Hi everyone,
My name is Robert. I'm from Orange CA. I work as an accountant for a great group of people but have always been a car enthusiast. My employer and close friend asked if I could help do a few repairs and sell his 1990.5 Jaguar XJS convertible. It's really pretty, lots of fun to drive, but being a domestic fella all these years (with the exception) of a few Porsches, I'm completely lost in this thing. Looks like spaghetti under the hood to me. My problem is, all of a sudden the turn signals, brake lights and hazard quit working. The car had been sitting for about a year. Last night the back right window wasn't going up. It seems it has quite a few intermittent problems. Any help would be extreeeamly appreciated.
Thank you!!
Sincerely,

Rob (confusedbyacat)

 

Not going to be the technical advisor because I'm not much in front of you. When I got my 1994 in May I had a lot of the same issues. One of the big helps is finding the electrical diagrams for you car. There's a link to the captainjacks pages in the faq's that has them for just about every year.

 

I'll start by saying that a great many electrical problems on these car are caused by dirty/loose/corroded connections, sockets, and ground points....so don't be tempted to overlook easy fixes.

The turn signal circuit gets voltage *from* the hazard light switch. The contacts in the hazard switch are often corroded. Try exercising the hazard switch somewhat vigorously a couple dozen times. This actually restores life to the system in many cases.

If that doesn't help then I'd begin by check for voltage *to* the hazard switch. Do you have a test light or volt meter?

As for the brake lights, does the upper mounted "third" brake light operate? Or are all three of the brake lights inop? The third brake light circuit branches off on it's own. Knowing if it works or not might help determine how far upstream the problem is.

Cheers
DD

 

Here's a diagram for you

http://www.captainjaguarscathouse.co...ec%20Guide.pdf


Cheers
DD

 

Do not be intimidated by it. Look at the diagram and see how it all relates. You should be able to tell which parts are suspect by the diagram. If they all connect to the same ground. start by undoing the ground. Sand where it is connected down will you see metal. Put it back on and put di electric grease over it.

It could also be a bad relay. I suggest going on ebay buying a bulk pack of relays and just replace them all. I found that once one starts getting corroded they all start to go within a few years. Its always due to corrosion. If you clean them it is usually only temporary because they often corrode through the protective layer on the metal.

Onc you get it working. I suggest putting di electric grease over the connections to keep it working.

 

Well, I figured it out a little later that day, Thanks everyone for your kind replies and help.
It turned out to be the Hazard Light Switch. It wasn’t stuck. It was clicking full on to full off, but I needed to push it a few times to deal with the corrosion. I pretty much did that to every switch in the car, including the radio knobs to get rid of the crackling. Now everything is functioning perfectly. I am tempted to keep it but I will need to let it go in the next couple of weeks.
So I detailed the heck out if it and with the exception of a few cracks in the walnut panel on the center console, the driver seat left leather panel (from entering and exiting) the car is just about perfect cosmetically. The true owner of the car took really good care of it, always garaged and maintained. I know these aren’t going for as much as I would think, but I’m wondering the best way to get the most out of it. Ebay perhaps?
I’m going to be sad to not have a reason to jump back on here after it’s gone Who knows, I may have to pick up an XJ8 down the road. I love the hardtops.
I’ve never done a forum before and it was awesome having everyone jumping in to offer help and advice.
Thanks again folks!
Sincerely,

Rob

I'll post some pictures soon!