Zel's Motoring Adventures...Volvo, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - Updated 13/11.

[LightBulbFun]

1 minute ago, quicksilver said:

Lada Riva for XJS V12? That has to be one of the most bizarre trades ever, even by AS standards. The Jag looks great and couldn't be any more different from what it replaced.

well let's not forget this is the same person who swapped a Pug 107 for (more or less) half a Model 70  

[richardmorris]

7 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

Lada Riva for XJS V12? That has to be one of the most bizarre trades ever, even by AS standards. The Jag looks great and couldn't be any more different from what it replaced.

I bet the Oliver Reed drinking habit is a bit more pronounced.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

You swapped for an older car?!  You madman!

[mrbenn]

I must say this is absolutely top work.

Never expected you to come back with this!

[richardmorris]

Just now, GrumpiusMaximus said:

You swapped for an older car?!  You madman!

Jaaaaaag.

[LightBulbFun]

lets not forget @Cavcraft who (I assume) actually took Zel up on his offer, so he is also just as mad in this scenario  

if not more so since he was the one getting a Lada and not an XJ LOL

[Zelandeth]

Right, I can finally sit down for five minutes.

So, sitrep.  I've gone mad...that much is apparent!

Getting a Jag at some point was pretty inevitable following my having spent uite a few hours behind the wheel of this one (the dark green one in the photos below) belonging to my former flatmate back in 2006-9.  Still kinda kick myself for not buying it.  Especially as the guy who did buy it went and scrapped it mere weeks later due to a trivial fault.

However what I definitely didn't anticipate was leaping face-first quite so thoroughly into the deep end.  Was thinking an early 90s XJ-6, probably the relatively easy to live with 3.2 version as I already know my way around that to some extent.  Certainly not an XJ-S, and absolutely nothing V12 based.

Oh.  Oops.

So initial impressions.

Well when it was picked up it had been sitting for a good long while in a less than entirely dry lockup and hadn't had a decent run in ages.  A combination of these factors meant that it was running on what sounded like about seven and a half cylinders when I got underway.  Was idling like a 60s Mustang with a poorly tuned carb.

As I expected, after a bit of time on the motorway she cleared her throat and sorted herself out.  Will obviously need to delve deeper if the issue returns on the next cold start, but I'm pretty confident it won't.

The exhaust was knocking against the underside somewhere during the misfire nonsense, but seems to have cut it out now the engine is running properly.

Issues identified.

[] Wiper blades need to be replaced as a matter of urgency.

[] Brake judder (noted by both previous keepers, either warped of flat-spotted discs).

[] Cruise control doesn't work.

[] Gauges read low (except oil pressure) as noted by previous owner.

[] Air conditioning doesn't work - needs a new comoressor clutch, again noted by the previous owner.

[] Interior is a bit musty from the time in the lockup.

[] Veneer panels need refinishing.

... Honestly that's all that's surfaced during a 160 mile home and a bit of local trundling about.  Only things I didn't already know about were the wiper blades and cruise...and I'd honestly have been astonished if the cruise had worked straight out of the gate, and usually change the wiper blades as soon as a car comes on fleet anyway.

Oh, and the lamp which provides lighting to about 80% of the dash controls etc desperately needs a new lamp... it's not out, but is uselessly dim.  Again... absolutely expected.

For a Jag of this vintage that's not spent every millisecond of its life being pampered I'm honestly staggered how well it drives.

Economy on the run over here (noted because the first thing I did on getting back to MK was to refill with V-Power) came back as 18.7mpg.  Given she was missing badly for the first twenty minutes or so and we had stop start traffic on the M1 I reckon that's really not bad at all.  Bet we'll see low teens running around Milton Keynes...

Looking forward to having a better look in daylight tomorrow and getting to know the car a bit better.

For now, have some photos.

Speaking of the dash...this is the most recent car by a long shot I've seen which uses a green indicator light for the rear window demister.  Everything else I've seen from the 80s had switched to amber for this.

My phone makes the illumination of the heater controls etc look almost usefully bright...it really isn't!

Hmm...trying to photograph a black car in the dark.  Not going to work so well!

They may have their foibles...but it's hard to deny that Jag can make a really inviting looking cabin.

That's pretty much all I've got so far... mainly because it's been dark and tipping it down pretty much since I got home.

Much, much more to come tomorrow I'm sure.

Huge thanks to Cavcraft for making this possible of course.  Car aside, was a pleasure to meet and speak to as well.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Does it have a battery isolator under the bonnet?  Only asking because my Great Uncle had one he sold a few years ago...

[LightBulbFun]

Awesome stuff  I love that last picture the lit up interior!

im curious what does the rest of the household make of it/how the hell did you get them to allow you to do such a swap in the first place! LOL

how are the general driving dynamics? and can I have a go?

