Paul, I understand the reluctance to ship out sometimes man, but gotta make that $$ for The Goose! Stay safe out there - she'll (is The Goose a she???) be waiting upon your return - no doubt with a few tweaks to relieve you of that hard earned money!

 

You should be ok for 4 weeks, I leave my Jeep sitting for that long sometimes. It got a bit sluggish over a 5 week winter lay up last year so I bought the charger then. It is warming up now, so you should be good. Maybe long term I would get one if your car is only going to be used every second month.



All the info on the charger is in the link below,bought it from Battpack in Melbourne, and got connectors from Jcar to make up harnesses for all the vehicles so they have a plug under the bonnet of each car. No clips that way,just plug and play.
Supercheap do sell one, don't know what they are like.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...tender-120432/

 

Thanks Clarke, Thanks Flint

Well i still got a bit more cruising to do before the weeks out but yeah, the clock is ticking.

Cool well I might see how she goes this time around for 4 weeks, and see how she turns over upon my return. If she starts to be an issue then yeah I might get that charger I think.

Flint, she is a she. Yes I have to go to support my habit he he he

BTW. Clarke. What gender is Fireball?

 

I christen thee......The Blue Goose

 

Just had my first scare...

Back up the hinterland today up a very steep mountain. I dropped her into that 2nd gear to over take a slow vehicle and she zoomed up to about 3400 RPM for maybe 5-10secs. After thinking how awesome that was I dropped here back to drive and crusied along....

THEN I noticed the temp gauge was almost 3/4 max ( above the N) .

I pulled over immediately and let her cool down. Opened up the bonnet and let some cool air flow over it. Noticed the atmospheric overflow was full and some dribble up and over the lid.

Waited about 1/2 hour then drove her some where for lunch. On that little drive she was just sitting above the N

Eating lunch now waiting for the temp to drop more.

Very scary!!

 

Time to clean between the condenser and radiator, clean the banjo, change out the thermostats, check the fan clutch is working properly as well as the AUX fan. Replace any missing foam around the radiator add a flush tee and back flush the system, fill and burp. Also make sure you have the under tray between the chin spoiler and front cross

 

whew!

I made it home no problems. Never got past N whilst I was driving 100km/hr all the way back home.

Maybe I am just PARANOID but its good to be like that with a V12 right?

Yeah when she cools down properley ill check the coolant levels and give her a little checking over/clean up, but I think all is well.

 

Hi Bud

Did the Thermostatic Electric Fan cut in when She started overheating?

Did that Fan keep running when you switched her off?

 

Well OB its funny you should mention that bro....

On the way home i drove with the A/C running. It has its own independent fan on my LH side radiator grill. I have a switch that used to be the cruise control, that I hit and it kicks in the A/C compressor now.

When I got home I quickly zipped out to the shops, thinking everything was now ok (I know i cant stop driving the Goose) and I drove with the windows down ie. no A/C compressor on, and no compressor fan running. At this point I started to notice the temperature gauge creeping over the N again!! Crap *****! I started getting worried. I drove her home (was only down the road) to find that my radiator fan, mounted on my RH side radiator grill was not running. I have a manual override switch for this also, so i kicked it on and it still didn't bloody run! I started to cry (not really) and thought maybe the fan had died or something.

I traced out the fan wires and they went to a little fuse box on my LH side engine bay. Not sure which was the fan but checked all fuses and they were good. They were 10amp fuses and 25amp fuses.

Next I turned on the override switch with the engine running and confirmed I had 12V at the connector going down to the fan. Still no fan on. Regardless of temperature sensor or manual override.

Then I started to think the fan must of died. I turned her off, and started pulling off the spade terminals to check resistance of the fan motor winding. It checked out ok. (Only about 0.4 ohms i think) She wasn't open circuit so I was happy.

Finally I connected back up, flipped the key just before ignition, and hit the override switch for the radiator fan.....it bloody worked! So i tested it again, and again, and again...lather rinse repeat...couldn'at fault it. It HAD to be a bad connection on that plug going down into the fan terminals. Nothing else could explain it (in my mind).

Gonna run her tomorrow (my boot is full of tools and trusty multimeter) and see how she goes.

Man when something like this happens it gives me butterflies in my stomach!

Also i checked coolant levels. After today's incident she was down about 2 inches. I topped her up in the atmospheric overflow and now i am relaxing with a Vodka and Cranberry whilst blogging....whew! what a day.

 

Someone has actually disconnected the cruise and made it the "aux" fan switch?? Plus we know your kick down switch is missing! Time to do a serious "going through" and figure out what the devious DPO has also done and sort her before there's anymore above "N"s going on.

 

oh heh JT

I actually heard the cruise control back in the days ( on my 85 era at least) was a bit of a nightmare so the modification is quite understandable.

