Happened across a really good article on a car very similar to mine. I didn't know the color was a VDP only color option! That's cool!
https://www.outmotorsports.com/2020/05/our-cars-mimi-and-kent-series-iii-jaguar-xj6/
Also I think one of our GRM forum members is pretty closely tied to Out Motorsports, no?
Wife is complaining about 2 things with the Jag when she and I go for rides.
#1 fuel smell - I don't really smell it, but I figure it's been long enough that I haven't fixed the gas tank issue, time to dig in.
#2 door locks - I can't seem to get any of the doors to lock, I think there is supposed to be power locks driven from the drivers door, but I'm a little confused.
So this morning I dug into the fuel tank issue. The PO had disconnected and plugged some fuel lines in an effort to get the right tank to stop over-filling. I confirmed this morning that the pump fuel solenoid (which was unplugged) does have voltage at the connector when the switch is in the 'right tank' position, and I did confirm that the solenoid clicks when voltage is applied. I did not confirm that the voltage goes away when the left tank is selected, I should check that.
But otherwise, I know that the right tank overflows when the right tank is selected in current setup (right tank physically disconnected), which means the pump is pulling from the left and returning to the right, and when the left tank is selected, everything works basically normally. This tells me that the return line solenoids are working with the switch, so I am now a bit confused why everything was hacked by the PO to begin with. But next step is to reconnect all the lines and give it a try. I'll report back.
I'm also swapping out the glitzy aftermarket radio for a stock unit (well, the radio is from an 86 and is possibly slightly different, but who will know?). I really only just listen to the radio anyway, don't need the CD player function. And I don't thing the aftermarket radio was driving the antenna, so I want to see if the power antenna works (but I'm not super hopeful there).
Finally, I found a few oddly loose fasteners. Like all 4 sun visor mount screws and the latch for the glovebox. I'm hoping that tightening them up is all they need, but curious why they were loose?
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
Is it possible that someone has installed an incorrect fuel solenoid? The left and right units are functionally different. One is normally open, the other is normally closed.
TurnerX19 said:In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
Is it possible that someone has installed an incorrect fuel solenoid? The left and right units are functionally different. One is normally open, the other is normally closed.
I actually think they are the same solenoid installed in different orientations. But I have also read that they can 'leak' meaning not close all the way. And THAT would cause an overflow condition too, just not as fast.
What am I doing?
If you guessed anything other than retrieving a stuck foreigner cassette from an 80s jaguar tape deck - better luck next time. Fortunately it was pretty easy. But I don't think the tape deck works...
Here it is back in the car (much better than the aftermarket head unit).
But now I'm digging into the broken antenna, because without antenna radio reception is useless.
"Oh, look, I think we found the problem. Needs antenna work"
Well, I may have figured out why the tanks were messed with from the beginning.
Here's some of the hackery.
And
So those things were easy to fix. The first is the fuel return line and it recycles both to that little manifold and to the tank. Probably makes little difference to be plugged off or not, but why not have it hooked up correctly?
I got a hint when I went to connect the fuel tank feed to the fuel pump line. I was ready for a surge of fuel because the gauge reads full on the right side tank, but when I pulled the cap off, nothing. Hmmm.
I hooked it up anyway and decided to try it out.
Car still runs in "right tank" position (and I can hear through the fuel cap that fuel is returning correctly to the right tank, same as left). But:
So, new current theory:
Right fuel tank has massive leak, fuel pump side selector solenoid may not be working, and right tank float could be stuck.
Time to remove the rear under fender.
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
Robbie Go to U tube, watch "Living with a classic". He has a whole good series not only on the EFI but also on the fuel tank system ( what causes overflow and why )
Can't say I am very shocked that the right tank was bypassed due to a leak. There is a reason we refer to previous British car owners as the DPO :-)
Big day!
Started by taking off the quarter panel. I think there are 17 fasteners holding this on, not including the 4 you have to remove to pull the side bumper first. Wow.
Which gives this view of the tank.
Well, this could be a smoking gun, the hose has worn all the way through...
I had some hose in my "cutoffs" bucket, but I wasn't able to verify if it was fuel hose or not, so I thought it better to take the time to drive to the local auto parts store and buy the right $2 worth of hose.
But of course I go out to the truck and see this
So after overcoming more obstacles than expected, I had this;
Next up was re-assembly.
You may have noticed that the captured but for one of the panel fasteners is right below the tank line.
Yeah. To me it looks like these bad dogs would go right into that fuel line. I really don't understand how this was ever supposed to work.
It turns out, BOTH sides are just like this. I ended up cutting both bolts down with a hacksaw to make them just long enough to grab but not extend through the captured nut. What a design...
Anyway, buttoned up the lines and gave it a try before putting the panel back on. Still leaks. Doh.
Quickly narrowed it down to the "seal" on this drain plug.
I had some fuel gasket handy, so I cut another gasket.
No leaks! Woohoo! And connecting everything up sure seems like both tanks are working properly. Left tank draws and returns from left, right tank draws and returns correctly too, and the right tank float seems to be reading correctly now too (ie almost empty lol).
Finally, here's a picture from page 5 from almost exactly 2 hears ago when I got the car.
I mentioned then that the car looked like it backed up on a curb or fell off a jack onto something, and I wanted to try and bang it back out.