(not sure what would be a more ridiculous sight, the Lada or the Jag on L plates!)

[Zelandeth]

40 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Does it have a battery isolator under the bonnet?  Only asking because my Great Uncle had one he sold a few years ago...

You'll laugh, but I've not even opened the bonnet yet!

Doubt it though given it's got an 80s era immobiliser fitted.

5 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Awesome stuff  I love that last picture the lit up interior!

im curious what does the rest of the household make of it/how the hell did you get them to allow you to do such a swap in the first place! LOL

how are the general driving dynamics? and can I have a go?

(not sure what would be a more ridiculous sight, the Lada or the Jag on L plates!)

It's surprisingly good actually.  The handling is astonishingly planted for a design of the age and given how compliant the suspension is.  Steering is finger light at parking speeds but really loads up once you're cornering. 

Biggest challenge for giving you a go will be insurance.  I found that quite a few of the usual short term insurers wouldn't cover me for it (will be switching the insurance over from the Lada in the morning, just used a single day policy for today as I didn't want to cancel it until I'd actually dropped it off!), so finding someone who will cover learners is likely to be a challenge.

The household are scratching their heads a bit I think.  My husband is enthused by its arrival... he's always had a soft spot for them, hence the 1:18 model he has of one in the display cabinet.  Abby seems pleased enough, though - like me - has yet to figure out how to get in and out gracefully!  Chris hasn't seen it yet because he's still stuck at work.  Goodness only knows when that will change given the workload at the moment.

Looking forward to getting stuck in giving it a really good clean.  Polish, wax and leather feed are probably first on the list tomorrow.

Oh...and sorting the mirrors which refuse to adjust electrically (again, mentioned by the previous owner so not a new issue).  My money is on dirty contacts in the switch.

[brownnova]

An excellent swap!! These are truly beautiful cars. 

[LightBulbFun]

23 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Biggest challenge for giving you a go will be insurance.  I found that quite a few of the usual short term insurers wouldn't cover me for it (will be switching the insurance over from the Lada in the morning, just used a single day policy for today as I didn't want to cancel it until I'd actually dropped it off!), so finding someone who will cover learners is likely to be a challenge.

 

funnily, not sure if it was on here I read it or elsewhere

but apparently learners actually have an easier/cheaper time getting insurance then newly passed drivers 

I think people speculated that was because with a Learner driver there is by requirement of law, a component driver also in the car, ready to take control should anything go wrong

so that little bit less of a risk then a new guy out on his own

checking my email archives, Dayinsure is the chaps we went with for the Lada,, but sadly... 

was worth a shot! LOL

 

23 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

The household are scratching their heads a bit I think.  My husband is enthused by its arrival... he's always had a soft spot for them, hence the 1:18 model he has of one in the display cabinet.  Abby seems pleased enough, though - like me - has yet to figure out how to get in and out gracefully!  Chris hasn't seen it yet because he's still stuck at work.  Goodness only knows when that will change given the workload at the moment.

I think most of us are also scratching our heads a bit!  

I wonder if its "simple" enough for Chris to attempt a go in it? I can imagine that being quite amusing  

23 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

It's surprisingly good actually.  The handling is astonishingly planted for a design of the age and given how compliant the suspension is.  Steering is finger light at parking speeds but really loads up once you're cornering. 

 

interesting  low speed sounds like the Jag I had go in around the FoD, that really is finger light as you say, that jag was the first normal car I felt relaxed driving rather then really nervous id do something wrong/crash it LOL

(I say normal car, because curiously right from the get go I found the Model 70/REV very easy and relaxing to drive I never felt nervous in it or "not in control" of it etc)

 

(side note I see the title has been updated, dont forget to update your sig too ) 

[Zelandeth]

Got my insurance sorted out this morning, a whole £10 a year more than the Lada.  Not going to complain there. 

Didn't actually get a huge amount done today car wise between having to spend a huge chunk of time in the morning mopping all of the downstairs floors as one of the dogs had thrown up during the night and then walked in it about a thousand times.  Lovely.  Then in the afternoon after about half an hour the heavens opened.

Still did get a couple of things done.

[] Priority one was to set the damned clock as it was driving me mad.  Eventually random jabbing of buttons got it sorted... even though I'm sure I tried what eventually worked yesterday!

For future reference, you hold down reset while pressing the buttons with the secondary markings for hours and minutes.  Still surprises me that the lights in the actual buttons of the trip computer are incandescent lamps, figured they would be green LEDs, even this far back.

Conditioning the leather was next up.  It was definitely in dire need of it.  Usually with this stuff you apply it, wait ten minutes then buff off any excess.  That step wasn't really necessary as it virtually all absorbed immediately.

Gave the plastics a quick wipe down too, then cleaned the windows so I could actually see out of it.  They had acquired that horrible grey film that cars in storage always seem to which made driving at night downright unnerving.