 

Mine works fine and didn't always but a simple bellows replacement cured that. If it came on my car it's going to work or I'll die trying to get it to work. In a V-12 at speed I like cruise to save some fuel costs on a trip. My 87. XJ6 Was the same system, minor tweeks at first ownership then smooth sailing. I dunno, don't believe everything you hear. No where near a "nightmare" in my opinion, it's actually a pretty simple system. To each his/her own as they say. Cheers!

 

hi.
looks like we did the same thing at about the same time.
i bought an 89 xjs-c 1 month ago.
we should stay in touch.
i've ordered a few manuals i could find, even the owners manual was pretty handy.
good luck, and enjoy. John.

 

Cheers JT

Cheers John, so yours would have to have the Marelli EMS?

I was thinking of ordering the owners manual for mine (bought the ROM) but thinking I could probably download a PDF somewhere on line. (Just havent gotten around to it yet)

Good luck with the 89.....oh and dont forget to give it a name!

 

Well, its almost time to put the Goose to sleep for a month (turn off her battery disconnect) and head for the ocean. The journey to work starts tomorrow, heading to my capital city catching planes trains and automobiles , yada yada yadaa, and I somehow jump off a chopper Thursday arvo on to a Oil Rig in the middle of the South China Sea, that DOES NOT have a Jaguar to drive there.

Mmmmm....but in looking back on the last month, it has been one of the most thrilling and enjoyable months in a long time.

It started getting off the plane and eagerly anticipating that Goose arriving. She finally came and i hopped in nervous as hell (goose bumps) but it didnt take long to start to bond and get used to the "to be respected" power of the V12 and engineering of a Jaguar.

That is not to say I didnt make some rookie mistakes and had some interesting moments.......i drove a few times a few meters with the bloody hand brake on....drove once and the bonnet flipped up and couldn't see as i didnt pull that latch down properley....i revved the guts out of the engine in 2nd gear going up that bloody hill and she started to get HOT.....I opened the door too quick onto a brick wall.....i wired my new radio up wrong and thought the speakers were stuffed...overfilled the petrol tank and had her a stinkin....but you know, Im kinda glad alot of these things happen as i have learnt alot more than i knew before I started the journey.

Its been awesome.

Not to mention along the way made some new mates through this forum and even met one in the flesh for a memorable cruise and all the help I received getting the car ready to drive on QLD roads. Most appreciated Clarke.

Also many thanks to those I havent yet met but have been a great help. Cheers

Well, I have packed the latest Jaguar magazine in my bag for the plane. Packed a history of Jaguar cars to read at night when I get to work, and will be reading plenty of everybody else's journeys whilst Im supposed to be working at "coffee break" time and in the evening.

But for now it is Bon Voyage...

talk soon chaps

 

hello from the deep blue sea.

Been intently reading other Jaguar Forum members adventures and daydreaming of my own to keep me sane. Missing the fun times driving a Jaguar XJS

Keep the stories coming guys, and keep me sane!

 

1.At least you know what you are returning to this time.

2.Buying your "First' car for yourself is a big thing.

3.Yep, That was my fault. I opened the bonnet to get your Vin,remember your phone call to me from the rego office. I read off the vin then left latching the bonnet for you and forgot to tell you,lol. And I happened to be riding shotgun for this.

4.I must admit, I was a bit overwhelmed by your online enthusiasm. But meeting in person was a pleasure. looking forward to the Sunshine Coast meet in October.

 

Missing my Jaguar

Watched a beaut Aussie Film last night that I had never seen before to cheer me up that was about...well....a young fella's obsession with a Jaguar...an XJ6 series 1 to be exact:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Steal_(1990_film)

Clarke have you seen this one? Mate its got a fair few of Fireballs brothers in it.

Anybody else seen it? I loved it. I even saw a poster of an XJS in the young fellas bedroom at the start of the movie. Classic!

 

woo hoo. Got back a week early due to a roster change and once again reunited with the Blue Goose.

After having the kill switch off for 3 weeks i turned her back on checked all the fluids and she was back without a glitch. She really gives driver satisfaction. The only drama was my kids had put sticky finger prints all over here whilst I was gone so a good excuse to give her a wash.

Now that I am back I have a few missions to accomplish with the Blue Goose:

1) Clarke and I (and hopefully some more Jags) are going cruising up the Sunny Coast on the 26th of October https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ctober-125906/
2) Gotta try and fix my intermittent speedo problem:https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...speedo-125453/
3) Try and find the source of my minor leak: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-124504/page2/
4) I want to try and look into getting my coach strip re done. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...7/#post1072368


Maybe a little ambitious but we'll see how this month pans out.

Looking forward to the cruise Clarke!

 

Home a week early, doe's that mean a weeks less pay?
Still no other starters for the Sunshine Coast drive.
But the Ballina drive has 7 starters so far. But you chose to go whale watching that day.lol

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...2014-a-127568/