For those obsessed with
keeping their cars in original condition, obviously only original
parts will do. The suggestions below and throughout this book are for
those who simply want their cars to run, and to minimize cost and
grief in the process.
Parts Replacement
Strategies
Whether it is better to replace a broken item with the Jaguar
original or a substitute must be decided on an individual basis. A
good general rule is: if the original failed of its own accord, it
might be better to try another source. But if the failure was
secondary (due to something else failing first), the Jaguar parts may
very well be the best there are; substitutions are in order only
where the prices of the originals are excessive.
Experienced British car enthusiasts will agree that most of their
reliability problems come from two sources: non-metallic parts and
Lucas electrics. This is especially true for Jaguars, where the rest
of the car is generally excellent.
Non-Metalic Parts
Rumors abound as to why the rubber and plastic parts on British
cars tend to crap out so soon. One rumor says there is a law in
Britain requiring the use of natural rubber rather than the far
superior synthetic elastomers. Whatever the cause, the Jaguar owner
is well advised to replace the original Jaguar seals, hoses, belts,
etc., with non-British substitutes whenever feasible. The O-rings
available at your local parts store are probably as good or better
than the Jaguar originals; if you can get military aircraft O-rings,
even better. The same replacement strategy applies for other
non-metallic parts.
Vinyl and Rubber Protectants
It has been suggested that the various vinyl and rubber
protectants on the market, such as STP Son Of A Gun, can be used to
help many such parts last longer. Sandy Gibbs says:
When I owned a TR8 I had many of the same problems regarding
engine heat and rubber components. I found Armor All and Son of a Gun
were useless unless applied every three or four days (if you drive
the car much). What did work was brake fluid, of all things. You have
to soak the part in question pretty well then rub the fluid in. Let
the part dry before running the car. This procedure may have to be
repeated two or three days in a row but then the rubber is
revitalized, after that one need only repeat the procedure every two
or three months. The key here is keeping the brake fluid off anything
but the rubber part. This process works on nearly any rubber part
except, for some reason, tires.
Lucas Electrics
Lucas has been called the "Father of Darkness." Contrary to
popular opinion, Lucas did not invent darkness -- they merely
perfected it to a fine art! The owner is well advised to replace
Lucas electrical components with alternative products when feasible.
It should be noted that many of the electrical parts on a Jag are not
really Lucas; the "Jaguar" stereo is probably made in Japan, and the
EFI components are Bosch.
Repair Manuals
It is recommended that the XJ-S owner buy at least one repair
manual for the car. This book will hopefully help fill in the gaps,
but is not intended to serve as a primary repair manual.
Jaguar Manuals
The factory "Repair Operation Manual" part no. AKM 3455 (along
with a Supplement, part no. AKM 3455/S1) is expensive and mediocre;
not only is it somewhat difficult to follow, it is also fraught with
errors. However, the electrical section of the Supplement has
descriptions and diagrams for individual systems, and this alone may
be worth the price.
Of course, not all the official Jaguar manuals are the same. Steve
Draper reports on his:
What I got was the "Repair Operation Manual" for the XJ-S,
which incorporates "HE & 5.3 Supplements" and is printed by
Jaguar Cars Ltd. The book includes supplement A (1979-1984) and
supplement B (1984-19881/2). It is a single softbound volume and
seems fairly comprehensive. The book includes repair procedures and
illustrations, wiring diagrams, and maintenance schedules.
Regarding the Jaguar repair manuals for later cars, Richard
Mansell shares his experience:
Now that I have the manuals in my hot little hands it appears
to be more complicated than I thought. The pre-H.E. to 1987-88
manuals (JJM 10 04 06) appear to be based around the pre-H.E. with
extra sections to cover the differences between these and the H.E.
(pretty logical so far). The new manuals, up to 1991, (JJM 10 04
06-20) come in 5 volumes rather than the earlier 4 but only appear to
cover the additions since the earlier manuals for the 5.3 plus a
random selection of the original information. Oh, and it covers the
4.0 engine too.
In other words, if you have an 1989 to 1991 5.3 and you want to
know about the new ignition, etc., you will need both sets as the
later volume set refers to many sections that only exist in the
earlier set; e.g. under the heading "Cylinder heads overhaul" it
says:
- Remove left and right hand cylinder heads, see
12.29.01.
Where is 12.29.01? Only in the earlier set! Since the
five-volume set costs more than the earlier one, I assumed it would
be a complete guide to the later cars. Wrong! I understand that there
are add-ons, JJM 10 04 06-201 and 202 that cover models 1992 to 1996.
6.0L engine plus other changes.
For the earlier cars (up to 1984) the 1-volume Repair Operation
Manual is available either hard bound or soft bound. This is a lot
cheaper but more condensed and although not so well laid out it does
contain most information needed.