While I was outside I was able to shuffle cars around a bit and confirm that there is *just* enough space to get the Jag actually on the drive behind the van and still open the garage door.  Long car is long.

This was before I moved the van the last 6" or so forward, but I can actually get it in without the tail end sticking out of the drive.

Reckon it will look lovely once given a good polish and wax...

Last thing I got to was replacing the wiper blades.  Much better.

Was happy to find she started first touch immediately on all cylinders today, so it does seem the miss was just down to the poor thing being desperate for a good run.

Finger crossed the weather will behave tomorrow so at the very least I can get some decent photos.

[egg]

Zel, I fully expect with your track record you'll hunt down every fault on this thing and make it even better! Looking forward to the updates this year.

[Zelandeth]

Think the single biggest thing I need to do right now is try to get it thoroughly dried out inside.  Currently you have to wait ten minutes for it to demist before pretty much every journey. 

Given she was stored under cover I think it's just general absorbed humidity from the lockup (which has an identified water ingress issue) rather than an actual leak - though being a Jag I'm not ruling out that as well!  Carpets seem bone dry at least.

I've got a few of those dessicant pad things sitting in the airing cupboard for tasks like this, so will stick those in the car tomorrow and keep an eye on it.

[Broadsword]

Congratulations Zel on getting the XJS! It looks a magnificent machine and a V12 is something we all surely want to tick off our list. Seems in really decent shape and the list of faults is not bad at all. Most of the cheaper ones on the market are rotten and the interiors falling apart, neither is apparently the case here. I had a 3.6 manual one of these last year and it really was far more engaging to drive than expected. Tons of grip and the front end is remarkably sorted for such and old design. Somehow it could easily top 30 MPG. Have the rubber hoses on the fuel rails been cehceked on this one? They have a habit of popping out of the ferrules due to age and spraying fuel everywhere.

[Zelandeth]

19 hours ago, Broadsword said:

Have the rubber hoses on the fuel rails been cehceked on this one? They have a habit of popping out of the ferrules due to age and spraying fuel everywhere.

I know one has been repaired as it let go while the previous previous owner had the car.

To my infinite shame the bonnet hasn't even been opened since she got home yet.  I had it open briefly when I stopped for fuel before heading home to check the fluid levels, but so far that's been it.

Had precisely zero time to do anything today, but did manage to snap a few better photos while on the way home from running a couple of errands.  Was getting tired of not having any decent shots to show anyone of such a good looking car.

First photo though is for Dollywobbler.  Never mind pantograph windscreen wipers, how about pantograph *headlamp* wipers?

Sadly they don't seem to work at present - or equally likely I simply haven't worked out *how* they work yet.  Of course there will be video footage shared once they are going.  I'm pretty sure that's not the same position it was sitting in yesterday, so they do seem to move at some point (even if apparently not fully parking properly).

Onto the actual photos.

Interesting to see that one of the previously dead lights in the stereo came back to life earlier today.

...Which then refused to go out.  Will this be my first electronic gremlin eviction mission I wonder?

[Broadsword]

Cooorr that look fabulous. Nice wheels too. Is the colour Masons black? Also is this old enough to be a 3-speed auto?

[LightBulbFun]

3 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

First photo though is for Dollywobbler.  Never mind pantograph windscreen wipers, how about pantograph *headlamp* wipers?

holy shit didn't realise it had headlamp wipers! also @dollywobbler there now he is properly tagged  

I always wondered just how much of a difference they actually made?

[Zelandeth]

13 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

holy shit didn't realise it had headlamp wipers! also @dollywobbler there now he is properly tagged  

I always wondered just how much of a difference they actually made?

Sorry, annoyingly the tagging function doesn't seem to work on the mobile version of the site...and it's clever enough now that it won't let me force it to use the desktop version.

The headlamp wipers on the Saab make a huge difference in some conditions.  Especially on the motorway in the winter when you get that horrible grey salty grimy spray.

Honestly not sure what gearbox is in it...thing has so much torque that it slips into top by about 15mph unless you're requesting rapid progress so it's tricky to really tell where which ratio is!

[mat_the_cat]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

The headlamp wipers on the Saab make a huge difference in some conditions.  Especially on the motorway in the winter when you get that horrible grey salty grimy spray.

This. I've only ever owned vehicles with headlamp washers, but even they make a differences - you can actually see the lights getting brighter. I should imagine a wiper is a lot more effective. It still surprises me that manufacturers don't seem to acknowledge that if a windscreen gets caked in salty spray, a headlight will get even more so.

Here's a bonus video!

 

[Stinkwheel]

God damn, that Jag is absolutely lovely. That is what cars should be. (And probably shouldn’t be as well, but you know where I’m coming from) I’ve always listed after a V12 XJS since a customer where I used to
work let me drive his V12 convertible.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cavcraft]

Apol's for not cleaning it etc, I just fell out of love with it so much I didn't even want to open the garage door to look at it. Poor excuse I know, but it's true.

