Hi all

I've been to have a look at a 1996 3.2 x300 with six cylinder engine for sale locally. It looks good, but I'm not sure if it's idling too high. The car has been sitting for a few months and idles at around 1500rpm, is that about right? I'm used to 4 litre XJ40s, which seem to idle a bit more calmly than this one seemed to. If it is too high, what could the causes and possible solutions include?

Also, the cooling fan seemed to be on all the time, should it be?

Thanks

Richard.

 

The rpm should be nearer the 950 to 1,000 and may be a bit high if the throttle return spring is a bit sticky/gummed up having been sitting for a while. A little spray of wd40 or similar may help and maybe spray some on the throttle inner cable, allowing it to run down inside the throttle cable itself. This may be a bit sticky. Cleaning the actual throttle body is a topic that has been covered here numerous times and a search will yield results. The cooling fan should only kick in after the engine has warmed up sufficiently and a suspect temperature switch is the likely culprit. Follow the wiring down from the fan to where it connects onto the switch which is mounted at the bottom underside of the radiator, on the passenger side ( right hand drive) Aside from that there's a relay that controls the fans also, mounted behind the headlamp, not sure which side, maybe someone else can direct you.Best of luck with it.

 

As said re the idle.

The fans ARE ON whenever the ignition is ON. NOT my ideal "fix" but there you have it. It is a rework from Jaguar, coz the fan circuit as was, blew fuses, and you ended up with zilch, and then an overheated engine.

See the post before this one re "engine cooling fans" and the 2 PDF files are listed in one of the replies. I dont know how to attach them here, so have a look see.