power steering fluid is the castrol mineral oil(green) previous owner most likely used atf in the system

 

I seem to be getting conflicting advice. Some things I see on the net say ATF for 88-89 others say mineral oil and I am finding the same on this forum. Does anyone have an owners manual to confirm?

If it is mineral oil and I have ATF, what would be the proper way to flush the system?

 

Call the dealership or two and see what they say. One thing for sure I would not mix them and if it were me whatever I put in I would remove the old and refresh with the new.

 

The 88/89 XJ40 uses ATF Dexron for the PAS system and Castrol green Mineral oil for the power brake and self leveling suspension system. They are in separate reservoirs so they never mix. XJ40 1990MY> used Castrol mineral oil for the PAS and self leveling system in a combined reservoir if the vehicle had SLS.(Just Dexron if no SLS)

I removed my SLS pump/switch/hoses etc. from my 1992 XJ6 and blanked the front cover. I installed regular rear dampers/springs and drained the mineral oil from the steering system. I added Dexron to the reservoir and it has been like this since 1999.

bob gauff

 

You need to see what this link might offer you http://jaguar.professional.org/index.php It has a lot of info and owns a XJ40.

 

Bob is correct. The 88/89 models must have mineral oil for the brake fluid. The PAS is the small, square black container closer to the w/s and can use ATF.

 

I know the mineral oil is for the brake fluid and suspension. I just wanted to make sure the PS had the proper liquid. So I am OK with ATF them for the PS it seems. Very promising. Now if I can find that pesky leak, I'll be set.

 

JT,

Keep plugging at it. I have faith in you finding and fixing the leak.

 

JT,

I'm glad that you are OK with ATF fluid in the steering, I've had it in there since 2003 after replacing a bust PS Line. Phew.

Gus, Bad Baaad pun. LOL

 

I might be moving the car from my shop to the house this weekend. I think I will be able to get more free time to tinker with it out of work. It seems like any time I have available at work, I get side tracked away from my own car.

 

OK the towel is out again and balled up ready for the toss

So since my last post things were getting done. It was far from perfect still but progress was made. Then.... No start. It cranks no problem but it doesn't fire over. Within the first 2 seconds it sounds like it wants to fire up as it stumbles for a revolution then just cranks. I even tried to floor the gas pedal in hopes that might do something. Sometimes when it was warm I had a hot start issue and needed to floor the pedal to get it to start. Related issue? I don't know?

So the car has not sat for 1.5 months and I was ready to dump it again due to my endless frustrations. I asked a couple shops around mine (I work for a classic car dealership) and no one seemed to want to touch it accept the shop next to mine who is a Subaru tuner. He used to be a Jag tech years ago I gathered by what he was telling me. The problem is he was too busy and never got to the car.

I finally asked another shop I forgot about and they said they would look at it. They said they believe the crank sensor is bad. They did something were they gave the leads a pulse and after that it fired right up. Today after sitting over night it fails to start again, even with this trick. Do you think the crank sensor went bad? Would that be related to the other hot start issue as well?

You guys have been wonderful in helping me so far but to be honest, I think this is the worst car I ever bought and I would probably not buy another one because of this thing. HELP!

Well, I might take a XKE or XK120-150.

 

I can't in all honesty answer that question JT, but, you mention the crank sensor.

Both my sons have 1.2 Renault Clios around 10 years old.....and both have had problems. One has had no start issues, poor start, fail to start, just a click then nothing....try the key 10 -20 times or more and nothing then it catches and starts right up
It can be fine for days, weeks even then Bam....it does exactly the same again???
My other sons hasn't had this problem, but can sometimes cut out when driving, but then starts right back up again.

After many many hours of research on the Renault forum and reading hundreds of posts from thousands of owners with the same problem I've come to the conclusion that its the TDC sensor ( crank sensor ) and should be replaced in this instance with a short wiring loom as well and this should resolve this issue.
On this particular car it costs around £30 and about the same again for the loom + fitting so maybe a £100 all in......gotta go for it I think!

Good luck with your issues

 

Thanks for the reply. Anyone else have any input?

 

JT,

I thought by now you would have had this car up and running and now you are ready to give it up again. The problem with these cars is that you have a love / hate relationship, like a little brothers or sisters they can push your button but you would do anything for them.

The crank sensor could cause a stall or a no start situation but so could poor connections, fuel pump, coil control module and many other things. Holding the accelerator to the floor cuts the fuel off that leads me to think flooding. The crank sensor I think is a good place to start.

 

Hang on! It's worth it, JT. The problem I've discovered with these cars is usually that they are driven by Americans who don't have a clue about proper maintenance, and so, when something goes wrong, but the car can be driven without fixing, that's where it stays. Now, an enthusiast picks up a "lemon" and thinks it's poor quality when it's nothing more than poor maintenance. The XJ40 has historically been one of Jaguar's most reliable models mainly because it received much more pre-production development than any other Jaguar model. Sure, there are true lemons out there, but they are extremely rare. My two cents.

 

Oh, yeah, did you check the fuel pump thoroughly? Mine suffered intermittent stalling and no-start situations for several weeks, then failed to start at all. The pump was going bad slowly. Just a thought.

 

I have narrowed the issue to the crank sensor. I am ordering a new one tomorrow and hopefully we will be up running by the end of the week. Lets cross our fingers.

 

Good luck and keep us in the loop JT

 

Keep us posted. We all appreciate your not "throwing in the towel." You'll get it. Don't quit.

 

I agree it may be the crankshaft position sensor, had the same problem and picked one up at a junk yard for $30. I have an 88 I'm still trying to figure out where the mineral oil is leaking at. I've already replaced one of the sensors up toward the front of the car, that has something to do with the hydraulic system, because mineral oil was leaking out of the sensor itself. I've seen on here there is a kit or conversion that runs around $500 to remove the use of the mineral oil, anyone know anything about this?