Ive got to bleed the brakes however I have no idea what brake fluid to use. What should be used?

Also does anyone have a write up or could create a write up on how to replace the water pump seal?

Anyone have a reputable online site where I could order some carb rebuild kits?

Any specific coolant that should be used? green, red?

sorry for the noob questions. Ive never worked on a vehicle like this one let alone one as old.


BTW, its a 69 series II with the 4.2 litre and triple weber carbs.

 

First of all, rush out and get a copy of Haynes "Jaguar E-Type Owners Workshop Manual" and/or Bentley's "Complete Official Jaguar 'E'", especially the latter. These are the bibles for XKE owners and will allow you to successfully do just about every thing on your car. Google is your friend.

As for your specific questions:

1. No special brake fluid required unless you are going racing - any that exceed DOT3/DOT4 standards are OK - I like Castrol GT LMA. More important is to completely flush your brake system (and clutch hydraulics) every 12-18 months. The rear bleeders are a b**ch to get to - practice your vocabulary before attempting it. Unless you are totally rebuilding your braking system with all new parts/seals, the consensus seems to be to avoid silicone brake fluid.

2. Do you mean the water pump *gasket*? There's a well described procedure in the above workshop manuals, in a whole chapter on the cooling system.

3. Carb rebuild kits - here with the non-standard Webers, I can't help you. The standard SUs or Strombergs would be a different story. As I remember from my Lotus days, the side-draft Webers are pretty much bullet-proof once they are set up right (unless they are ancient). Why do you think they need to be rebuilt? More common, especially in non-original applications of the Webers, is that the previous owner screwed around with the various jet/tube/etceterini combinations and never got that right. Again, Google is your friend.

4. Use the good old fashioned green/yellow antifreeze - any name brand. Avoid the red/orange organic crap like the plague.

As a general resource, get to the E-Type forum on http://jag-lovers.org/ and do some searching - even the questions you never thought to ask are answered somewhere there. And if not - start a new thread - you'll have your answer within a day - a great group of guys.

 

Thank you for all the great info. very helpful. ill pick up one of those books today or tomorrow and continue my research. also thank you for the link. ill have to read through there today and see what i can find.

Yes water pump gasket is what i was after. looks like i can just pull the belt and unbolt, clean up, replace, re bolt and be on my way. of course after re filling with coolant and bleeding the system for air.

as for the rebuilding of the carbs, they havent been touched in ~2 years and ones leaking fuel at a pretty good rate



i asked around at the shop i work at and the consensus seemed to be that i should rebuild them and it would take care of that problem along with any others. i honestly have never touched a carb before so i had no idea where to start

 

Umm - are you sure those are Webers on the car? From the small glimpse I can get in your photo, and the AUC... code on the float chamber, it looks like an SU carb. Maybe the previous owner retrofitted the triple-SUs of the Series 1 onto your Series 2? For the SU, depending on where the leak is coming from, it might be a sunked float or stuck needle valve in the float chamber (easy to fix), or a torn diaphragm within the carb itself (much more of a pain to get to). For the Webers, I would recommend Haynes "Weber Carburetors Owners Workshop Manual". For the SUs, I would recommend...yes...Haynes "SU Carburettors Owners Workshop Manual" (with an extra "t"). If you can provide a photo showing the overall triplet of carburetors, it would be immediately obvious which type you have.

 

talked to my dad (previous owner) and no they are not webbers despite him saying they were for years.

strombergs from a 65

 

These are no more Strombergs (no 1965 Jaguar carried Strombergs) than they are Webers. Your car very clearly has the triplet of SU HD8 standard on all the 1967 and earlier XKEs. Looks like someone has done a total retrofit (from intake manifold outwards) of SUs on your Series 2 (which would originally have had a pair of emissions-controlled Stromberg 175 CD2SE). From the position of the rag underneath the rearmost SU, I would guess (and that is only a guess since this is just a "virtual diagnosis") that you have gas dripping from the bottom of the rear carb due to a torn jet diaphragm. If this is what it is, you are lucky that it is the rear carb - the SU at this position has enough access so that the diaphragm can be replaced from below with the carb in situ. It's just a matter of undoing the four screws on the bottom of the carb (and maybe the choke linkage - I forget), removing the bottom cover/float chamber unit, and replacing the jet diaphragm. Since you will be working against gravity, the re-installation will require some ingenious use of duct tape (since you do not have three hands). I think that this is simpler than entirely removing the carb to work on it. Not too long ago, I did the same job in situ on the middle SU, which is an order of magnitude more fiddly because of the position of that carb amidst all the plumbing.

 

Thanks again for all the info. Very helpfull and it's nice to know what's actually on the vehicle so I can get some work done.