Haynes Manuals
The Haynes "XJ12
& XJS" (I wish they wouldn't leave the "-" out of XJ-S) manual,
while much cheaper, seems based on portions of the factory manual
with some photos of a teardown of a Daimler Double Six (similar to
the XJ12) added. It's cheap, though, and benefits from some recall
and technical bulletin info. It also includes some basic procedures
for the GM 400 automatic. It has been reported that this Haynes
manual has been discontinued, so finding a copy may be difficult.
GM 400 Transmission Manual
Owners with the factory manual wishing to work on the GM 400
automatic transmission will need to get a separate manual for this
tranny, as the Jaguar manual (mine, anyway) covers only the early
Borg Warner automatic and the supplement doesn't address the
transmission at all. Andrew Kalman suggests "How To Work With And
Modify The Turbo Hydra-matic 400 Transmission" by Ron Sessions,
Motorbooks International, 1987, 224 pages, 300 illustrations. Kalman
says: "It seems quite complete, with a historical overview, basic
maintenance, operation, overhaul, modifications and speed tuning."
Parts Manuals
Jaguar also makes parts manuals; for example, according to Stephen
Wood, "Jaguar Parts Manual, RTC-9109-B, for the XJ-S, 1976 to 1982,
pre-H.E. cars." Many owners suggest these books are more
helpful to the mechanic than the repair manual; they contain exploded
views of about everything, which are often easier to understand than
the step-by-step text in the repair manual. And it helps to know the
part number of what you need when placing a parts order by phone;
many mail-order catalogs have lousy illustrations, and many parts
shops carry more parts than they list in their catalogs.
Richard Mansell bought a parts manual:
...the January 1987 to late-1989 parts book (RTC9900CA). In my
opinion this is laid out a lot better than the earlier parts manuals
as it has a description for each item on the same page as the pretty
picture. If you have an 1987 to 1989 3.6 or 5.3 XJ-S this guide is
well worth getting, especially to aid reassembly.
Owners Manuals
Owners who don't have an owner's manual might want to get one;
it's more complete than most, with wiring diagrams and all.
Wiring Diagrams
According to Loren Lingren,
...Jaguar supplies wiring diagrams called "Electrical Guides."
They are supplied individually by year, and in my opinion are better
than the diagrams that are supplied with the shop manuals. Here is a
partial list by Jag publication number:
|
XJ-S:
|
1982 - 1988
|
S-57
|
|
|
1989
|
S-57/89
|
|
|
1990 - 1991
|
S-57/90
|
I believe these are much more reasonably priced than a complete
shop manual.
Mail Order Catalogs
To those just getting started with the XJ-S, take this bit of
advice: order at least two mail-order catalogs immediately; a good
selection would be Special Interest Car
Parts and XK's
Unlimited. You will want to have such catalogs on hand even if
you never order any parts just so you can tell when some unscrupulous
repair shop is trying to rape you on parts costs.
It is also suggested that the owner order a catalog from
Gran Turismo Jaguar. All it costs is
the phone call. Even if you never intend to do any high-performance
work, you may decide to replace broken items with performance stuff
instead of the stock parts. And, besides, it's a lot of fun to flip
though this catalog and dream! And you can show the spouse how much
money you COULD be spending!
Other Books
Richard Mansell suggests:
For XJ-S fans there is a book by Paul Skilleter called
Jaguar XJ-S, A Collectors Guide (ISBN 0947981993). It is full
of pretty pictures (nearly 200) of XJ-S's and variants. There is a
fair bit of history detailing specification changes, etc., covering a
total of 144 pages.
- Appendix A lists the technical specifications model by
model.
- Appendix B lists the location of the chassis/VIN numbers
and explains what each bit of the VIN means.
- Appendix C lists launch dates and prices.
- Appendix D is a fairly detailed list of production changes
by date chassis and/or engine number.
- Appendix E lists annual production numbers.
- Appendix F lists performance figures.
If you are into XJ-S cars it is well worth a look.
Service Records
Chad Bolles suggests:
If this car was serviced at a
Jaguar dealer, just go to
any dealers service dept give them the serial no. of your car they
can pull it up on the computer and give you the available
history.
Fuel Economy
Keeping an eye on fuel consumption is an excellent way to monitor
your car's condition. Since EPA ratings are generally unreliable in
the real world, it is helpful to know what kind of fuel consumption
the XJ-S should have:
|
|
|
mpg
Imperial
|
mpg
US
|
litres per 100 km
|
|
H.E.
|
everyday:
|
16-18
|
19-22
|
13-15
|
|
|
highway:
|
18-20
|
21-24
|
12-13
|
|
Pre-H.E.
|
everyday:
|
9-12
|
11-14
|
20-26
|
For those who like to do their own converting, there are 0.83267
Imperial gallons in a U.S. gallon, 3.7854 litres in a U.S. gallon,
and 1.609344 kilometers in a mile.
The values for the pre-H.E. are based on fewer reports, but those
reports were fairly consistent; apparently the H.E. was a huge
improvement in efficiency over the previous design! Note that
reportedly the difference only occurs under light (street) use, and
with harder running or racing the economy difference diminishes.
