Hello, Lengthy thread...

71 XKE series III 2+2 (V-12). 30K miles. Car sat for a few years but I had the gas drained 3x, all 4 carbs rebuilt, new filters including fuel. carbs finetuned etc...car has an added electric fan in front of radiator and both the regular fans and this come on with key in acc key spot and stay on during operation.

Issue #1: starts fine, idles fine, runs fine - temp gauge goes up gradually, but continues to the beginning of the red line! Car starts popping out the exhaust, eventually (if driving) it will just stall out as if it runs out of gas and will not start. Once it cools down it will start/run/idle/drive fine
I have 2 to 2.5 lbs of fuel pressure at all times even when popping, so I have ruled out the fuel pump. Could this be 'vapor lock'?? if so, how to fix? More importantly, why is this car running so hot? Thinking it might be thermostat issue? Plugged cooling system? Please help.

Issue #2: happened before above issue... Might be related to above, but?? My wife drove it around 25 miles at highway speed, when she got home she said temp gauge was in the red. I found that all 3 cooling fans were not running and the A/C did not work. Shut it down, next day all was fine again until issue above occurred. I haven't taken it out very far to duplicate the fan shut down, nervous to get it so hot!

Again, anyone thinking it's all related and is it fuel issue or cooling issue or both? Not sure where to turn next. THANKS!!!

 

I have a 1973 XKE - had the same issues. It was the distributor. There is a design defect. The advance - retard is not adequately lubricated - the grease gets gummed up and causes it to run hot and poorly. My permanent solution was to go with a whole new ignition system. I installed an Electromotive DX2 box, 6 coil packs and a crank trigger. The car has never run this good in the 15 years I've owned it. I had to relocate the oil filter to get enough room for the crank sensor.

 

Thanks so much for the reply. Can you provide where to get these items? Are they difficult to install?

Additionally, is the DX2 box another name for the Ignition Amplifier? I heard you can get replacement boards for them.

 

No. When a Coil Pack system is used, you have a processor that determines which coil pack to use as the crank shaft rotates. This processor also determines which cylinder to supply spark to when one Coil Pack per two cylinders is used. The Trigger Disk or Crank Trigger, as its also referred to, has one unique index mark so that when its rotated for the first time during engine starting, the processor knows which index mark corresponds to which cylinders.

With regards to the crank trigger, I find that a disk mounted using the existing distributor makes for a good conversion to coil packs. A friend in Ballarat, Australia, makes them specifically for the V12. It fits without having to relocate any components such as oil filters.



Regards,

Bill

 

Since storage has the cooling system been drained? Have you checked both thermostats for proper operation? Are the hoses new as the older hoses could collapse. Do not keep driving to redline hot as you will without a doubt ruin engine, as this aluminum engine will pretty much melt. Also radiator may need cleaning. Sitting can really make any debri settle in places that can block cooling.