Thanks for the past answers to help me restore my XJ40. There seems to be a lot of variation in how these were built. Maybe it is because mine is a late 1994 model. Here are some observations:

- My headlights came out very easily with 4 hex bolts on the rear of the headlights unlike what some web postings said.
- What are the odds of BOTH horns being defective? 100%. Both horns were defective.
- Bad oil pressure reading: Running Seafoam in the engine oil for 20 minutes before an oil change did the trick. Completely normal oil pressure reading now. The used oil coming out was pretty scary afterwards.
- Brakes are super easy to replace but I am wondering about the health of my accumulator now. The brakes work. I get no warning lights. However, I am not blow away by the stopping power.
- My 18 month old Goodyear tires had massive "aneurysms" on the the side walls. All 4 were bad. Goodyear gave me a meager $30 per tire. Do not buy Goodyear tires.
- I am getting ready to find the wiring harness for the valet switch such that I can program my two new door remotes.
- I ordered a spare key from an Ebay shop in Australia for $25. It is pretty easy to read a key. There are 8 positions. Each position can be uncut, half cut or fully cut and is assigned a number accordingly. There are web instructions.
- I still need to put new O rings and gaskets on the upper timing chain tensioner. I am finding it hard to pull out.
- I learned that the crankshaft inspection plate right above the oil pan on the driver's side does not use a mechanical gasket but rather a gasket in a tube. That is why I couldn't find a gasket to order.....

Now for my radio questions. I have researched all the forum postings and Youtube videos etc that I could find. Now I am trying to find the right answers...

1. what are the diameters of the original 4 door speakers/what is the largest replacement speakers you can fit in without the use of a saw...... I read 4" and I read 5.25". I would prefer to not have to pull a door panel only to have to put it back in while waiting for the right speakers to arrive. Any maximum depth info?
2. People talk about under-seat speakers. I see none and I hear none. Mine is not a VDP. Was that a luxury option? I see and hear 4 door speakers and 2 rear shelf 1" tweeters. Am I correct that there are no other speakers hidden on my basic XJ6?
3. I have not pulled the radio yet to inspect the wiring. I understand that the XJ40 used a common ground for the front and rear speakers but that this may have been changed to individual grounds on the 1994. True/False? I understand that one can unravel the wiring harness under the center console to retrofit individual grounds.
4. The original OEM radio sounds absolutely horrible. It does not distort but it sounds like the cheapest car stereo ever. What is the maximum depth of a 1DIN radio that you can fit in the hole? I have a nice Becker unit sitting around but it is pretty deep.
5. Any known suppliers of a curved frame to put around a "normally shaped" 1DIN radio faceplate?

 

I'll try to answer some of your radio/speaker questions based on my experience with a 93 VDP parts car and 94 XJ12. Maybe others can weigh in also:

1. I believe the stock door speakers for your '94 are actually larger than 5.25" and smaller than 6.5" See this thread with some photos of speakers from a 1993 VDP. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...eakers-216600/

The stock door speakers from my 94 XJ12 are the same. A 6.25" speaker should fit without any sawing. If you search this forum for speaker size or door speakers you'll see that some other owners have done.

2. I think the last year with the under seat speakers was 1990. If you sit in the back seat, they would be behind your heels, facing forward. The speaker grills are visible, so you'd know if you had them.

3. 1993 and 1994 model years do not have the common ground for the front and rear speakers as far as I know. I don't know any details about additional grounds under the center console.

4. I think any standard single DIN radio would fit. I test fitted a couple of them to my car without any depth issues.

5. I've seen them on ebay and ebay uk. Search for Jaguar XJ6 radio surround.

 

Thanks. Very helpful. The speaker diameter is a bit of a Malox Moment....

 

So, being Dutch speakers made in Belgium, they are 13cm. There are 3, not 4, screw attachments so silicone is going to be involved. Pioneer makes 13cm but I am hoping for better....

 

Hi High123bid,

You can download the wiring diagrams for your Jag at the link below. It shows the wiring for the head unit and speakers with wire color codes. See the color code chart near the front of the manual. Most of the codes are intuitive, but there are exceptions (e.g. N = Brown, K = Pink, U = Blue, L = Light, as in Light Green):

Jaguar XJ40 Electrical Guide 1993-1994

Cheers,

Don

 

Blaupunkt GLX650 speakers will fit in the doors of an XJ40 1994. They cost about $50 for 4. I recycled the connectors from the old Philips speakers and soldered them onto the new speakers with 3" of speaker wire. I mounted the Blaupunkt grilles to the door frames first in order to get the right spacing between speaker and door frame. They screw into the door plastic with 3 wood or machine screws; 2 3/4" and 1 1/2" that you drill holes for through the Blaupunkt frame. For extra stability, I also siliconed between the Blaupunkt frame and the door panel. You then use 4 #6 3/4" bolts and nuts to attach the speaker to its frame.

 

Like Highbid123, I installed 6.5" Infinitys in my '91 Sovereign after I retrofitted my door with door panels from a '93. I believe you probably can go a little larger. Like Highbid123, I used the speaker grill as a spacer. pull up my post about 5.25" speakers and in there xj6paul provides some very good feedback and pictures. Good luck.

