Hello,
I said in a previous post that I'd post the issues in my new old XJ (well, Jaguar Sovereign actually). Any fixes, please let me know. I already have done some research and found a few tips to try, but let's see what else can be suggested.

Many of them I am told are quite common with these. I will keep adding to this list as things come up!

1. All lo-beams work perfectly. Once hi-beams are activated both inner lights come on and the left outer light (7" H4) switches to hi-beam, however the right outer light turns off with only the parker left on. Assuming wiring at fuse box (Also, right inner light flickers when the wiring under the box is wiggled whilst in hi-beam). Fixed. It was a corroded connection junction behind RH-inner light.
2. The speedometer intermittently dies (along with odometer and trip meter). I am assuming transducer or its connections.
3. Gauge does not work for right petrol tank. Assuming level sender is faulty or wiring is possibly disconnected further up. Details on this addition later.
4. Neither arrow lights up on tank selector. Assuming light/s is/are blown (have not yet tried removing the switch, instructions?). Discovered working, just faint. I will still open and maybe replace with yellow tint LED or a brighter bulb if I can.
5. Cruise control doesn't work (surprise). Could be anything; haven't looked yet. Fuses are fine, though.
6. And some more below!

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: 'RED'ed things fixed and adding any other findings (or problems). Other things found in the meantime:

1. The small hose running from the expansion tank to the "Atmospheric Recovery" tank (what I'm told it is called) was completely blocked with sludge. Might be partial cause to the overly pressurised cooling system (don't tell me head gasket; do not want to hear that yet! I don't think that it is that anyhow). Seems to have fixed that & added concentrate. Result appears to be better cooling and lower running temp.
2. It has a very discreet tow bar fitted, which for some reason didn't have any wiring attached to it. While hunting for the fuel tank level sender I found it! But it wasn't pretty. Despite having read somewhere that these had a factory harness for trailers (where is it, couldn't find?), this wiring was very crudely crimped onto the rear RH tail light. I've been told it can damage the blown bulb sensors.
3. Found the electric aerial mast had been demounted from the wing and left sitting amongst the wiring in the wing. It had been replaced with a simple manual mast. Odd. Removed the old electric aerial from car. I've also been told that the mast cannot be replaced in them. Is that true?
4. The aerial radio signal connector is damaged on the car's side of the connection. Will need to crimp a new female connector on. Easy enough, but probably won't have time to go and buy one for a while.
5. A thermal vacuum switch screwed into the intake manifold closest to the firewall is cracked off at the top and I cannot see any disconnected vacuum lines that should be on it. Does anyone have a diagram or photograph I can use as a reference?
6. Cannot get bonnet to close properly. It is fine once it is closed, however I have to push the LH bonnet catch down manually whilst pulling on the bonnet release, then push in the RH catch once the LH one is done. I spent about 20 minutes just fiddling with it yesterday but could not get it to work properly. Any ideas? Assuming it is probably out of alignment, but where? The hinges look fine.
7. I have an air injection system on the engine, which is disconnected (pump appears seized, cannot turn by hand), and have a rough idea of what it is for however I'm interested to know whether or not it makes any difference to how the engine runs (since it only injects to the exhaust ports). But does it affect anything else, maybe electronically (i.e. ECU, mixtures...)? Could someone please explain exactly what it is for, as most here do not have it and those that did have completely removed it pump and all.

I'll leave it there for now. Thanks!

 

The right side outer likely has a bad high-beam element



Yes, clean all the fuse end caps and fuse clips. If no help, clean the bullet connectors under the fuse box and the headlamp grounds on either side of the radiator




Correct




Both good assumptions



The bulbs are very dim so is must be very dark to see them. But, if you are sure the bulb is blown you'll have to remove the panel for access. Remove both climate control knobs (straight pull off), remove nuts behind the knobs, remove small black radio panle, remove two screws above radio, wriggle panel downward and out.

(Its been some time since I did this so I'm working off a somehwat foggy memory....but it'll get you in the right direction at least)




Check 3 amp fuse, check vacuum line to bellows at both ends. If no help, remove servo assembly and reseal the bellows at the steel end caps with ordinary silicone sealer. In most cases this will fix you up. If not, we can dig deeper

Cheers
DD

 

Well, I spent a couple of hours on her this afternoon however it's about midnight here now so I'll save it for tomorrow.

The first obvious thing I checked.

Yes, I that was what I found this morning. It turned out to be the connector junction. The bullet connector for the right-hand outer light was corroded. Simple fix, but gave a wonderful feeling seeing it work. It's a pity I've only just read your message as I spend about an hour testing all the wires and cleaning and rebuilding the fuse box connections and .... Oh well, I'll enjoy those tonight. At least I found all of the front fog light wiring, so I'll install a decent pair sometime soon.

(About the speedometer problem)

I haven't had enough free time to look at that today.

(about fuel tank level sender)

Well, in my hunting for the level sender I discovered a few things. Apart from it being connected properly....

I discovered the reason the electric aerial doesn't work - it was, while connected to power, just left sitting behind the wing. A manual universal mast was fitted in it's place.

The was two wires disconnected up near the firewall and just splined together instead. I think they are related to the level sender, yet not sure. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

That's a job for tomorrow. I did notice tonight a VERY faint light behind the arrow so it musn't be blown, however I might try LEDs or a higher wattage bulb or similar in it.

Once again, a job for tomorrow. I know that each and every fuse in the car is good and the correct one as I replaced them all with new ones so it's not that. Should the bellows not be able to be squeezed whilst mounted in the car, as I couldn't move them...

Many thanks for your reply

 

Have another look at the first post, too. Added a fair bit!

 

To be honest, your method of adding to the original post makes it rather difficult. Best would be a separate post for each item



Do you have an EGR valve? Some cars did, according to market. If so, I'm fairly sure the thermo-vac switch is related to the EGR.

On USA cars this would be a thermo electric switch which control the air injection pump dump and cannister purge. I'm really not familiar with other variations. Is there vacuum hose diagram label under the bonnet?





Remove-clean-lubricate-adjust will probably fix things up. The "adjust" part is tricky....a silly millimeter here or there can let the bonnet pop open over bumps





You probably also have (or had) a catalytic convertor, as the air pump and converter often go hand-in-hand. But, again, there are some market-to-market oddities.

On USA cars the AIR pump only serves to help burn off mixture in the exhaust for a few minutes after a cold start. At a specified coolant temp the switch activates the dump valve and the air is diverted into the air filter cannister. I suspect similar on your car but am uncertain how the diverter valve is controlled.


There is no relationship between the air pump and the ECU, fueling/mixture, etc....not on USA cars, at least.

There is a relationship between the air pump circuit control circuit and the lambda system....if you have an oxygen sensor. Do you?

Sorry I can't be more exact on this

Cheers
DD