Gents,
Looking for advice regarding the wiring running through Death Valley
This includes alternator and Opus ignition wiring
The current state of it is pretty much unusable



Death Valley



Opus unit and ballast



Crispy





Hard and cracked.



Opus Module Location

I'm a Sparky by trade so splicing in some new wiring doesn't pose much of a problem. My main questions to those who have been there and done that focus on the ignition side of things. I think I've read somewhere that the reason the Opus ignition module is located right there next to the dizzy is that it has to have a short cable run in order for it to work correctly? If this is the case then I'll leave it where it is and just re wire with heat resistant cable
If it's position isn't critical could it be re located to the cabin and out of the roasting pit that is the engine bay. Has anyone done this?
Next question. Does anyone have a recommended supplier of suitable cable, preferably in Australia.
Thanks in advance. Alan

 

Hello, Alan,
When Nix was new to me, after I had driven her about 500 miles she suddenly stopped one day requiring a ride home on a flat bed (All Classic Jaguar owners need towing coverage). This was only the First time.

I discovered all the wires in the valley were even in Worse condition than yours! Someone, who would probably like to remain nameless but whose initials are PO, installed an EGR valve and didn't properly tighten it. So exhaust gases spewed out like a blow torch onto the wiring harness that lay right next to it and destroyed it. (What you have found looks Very familiar!)

The dead give-away was the melted, crinkled up electrical-taped snake thingy with parts of colored wiring showing here and there, several of which were completely bare and shorting to ground.

That won't happen again!

However, as Nix is powered by Chevy (with HEI that also won't ever fail again), I probably can't tell you anything helpful.
(';')

 

Hopefully Grant will come along and comment on moving OPUS components around. He knows a lot about that system.

Years ago I bought "TXL" high-temp wire from....

Painless Performance

They may have a distribution system in your neck of the woods. I dunno. But TXL wire, if that's what you decide on, is widely available from a variety of suppliers.

That said, my amateur opinion is that getting the wire away from direct contact with the engine is 90% of the game. High spec wire probably isn't strictly necessary...but we all use it because we don't want to take chances.

Cheers
DD

 

Alan,

Jag did a relocation kit for the Opus amp for the EFI cars, and mainly the XJS, where the amp was relocated to the firewall panel, LH side, just below the LH bonnet lock.

Our S2 V12 EFI had it mounted just in front of the battery, maybe a tad cooler than the V, but not much.

Bear in mind, this was way before Computers and Forums, so word of mouth, and a good dose of common sense, kept us busy.

Some banter at the time was that the wires were a resistance wire, NOT mine, or any other PreHE that I have played with.

I moved our amp to the radiator top panel, alongside the EFI amp, which you no got, and simply made my own mini loom, and the car ran until the Opus finally died, and a Crane system replaced it.

I used Wurth brand wiring, simply due to where I worked at the time, used it on trucks and earthmoving stuff.

On my HE, I used whatever I could find, Narva comes to mind, and then wrapped it in header wrap, and moved it all out of the V.