 

I'm pleased to see this conversation on the sound system. It's perplexing to me, as it looks like it should be a decent system at a glance. Luxury car, component speakers.. but I agree that the sound is pretty flat..

Am I to understand that upgrading the speakers alone can bring this thing to life? I think I have a pair of 6.5" Boston Acoustic speakers on a shelf from another project. It sounds like they'd be a good fit. I like the idea of keeping the stock head unit for cosmetics alone, but I'm not too excited about dealing with this sound quality long-term.

 

Mike: My personal feeling is switching to aftermarket speakers would noticeably improve the sound. I have to say that I am not a "keep it stock" guy and will experiment. Again, if you look at my posts you will see what some might think is crazy when I mounted sealed 6x8 speakers and a powered sub onto the rear parcel shelf along with the 6.5" Infinity speakers in the front doors. The result was to significantly improve the sound quality and in my opinion and not degrade the interior look. It's all a personal choice but I would recommend changing out the door speakers and live with that for a while to see if you need to go further (change head unit, install powered sub, trunk amp w/sub). Ren

 

Ren- could you post some pics - if you haven't already?

 

Jerry: I realize what I did is not for everyone. I did purchase a parcel shelf cover and paint it black so as to minimize the visual color differences. Also, my long term plan was to purchase a shallow, 1.25" deep pair of 6x9 speakers, cut the holes into the parcel shelf, install and finish with the old school, low profile speaker covers. this setup would eliminate the boxes giving a somewhat more tradition OEM look (not from Jag of course). Sadly I will not be able to do this as I recently had to sell my '91 Silver Frost Sovereign



Fyi, I have lots of good parts that I am posting on ebay for reasonable prices as seller rb626. I am open to further negotiation too.

I hope to be in another Jag of some sort in the future.

Ren

 

Too bad about the sale, Ren. That car is a beauty. I hope the new owner takes good care of her.

Thanks for posting the interior photos. I've actually been looking at that particular Kenwood sub for a while now with regard to my Dakota. I like your placement in the Jag. it looks like it was meant to go there. Clearly you're pleased with the sound.

I'm definitely going to have to go through the vintage parts pile in the basement. I know I still have a very good pair of 6.5 Bostons, and quite likely a pair if 6x9 Cerwin Vegas as well, but if mounting depth is a problem, they may not fit. I remember them being pretty sizable.

Traditionally I'm not a "keep it stock" guy either, but I think I might be showing my age a bit. I'd love to keep the stock deck in there if I could. Even if it did promptly eat my Nine Inch Nails tape when I couldn't resist but to try it out...

 

Mike: The parcel shelf "floats" on a couple of foam blocks that should give clearance to mount these marine 6x9 speakers that are only 1" deep. Take a look at ebay auction 274107899736. Too bad you don't live in MI as I would give you a parcel shelf to cut holes into so you'd have yours intact. I got an extra at the junkyard for $15. Just a thought. As far as the powered sub, I'm old and I don't need a 12"er banging out the latest base oriented rap ditty. This unit gave enough of the mid-base that I wanted coupled with the deck speakers and 6.5s in the front. overall, it was a HUGE improvement over the oem engineered symphonic sound

 

Got it. So there aren't "factory" 6x9s back there, but idea was to create enough clearance with the parcel shelf as to add a pair. Slick.

I'm totally checking out your auction now. I have a few friends in the Detroit area, so I do tend to find myself there once or twice a year. Nothing on the schedule in the near term however.

I need to try "base oriented rap ditty." on the kids tonight. See how far back their eyeballs roll..

 

Mike: Just to be clear, your parcel shelf already is suspended above the metal sub-shelf. My plan was to apply a layer of sound "foil" that stereo shops use to the sub-shelf then install the shallow 6x9s. You have to remove the lower bench (two tabs in the front, bottom corners of the bench secured by Phillips screws then seat belt anchors then the seat back. Once the seat back is removed the two Phillips screws are revealed that, once removed, will allow you to lift off the parcel shelf.

 

Thanks for the clarification, Ren. I wouldn't have expected there to be a void there. This is all really interesting, and I am looking forward to seeing how that all goes together. Thanks for the tips!

One of my favorite bits of getting to know a "new to me" car is full archeological exploration of the space beneath the rear seat. I have yet to perform on this important research on the Jag.

 

Mike: you mean exploring like this. I had it completely stripped except for the dash. I do this to all my cars so I can look for leaks and wash everything.

 

also to run the all important audio wiring under the carpet into the trunk

 

Ren: Exactly! Hopefully you made a couple bucks in pocket-change under there!

An observation: what's that module under the seat on the right-side? Anything interesting?

Looking under my front-right seat, I noticed a couple cut wires, and an unplugged connector. Removal and repair of that will definitely be addressed at some point. Hopefully that's all that is required to fix the fore-aft action.

But.. that's a post for another day..

 

Which reminds me. I drove the car up to Duluth and back yesterday (4-5 hours..) and finally got around to plugging a cassette adapter into the stereo. Turns out it's not as bad as I thought. The /tuner/ has garbage fidelity, but when provided with a better input, the amp/speakers were really pretty decent. I'm still liking your idea of the small sub to fill in the lows though..