Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

I just bought my first Jag, a 1984 XJ6, for $375 and drove it home. I absolutely love the way it looks and drives, but being that this is the first time I have ever even sat in an XJ6 I have a few questions. First of all, the story. It was repossessed by my bank and had been sitting in their parking lot for a couple of months when I happened upon it. They said that they couldn't get it to run and they were tired of looking at it so they would give it to me for $375 or they were going to have it towed. The exterior and interior were both nearly perfect so I figured for that price I couldn't go wrong. I replaced the battery and after about 15 seconds it was running. I put it in gear and nothing happened so I checked the trans fluid and it was completely empty. I ran up to AutoZone and bought 4 quarts of this Dexron III high mileage stuff, started it up, put it in and drove away. While I was driving the only problem was this terrible rattling coming from both the front wheels and when I got home I noticed all of the A/C components were missing. So my first question is did I get as good a deal on this as I think I did? My other question is about the dual fuel tanks. Do I have to fuel both sides, or is it just a convenience thing to be able to fuel from either side. Also, what does the button with the fuel symbol on it do? Well, those are the only questions I have for now, but I guarantee I will have many more in the near future. Thanks!

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RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

congratulations and welcome.

Mine is a 1984 too, and the story of how I got the car 17 years ago is similar to yours, except it wasn't a bank, but the owner who had abandoned the car under a tree. That was 17 years ago and I am still happy with the car. No, I actually love that car. I think you got a great deal. you already saw how easy it is to get them going.

the Fuel Switch is to change from tank to tank. In for the Left side tank, Out for the Right side tank. Each tanktakes about 11½ gallons. 87 octane is fine.

what I do is I park the car between two pumps, then I swipe my card in each pump, and put one filler in each tank in automatic mode, so they stop when full.
You should see people's faces!

1983 thru 1985 are known to be the best years for the XJ-6, due to a man called Sir John Egan, who took over Jaguar quality control in 1982 and left in 1986 for Aston Martin.

Jose

RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

Thank you so much for the info Jose. I am very excited about getting this car into good driving condition. I have a couple more questions to add to my list.

- I only received one key with the car and I can't seem to get the trunk open. Is there supposed to be a separate key for the trunk, or is it just stuck? And if you think it is stuck, what are my options to get it open?

- When I was driving it around the neighborhood today, I all of a sudden heard a 1 second long squealing noise from under the car and the speedometer stopped working. Is that a problem that would be hard to fix?

I appreciate the help.

Neal

RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

there's a separate key for the trunk, the same one that opens the doors.
Who knows what treasures might be in the trunk! I would get a key service to come and open it and make you a key at the same time. worth the expense and you'll need a key anyway. If the lock is in the locked position, it can't be opened without damaging something and that will be more costly than paying a professional to do it right.

the squeak was probably the speedometer transducer located on the right side of the transmission. Hard to diagnose without checking it.

Ken, the parts man here, knows a bit more than me on this subject. We'll see what he says.

RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

Thats weird, because I've been using the ignition key to lock and unlock the doors. I have had other cars that have a separate key for the doors/trunk and the ignition and since the key I have started it and locked the doors I figured there must only be one key. Does this seem strange?

RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

You should have 3 keys actually.

1. ignition key
2. key for doors, trunk, and glove box
3. valet key for the door only

Squealing noise could be the transducer or a speedo cable that snapped. I believe you said the car sat, so the possiblity that a cable dried out is very possible. You should have 2 speedo cables. Only other possiblity is that you ran over a cat and the carcass stuck up one the side of the transmission messing with something. Hopefully, it's a mechanical issue.

RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

Well the key I have will start the car, and will lock and open the driver’s side door but not the passenger side. Could this be the valet key? I'm having a locksmith come out some time in the next few days to get the trunk open and make a key. As for the speedometer problem, I hadn't considered the cat theorem, but it could be possible due to the fact that I had become accustomed to my MGB before I bought this and the size difference may have allowed for a cat to become lodged in the undercarriage without my notice.

RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

I hope it's not the cat. We had a woman complaining of road noise after we serviced her Rover. It turned out to be a cat stuck in the wheel. Pretty sick...

RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

to chime in...you got one hell of a deal! $400 is a 'parts car' price, and you got the thing running. Enjoy, and good luck!

RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

Welcome and congradulations on a great deal. Post up some more pics and show her off a little more, because she looks beautiful.

RE: Some (probably silly) questions from a first time Jag owner
 

What a screaming deal. That's a fine car and what a price.

As for your speedometer, this car uses an electronic transducer (at least it should). The squeal worries me, I think the transducer unit definitely had a mechanical failure of some sort or perhaps its drive shaft broke due to lack of lubrication.

If you're under the car, you'll see the transducer mounted on the tailshaft housing of the transmission on the right hand (passenger) side. It has a two-wire connector and is held in place by a knurled thumbscrew. If you undo this thumbscrew and pull out the transducer, you should find that it has a square shaft coming out of it which rotates freely. Past that, there is a diamond-shaped plate with two bolts which holds the transducer drive shaft in place. If you undo this plate, the assembly should slide out of the transmission easily. You may find something quite obvious going on in there. Good luck.

Interesting that the same key is working on doors and ignition. These cars use double-edged keys for the doors/trunk/glovebox, and a single-edged key for the ignition switch. Is it possible someone forcively opened the driver's door and messed up the lock mechanism enough that any blade shaped piece of metal will unlock it? Or maybe i'm wrong and your car is different from mine.

It would be a good idea to see if the engine has a stake-down job done. This will be obvious if you remove the cam cover on the exhaust side of the engine. The tappet guides slide out on these engines and get destroyed by the cams. You'll find either plates or screws holding down the tappet guides. If you're not experienced with this, have a mechanic look at it.

Make sure the engine temperature is good. It should indicate right before the green on the gauge, but not into it usually. This engine does not take overheating lightly. The thermostat temperature for a Series III is 88°C if I recall correctly.

Please do show us more pictures, we love looking at these cars.

Updates and trunk questions
 

Hi everyone and thank you for all your responses! I am working on getting some more pictures posted and should have those shortly. I have had the car for 2 months now and it has been amazing. I figured out, thanks to my mechanic friend, that the rattling from the front wheels was because the rubber spacers (not sure what they are called) where the front shocks attach to the car, were missing. Also, for some reason, the speedometer started to work again about a week after it went out and hasn't stopped since. About a month ago, it blew the high pressure power steering hose which caused a nice plume of smoke to erupt from the car while I was driving it. I was able to get that fixed and have driven it every day since. I have put about 600 miles on the car and the only thing that hasn't been figured out is how to open the trunk. I have called about 8 locksmiths and none of them will even try (one said he would drill it open, but that's not happening). I also called both the Jaguar dealerships here in Atlanta, GA and they told me that they couldn't do anything and gave me numbers of some local parts dealers. I called them and they all gave me the run-around which ended in me not getting my trunk open. Is there any way that I can get this trunk open without causing physical damage to the car, or spending more on getting it open then I spent on the car? I appreciate any suggestions that I get, Thanks!