[Cento16v]

XJS's seem to be getting better with age.

I remember working on them and the V12s being a complete pain to do the plugs on, and I didnt enjoy the position of the handbrake too much.

If you are ever looking to sell your Xantia let me know, I've wanted an Activa for about 22 years since my dad had one!

[Zelandeth]

34 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

Apol's for not cleaning it etc, I just fell out of love with it so much I didn't even want to open the garage door to look at it. Poor excuse I know, but it's true.

No apologies needed whatsoever.  Aside from anything else, I quite enjoy that side of things so I'm looking forward to it.

Here's the difference just to the idle from a stone cold start that a decent run down the motorway and some fresh good quality fuel has made.

Got another video recording out from a proper drive around town today as well that's currently uploading, I'll get that attached here later.

[Zelandeth]

Here we go.  Video from a bit of a run around earlier today.

Can't have used more than about 20% throttle anywhere in there...

 

[MorrisItalSLX]

6 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Interesting to see that one of the previously dead lights in the stereo came back to life earlier today.

...Which then refused to go out.  Will this be my first electronic gremlin eviction mission I wonder?

Alternative solution, remove stereo and give it to me. I’ve been after an original Clarion stereo for my XJ for ages.

Also, let me know when you figure out the headlamp wipers as I have yet to do so myself either. I even went to the bother of replacing the missing arms, purely for aesthetic reasons, despite the lack of pantograph action.

The blades on the XJ are shared with the BMW E30 (and cost a fortune) but I’m not sure the XJS blades are the same.

[Zelandeth]

Blades on my headlamp wipers will just get the rubber replaced, cut down from normal windscreen wipers.  Always did that on my Saabs where the blades were ridiculously dear from most sources and usually disintegrated after six months anyway.

Afraid the original head unit will be staying right where it is.  This is very much a car where anything newer would really look out of place so I'm glad to see the original unit is still there.  Assuming the damned thing doesn't flatten the battery anyway.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Good call on the stereo, it really looks the business, hence my lust for it. The dodgy cassette orifice illumination is probably an internal fault as the LCD backlighting is off, suggesting the fault is not in the dash illumination circuit.

It sounds like the headlamp wiper blades are different to the XJ ones as they are a single piece unit with a ball type mounting point. This means you cannot replace the blade with a generic item, instead you have to buy a genuine BMW part after selling a kidney or two due to E30 scene tax.

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

Good call on the stereo, it really looks the business, hence my lust for it. The dodgy cassette orifice illumination is probably an internal fault as the LCD backlighting is off, suggesting the fault is not in the dash illumination circuit.

The rest of the illumination doesn't appear to work (I'm assuming there should be some lighting of the buttons etc), though there's no LCD backlight involved...because this is old enough not to use an LCD display, all LED based!  Which surprised me.

Though I'm guessing that it would normally dim the display when the lights were on, and it doesn't currently.  I'm certain it was brighter on the way home, so it's quite possible something has gone funny with the detection of that input to the head unit.  Need to figure out which circuit the radio is fed from and see if pulling the fuse puts it out

Speaking of lighting, the reversing lights have now been sorted.  One had a dead (correct) 21W lamp in, and the working one a 5W one which was as much use as you would expect.

Fresh pair of 21W lamps now in place.  Nice of Jag to have used stainless steel screws for things like the lens retaining screws.

Also had a peek under the bonnet.

Yes...it is as much of a three dimensional jigsaw as I remember.

Curious as to the obviously modern red anodised filter visible by the nearside bracing strut...

I'm assuming this is replacing a decayed or lost muffler/filter on a vacuum breather and that this shouldn't actually be attached to anything.  At the very least it will get painted black so it disappears.

When we get to service time changing the distributor cap will be fun...

As for the spark plugs...I don't think I can even *see* any!

Glad to report that she hasn't used a drop of oil or water so far.

Poking around I managed to restore life to this...

...Which is both ridiculously overcomplicated and cool at the same time.  Think it was just jammed up through disuse as after fiddling around with it a bit it burst into life next time the ignition was turned on.  Now it seems to run reliably every time the windscreen washers are used with dipped headlights on.  Nearside one just rotates on the spindle so has deeper issues.  No pantograph action there either.  Assume they went with this so the wiper didn't poke up into the driver's field of view.

Someone on another forum I frequent has suggested that the pressure sensor may in fact be responsible for the odd behaviour of the oil pressure gauge.

There are apparently three types of pressure sensor used through the years which are physically compatible but electrically different...and an early style sender used incorrectly would apparently give exactly nthe symptoms I have.  So maybe time to track down the correct sender (this one doesn't appear to have any part number on it) and see if that sorts it.