Hello,

Well, a '71 XJ6 followed me home last weekend. I've always admired these cars but never really considered owning one until this car showed up locally. It's a very original car, originally from New Mexico. It appears to have been repainted once a long time ago but otherwise it seems complete and original down to the tool kit. It came with a huge box of NOS spare parts, some used bits, a stack of books including a factory service manual, the owners manual and an incomplete stack of service records. Being from New Mexico, the car has very little evidence of any corrosion although I am well aware that the tin worm is a mischevious and well hidden little bugger.

The car runs but it has a little miss. On the way home from purchasing it, I stopped for gas. When I turned off the ignition, the car idled on (dieseled some would say). When it quit running after about two seconds of this run-on, it let out a big old hissing sound, and after that it didn't quite run the same. I'm thinking vacuum leak somewhere??? Other ideas?

Plans for the car? Get it to reliably run around the neighborhood then decide about whether to have it properly repainted. The interior is very nice and complete and other than some sun damage on the top of the rear seat and a sagging rear parcel shelf, it needs nothing to be restored in the interior. As for the paint: How can I confirm its original paint code/color?

Thanks in advance for the help and support I hope that I can find here!

Dave

 

Hello, Dave,
Stray kitties so that, don't they. They follow you home, rub on you, wind themselves around your legs. And then with the Slightest bit of attention, they adopt you and you're theirs.

You'll find Loads of help, advice and assistance in here, from experienced Jaguar Series I owners who are eager to help you out with any problem you might encounter.

Welcome from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Nice having you with us


Cheers
DD

 

Hi Dave, nice choice of car. Sounds similar to how mine ran when I got it. When mine was over running at first it would pressurise the sump and blow oil out the dipstick and all over the hot exhaust causing smoke bellowing from under the bonnet.

Mine needed a carby rebuild, timing set and ignition system a once over. Done 15k miles since without missing a beat.

Post an intro in the new member area for a warm welcome.

New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

 

Welcome, Dave!!!


Not all of New Mexico is hot and dry. Cloudcroft and Ruidoso see lots of snow. Old favorite parts of the country for me. Did a lot of running around in that state over the years in various critters. Summer and winter.


And, San Diego was/is a favorite as well. We lived and worked in nearby Imperial county in the late 50's and early 60's. I always wanted a transfer to the company office in San Diego. durn guy there wouldn't retire!!!


But, I pleased where we landed.


Carl
Enjoy!

 

Welcome, beautiful car you have there.

For the original paint colour, look for a little tag on the top of the wing near the air filter housing (at least, that's how it is on my S3 XJ6). Then you need a decoder like this: Jaguar parts for XJ6, XJ12, XJS, XJ40, Stype, Xtype, XJ8, XJ

 

Thanks guys. I'm excited about the car. I need to go through the huge tub of spare parts that came with it along with the stack of books I found in the trunk. Time for an Egan-esque cup of coffee and an evening trip out to the garage.

 

This is the only tag I see in the engine bay, boys:

 

Clean whip bruh!

 

yes you have a vacuum leak, that is why it diesels.

the question is where, but if you cannot locate an obvious leak, I bet the bushings at the carbs' throttle linkages are worn if they have never been serviced.

one solution is to remove the entire carb and intake manifold assembly and send it to Joe Curto for a professional cleanup and rebuild.

Before you remove anything, take a video of the area with closeups from above and from below, so that you don't run into any problems when reinstalling.

 

Maybe your tag was removed when the car was last painted. Or is there a sticker on the end of the driver's door that gives paint and trim codes?

Regardless, there was only one white offered in 1971, Old English White with code NDB (or British Leyland code BLVC250). Sorry, the link I gave you didn't go back far enough.

 

I see your VIN and engine number on that tag. Not sure about the other two numbers.

 

Thanks guys. Old English White sounds good to me. I don't see any other tags including inside either front door. Once we get it humming, it will be getting a glass out repaint. It deserves it. The car is so complete and original it would be a shame to not give it a proper repaint.

As for the vacuum leak and related miss, what is the conventional wisdom in terms of removing what I have to assume is an emissions-control assembly that is in between the carbs and the intake manifold?

Thanks guys!

 

Thanks for the tips Jose. I'm looking into what you suggested.

 

The carbs aren't the only way for stray air to get into the intake manifold. Two systems rely on inlet manifold vacuum, (1) the brake booster, and (2) the heater controls. It is fairly common with one or the other for the rubber pipes connecting them to the manifold to perish and let in air, thus causing the engine to get upset. If you've got a big hissing noise, it should be fairly easy to track down.

 

All the vacuum lines behind the radio... they are probably in bad shape/cracked or slit or the plastic nipples are broken = or both. Be sure to get the correct size hose - a lot of the stuff available at "generic parts stores" are too big...


If the plastic nipples are broken, they can be fixed with small model store brass tubing and Epoxy.. most of the heater/AC parts are NLA new... used
ones are very hard to find.

 

Also do a vacuum test on the air conditioning vent flaps.
The diaphragms could be leaking.

 

Turns out a vac line under the manifold blew out. Repaired now. Car runs much better and the miss is gone. However, the idle when in neutral or park, and when warm, is around 1200rpm yet when in drive, such as at a stop sign and stopped, it idles nicely at around 600rpm. Turning it off when warm, it still diesels/run-on a bit.

I've also noticed that upon a hard stop, I hear a bunch of rattling from what seems to be the fan shroud. It goes away once underway and doesn't reappear until another hard stop. I'm thinking maybe the motor mounts are shot. Or something similar that leads to the geometry underhood go out of whack upon a hard stop. Anyone had a similar problem?

Boy is this car comfortable to drive! I think it needs some suspension refreshening - bushings, and maybe shocks. But going down a smooth road in it is wonderful.

 

Your motor mounts are worn and need replacement.

 

Makes sense. That was my instinct too. Thanks!