Of course, the standard disclaimer: "Your mileage may vary." But
you know if you are driving harder or under worse conditions than the
average driver, and if you think your fuel mileage is worse than it
should be you should immediately investigate the causes. Many of the
common causes also result in major engine damage if left uncorrected.
Note also that some areas require the use of "oxygenated fuels"
sometimes just during particular seasons. Oxygenated fuels result in
far worse fuel consumption.
Threads
The British invented the inch/foot system of measurement, so most
of the fasteners on an XJ-S are English fine thread (UNF or National
Fine) available in any hardware store. Jaguar and other British cars
extensively use fine threads, as opposed to the coarse threads (SAE
or National Coarse) normally used on American cars. Coarse threads
are sometimes used in aluminum parts, because aluminum is too soft
for effective use of fine threads.
There are metric fasteners as well, though. Many of the
subcomponents, such as the alternator, air conditioner compressor,
and stereo are made with metric threads. Later cars seem to have more
and more metric threads.
There are no reported cases of obsolete British threads, such as
Whitworth, being found on the XJ-S.
Studs
Jaguar studs sometimes have fine threads on both ends, and are
therefore difficult to find locally. Most studs in the U.S. have
coarse threads on one end and fine on the other. You can, of course,
order studs from a Jag mail order outfit -- they're even reasonably
priced. If you want to get on with the job and not wait on the mail,
however, you can find a very long stud or bolt at your local auto
parts store on which the fine threaded end by itself is longer than
the entire Jaguar stud (many Jaguar studs are rather short). Simply
cut the end off and dress up the threads. Thread the sawn end into
the part, leaving the factory-made threads for assembly.
Anti-Seize Compound
Since the XJ-S has many bolts and studs threaded into aluminum, be
sure to keep a supply of anti-seize compound on hand. The stuff is a
lubricant with tiny particles of soft metal in it -- usually copper,
nickel, or silver. Use it anytime steel is threaded into aluminum, to
prevent galvanic corrosion from seizing it up. It also works great on
exhaust manifold studs. The fact is, many experienced mechanics
(including the author of this book) swear by the stuff, buy it in
one-pound cans at better hardware stores (auto parts shops usually
carry it only in small tubes) and use it on EVERYTHING.
Loosening Stuck Bolts
SO YOU FORGOT TO USE ANTI-SEIZE COMPOUND LAST
TIME? Steve Hammatt describes a product to get stuck bolts
loose:
The division is called National Chemsearch and the product is
called "YIELD" and is quite unbelievable in
loosening rusted nuts, bolts, etc. Their number is 18005279919. Their
salesmen are everywhere including (believe) even in Russia!
The key is to use a true penetrating product that has a
lubricant, plus TIME. Leave it on for at least
an hour, then return and proceed.
Other folks swear by Liquid Wrench, and even WD-40 has its
admirers. Whatever is used, allowing adequate time to soak in is
always required.
Heating a bolt with a torch is also suggested as a method for
loosening, but obviously it's a good idea to wipe the penetrating oil
away first. It also is a good idea to replace the bolt/nut, since the
heating may destroy the temper.
Silicone Sealants
Apparently, some silicone sealants can corrode metal parts. Jan
Wikström says:
To quote the famous Castrol ad, silicones ain't silicones. Some
leave a residue of acetic acid as they cure, which is a very weak
acid but could conceivable harm bare metal. The trick is to buy
"neutral cure" silicon.
Ed Mellinger says:
Silicone sealant isn't permitted in most aircraft applications
for this reason (among others). Two neutralcure silicones I know of
are Dow Corning 3140 and 3145; one's an adhesive and one's a thinner
"coating" but I'm not sure either is designed to be an engine gasket
so buyer beware. Warning... they are priced like aircraft parts
too!
In the "among others" category is the tendency of silicone to
squeeze out in a bead and then peel off in strings... possibly into
your engine oil on its way to a bearing! This definite nono is the
most cited reason I've heard against use of silicone in, er,
sensitive areas.
Drive-On Ramps
The need to get under a car is inevitable, and for those of us who
don't have access to a garage with a lift, drive-on ramps appear to
be a good solution -- cheap, easy to use, and sturdy enough to hold a
4000 lb Jaguar without dropping it on its owner. However, most ramps
appear to have been designed for cars from another era, and the
spoiler pushes them away long before the front tires get near them.
Patrick Krejcik provides a solution:
I got the US$17.95 specials, and all I had to do was to put a
2x6, about 18-24 inches long on each ramp to lengthen the slope. I
used a nail in the end of the 2X6, bent it and stuck it in a hole
about half way down the original slope, and made the slope longer and
more shallow.
Checking For Cracks
Jan Wikström provided this "backyard Magnaflux test" for
checking for cracks in steel parts: First, the area needs to be clean
and smooth, so polishing may be required first. Allow a large,
powerful horseshoe magnet to latch on to the part across the area to
be checked. Now dribble kerosene with iron powder (collected from
grinder) over the area; any crack will show up clearly.
On to the V-12
Engine
View the latest posts from our Forums via an RSS Feed!
