On my 1985 XJS I have a problem with the hood latch mechanism that is located at the left edge of the driver's footwell on the inside of the A-pillar.
This latch mechanism is a four bar link assembly and the last part of the link that actually pushes up on the cable going to the left hand latch under the hood is VERY stiff on it's pivot.
It is so stiff that the center link has actually broken. But even before that center link broke, the pivot for the last link was so stiff that it took a hammer beating on a large screwdriver to get it to move in the direction to push up on the cable going to the latch under the hood. I have tried repeatably spraying the pivots down with spray penetrating oil but so far this has had no effect.

Here is a photo of the broken latch mechanism

It looks like this latch mechanism is held onto the inside of the A-pillar with a couple 1/4 inch bolts above the mechanism and the cable is held with a set screw.
I am going to try and take the assembly out of the car so I can look at it closer.

Any suggestions as to how to repair this?

 

Take a look at this:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...hanism-262397/

I would unbolt the latch and service it off the car. I suspect that the trouble is with the latches in the engine bay which are themselves jammed, this jamming the closing lever in your photo. OEM the engine bay latches are held in place by Pozi 3 setscrews, which easily get ruined if you are not very careful to push the pozi screwdriver firmly into the screw while turning it. Once the leever and the latches are off the car, soak them in penetrating fluid and then see if you can unjam them. If no go, buy what you need from Just XJS.

 

Thanks for the link to this other posting.
The actual latches under the hood move quite freely. I checked that and indeed added extra spray lubricant to those as well.

 

OK, then you have to unbolt rhe lever and replace it.

 

I'm pretty sure I have the interior latch release from my 94 donor car.
That should be a match for your 85.
PM me if you want pics and details.
Steve

 

I am not certain that the later cars had the same lever system. Could be wrong.

 

Remember that there's a fundamental difference in bonnet locking / unlocking on XJSs which happened at VIN 190528 which is September 1993. Vehicles before that VIN used the lever shown by the OP to open or lock the mechanism. Cars after than VIN used a completely different lever which was cable tensioned to release the lock, and it works on a "slam" basis to lock it, not by the use of the lever.

So, if you're buying a used part it must come from a vehicle built before Sep 93 and VIN 190528

Paul

 

Mine were prior to the change to the spring loaded latches.
VIN 180xxx.
Steve

 

Steve,

That's fine then. 180xxx was built in 1991. It was when you said it was 1994 car that worried me.

Cheers

Paul

 

Thanks for the offer of a replacement latch assembly. I was finally able to remove the broken latch assembly and with a friend's help we managed to "massage" the rivet on the one frozen pivot point with a small punch and a hammer to where it would finally turn freely on the rivet. After that my friend used a tig welder to re-join the two broken pieces of the center link. I was able to re-install the latch assembly and now I am able to latch and unlatch the hood just fine.