I just picked up a '75 XJ6, original owner car that hasn't run for about 5 years- the story goes that he went out to start it one day, no go, been sitting in the garage ever since. Haven't looked that close yet, but I'm assuming for now it has the OPUS ignition that I don't hear much good about- it will indeed crank, but not fire- haven't had a chance to check for fire at the plugs yet. This car is right on the breaking point of a fixer or a parts car, and the killer may be that the paperwork is a mess and more trouble than it's worth. There are many parts on the car that I can use, front & rear suspension etc., and possibly the engine/trans if it's OK, and a lot of decent body parts that would make other folks happy to have. I doin't really care to spend any money on the OPUS, as if you fix it you still have an OPUS, but would like to get it fired up to see what shape the engine is in, usuable or shot. Points distributors show up pretty reasonable, it would seem that one could just plug in a points dizzy or parts and hotwire it to start and evaluate- anyone done this, and is there any reason it won't work? Any particular points units that would work best? If one was to use the engine in something else, a points dizzy could be used in almost anything
Thanks!

 

Is it getting fuel? I know fuel pumps can go bad after sitting have you tried spraying starting fluid in the carburetor to see if that will get it to start? Don't really know what else to tell you but I'm sure someone with more knowledge than me can give you a better idea of what to do but until then you can have my 2 cents lol good luck and I hope you get it figured out!

 

Any Lucas 22D or 25D distributor should fit, I think? It would have to be a six-cylinder model to work, of course...

Please, somebody correct me if I am wrong.

 

Hi i think the opus system was only on the v12. if sitting foa while check the points have not close up or corroded;they should be set at about 15 thou and plug at about 25 thou.If no go try another condensor in the distributor or the coil could have dampness or even corrosion in main post. If being a series 2 the coil should be on the right hand side of engine block and beside it there is a ballist resister; which is the white porsalene fuse type thing; these do often play up and give a no ignition simmtom. This should keep you busy for an houror 2
Cheers Ray from down under.

 

Napa Florida right? I'm new at this and just learning, but if it's been sitting that long in Florida, wouldn't there be a good chance of rusting in the gas tanks and thus bad fuel?

 

Good chance it is old fuel;Try gravity feeding .fresh fuel direct to fuel line by carbs from a container should be enough to see if engine fires up.
Good luck

 

The no-start happened about 5 years ago, running one day, no start the next, and been sitting since then- not an old gas problem (at least not then)
Just haven't had time to do the usual checks yet, haven't even looked in the cap or checked for spark- just been too busy. My question was IF it was an ignition problem, and it was the OPUS, which doesn't sound like a very good system, can I just plug in an earlier points dizzy and get it running, without spending any money trying to fix the OPUS. I do this all the time with Ford dizzy's, convert points ones to Duraspark and vice-versa- sounds like it's feasible with the '75 XJ6. Lucas 22D or 25D, check- any others that will work?

 

I have a 1976 XJ6 in UK. That does not have the Opus system - it has a Lucas 45D6 distributor with the ballast resistor and its own coil. I had problems some years ago caused by a failed ballast resistor - it had corroded at the joint to the resistance wire. The symptom was that the engine started but would stall on release of the key. Keep the key turned over and the engine ran. The quick fix was to simply stretch the resistor element and twist it back together. Ran for a short time until I replaced the ballast resistor. So it may well be that such a replacement may work.