Well, I took the time to give it a shot today since I had it off. 2x6 and a rubber mallet and in pretty short order I had it looking a lot nicer. Still not perfect, but now you'd really have to be looking for the dent to see it where it was obvious before.
Not sure if the photos really show a difference but I'm happy.
I've been working on and off on the power antenna. Not going well.
This is after my second try re-stringing it. (But I am rather impressed with my test station). If I do say so myself.
Anyway, I think the issue is there is a little plastic guide inside the motor housing that has broken. I glued it back together with CA glue, but it broke again. I wonder if plastic model cement would be better? I don't have any at the moment but could get some to try.
I could also buy another parts motor, but I'm afraid the same part is probably broken in many of them.
Decisions decisions.
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
When I pulled the power antenna out of my XJS I was surprised it was a Lexus part. Yes it worked.
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
Broken plastic is probably nylon, so don't bother with model cement. Nothing glues nylon or delrin, which is a second likely possibility.
Yeah, if CA glue don't work I generally don't try again.
I looked at a lot of 'retrofit from other cars' or aftermarket options. But I'd really like to keep this original (and the engineering has already been done if I use the right parts).
I found another motor on ebay that had pictures of the insides and I can see the part I need unbroken. So I spent $44 on it and when it gets here we will see what happens.
Well apparently I didn't update this thread with the conclusions to my antenna debacles. I'll go find the link in a bit.
This weekend 2 major updates. One, I washed the car with the kids and started claybaring the horizontal surfaces. Still need to finish the hood and then do the big vertical panels.
Also started a leatherique treatment. Going to do a few full days of adding more then waiting then adding more etc to see if I can really bring these seats back.
Finally however, the water pump gave it's final hurrah. Sunday morning my 5 yo daughter called me over to tell me the jag was leaking gas. It wasn't, but it did leave a large puddle of coolant. The water pump has been dribbling out of the weep hole for most of the summer and I've been putting it off. But now a water pump is on the way.
Added yellow laminx at the beginning of august:
And a few days after that I finished (hopefully) the power antenna saga as detailed here:
Well I've been slowly working at the water pump job for a week or so now. Which is good, because trying to work fast on a jag like this would be murder.
"While I was in there" I verified the tdc marks on the damper (apparently the damper can shift on the rubber and make the scale useless) with a chopstick in the #1 hole - yes on jags that is the rear cylinder.
Then I took my paint marker and put a line at the factory idle spec of 17* because the scale is just about impossible to see even when the engine isn't moving.
Here is a bit more zoomed out, and you can see why doing this with the water pump off is a pretty idea time to take care of it.
Water pump is just about buttoned up s I thought I'd take a quick look at the front subframe mounts. I happened to see these were on clearance for $5.44 each at rock Auto so I bought them and they shipped with my water pump.
The existing ones weren't totally shot, but in the name of replacing all the 30 year old rubber I figured why not.
Old v new.
Doing this also allowed me to remove the driver side tow hook for some straightening. Someone in the past clearly liked to "roll forward until you feel the curb" when parking, and these tow hooks thankfully took the brunt of that. Passenger side was a tad bent too, not as much as this one.
After some vice and big hammer (chief engineer) action
And then finally a quick shot of the black spray paint and reinstalled.
Yes, that is the entire front subframe held on in single shear with one very large bolt on either side. The mount was super easy to replace though.
I also got the other side done, and straightened that tow hook a bit too as mentioned. Nice!
I just ordered new swaybar mount bushings since mine are toast and I ordered a couple gaskets and the rubber neck for the pcv breather - I think mine's contributing to the oil leak on the front of the motor. I can also see that I'll need to do all 4 front ball joints at some point soon. Maybe I'll just jump for an entire front suspension refresh.
Happy to see you are still enjoying the car. Luckily, my XJ8 was garage kept, and maintained, prior to my ownership. One thing I have noticed, if you shop around, you can find bargains on parts. I like your XJ, and enjoy your updates.
In reply to Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks! And yes I agree for everything I've needed so far, parts are just as cheap as any other car.
Yesterday I did the sway bar bushes. This was another job where one wrench had to come down from above the engine and the other had to come up from below. It's possible without removing the front subframe, but just barely. Would it have killed jaguar to make some of these things captive nuts? Haha.
Old v new
I also got after this breather, which may or may not be a major contributing factor to my front of engine oil leak.
Fortunately I bought a new one and it came in my last parts order. Unfortunately though it was the perfect shape, it was way too small. Also unfortunately it was filled with nasty goo.
I think the goo is from condensation in the crankcase mixing with the oil. Since the car mostly does short trips, I think this is where it mostly gets trapped.
Felt good to clean it all out.
I got it all reinstalled too, just waiting on the new correct size cap. That and buttoning up the cooling system and refill with coolant and we're done for now!
Didnt grab a pic, but everything is buttoned back up now. Was able to refill the coolant, check the timing (it was a tad retarded but close enough that I was ok leaving it for now - the hold down bolt is crazy to get to).
Drive it around the block to get all the fluids warm and it is really driving well.
Saw an NSX that was a dead ringer for this image, so of course I stopped and got out to walk around and admire it. It has not reduced my want for an NSX haha.
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