breadvan72]

I  took this rusty heap down to Simply Performance in Dorking today. The tired old knacker is getting a new gearbox mounting, a new front offside wing, new rear arches, and maybe a new bootlid. Then over to Croydon for some paint.




 

[Guest Breadvan72]

Scrubbing up, Romanian stylee, during the Xmas Hols.

 

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I'm sure you and the people doing the work will know about the Jaguar classic parts site, but here it is, incase you don't:

 

Coachlines

 

http://www.jaguarclassicparts.com/uk/jaguar-xjs-v179737-v226645-parts/exterior-fittings-and-sunroof/coachlines/coachline-tape-not-usa

[Skizzer]

That's a useful site and was a new one on me - you can never have too many parts sources.  The only thing is it's just as hard to find anything as SNG Barratt (looks like the same database?) and appears to be even more expensive, if such a thing were possible.  

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

SNG Barratt do use the same database - the 'Jaguar Classic parts' site is actually Jaguar car's own site for older models.

 

SNG Barratt do hold stocks of their own (more than anyone else other than JCP)  - and offer alternative OE and aftermarket parts, which of course Jaguar cars do not - so are always worth checking in any parts search.

 

Many parts which are marked as 'in stock' at Jaguar classic parts will in all probability be sourced from them by SNG Barratt - rather than being in SNG Barratt's warehouse on shelves. Any Jaguar part marked 'Special order' on the SNG Barratt website will come to them from Jaguar classic parts.

 

The site has a great use beyond this - that of supplying 'supersession' part numbers. Many parts have more than one part number allocated to them over the life of the car - yet are interchangeable. This is extremely useful, since it allows the use of for example, an X308 windscreen surround on an XJ40. There are a great many examples of parts shared between cars. Some DS420 parts fit my XJ40 for example.

 

Another benefit of the site and Jaguar classic parts is that they can be extraordinarily helpful when trying to find parts which are no longer available - and in answering any question you may have about the car, its parts - or even original drawings. I have had help on  all three from them over the years. They really go to a lot of effort.

 

 

However, the biggest single benefit from buying parts direct from Jaguar though their Jaguar classic parts site is felt on bulky items.

 

When ordering from the site, you have the option of them posting the part to your home address/workshop doing the work - or for JCP to deliver the part to your nearest/most convenient Jaguar Main dealer for you to collect. With this option, delivery is free no matter the parcel's size or fragility. This is of particular benefit on such things as brake lines of fuel lines.

[Skizzer]

And it's a very good thing that Jaguar have a site for parts supply for older models.  Renault, Citroen, please take note.

 

Also I take it back that they're more expensive than Barratt's - they're the same price for genuine parts based on the couple of things I've looked at.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Thanks for that useful contact!.

Avoid "Just XJS" - his prices are absurd.

 

The car is at "Simply Performance" in Dorking, which is basically a scrapper, that does a bit of other work on the side.

[Guest Breadvan72]

I am off tomorrow morning (to Dorking, HELLZ YEAH) to collect the heap, which should now have new non rusty bits and be all sorts of different colours. I may even leave it that way.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Well, it's back, and it's goppingly hideous! The bonnet was replaced with one almost but not quite the same green as the old one. The boot is now gold! The offside front wing is blue. Hey, the coachline matches. The offside rear arch is not yet replaced, but will be in due course. The bonnet cable has snapped, so the bonnet is ajar.   Photaz lataz.

[Junkman]

Kitten sez I WANT HAZ PHOTAHS NOW

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

You may be sorry you asked.  I have just driven this along the M40, without even having a bag on my head to hide my shame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

Drives like a FUCKHAH, however.  Here it is pissing off the XK8s.