Hi all,

Hopefully I'll have a chance to recount many a story from my previous XJS ownership, that ended when I moved back to London and sold an almost entirely rebuilt '89 red beauty to a lawyer in Florida.

For now, having moved to CA and rewarded myself for this stellar idea with, again, an '89 XJS (Marelli this time, purchased two months ago, black, 161k on the clock), I'm looking for an answer to a bugging question: I had a breakdown on the I80 yesterday. Jag died from fuel-starvation, was towed to the nearest parking lot where I tinkered with pump relays, tapped whilst cranking, and the whole troubleshooting lot, and eventually got her started again and on to the road we were.

Now, for the history, I've permanently done away with the fuel sump tank filter and replaced it with an inline Wix just before the pump. I'll also be looking at replacing the brass plate on the sump tank as there is a bit of weeping coming from the vapor line on the plate (it's a bit loose as such). If anyone has such a spare part I would be eternally thankful.

For now, however, I'm in the market for a replacement pump and want to steer away from the OEM $300 bill for it. I found a reasonably priced Bosch 69536 that "seems" to come with CBC5657 replacement # (it has the screw-on connectors) and I'm wondering if Bosch's 69536 is a suitable one for the car. My engine No. is in the 161s. I'll also replace both relays at the same time, just for the thrills of never figuring out what was *really* the issue...!

Thank you for your help,

nonfinito

 

Are you absolutely sure it was a fuel problem? The Marelli car can fool you I feel, as its ONLY signal to the Lucas ECU is for fuel. Lose that signal, and you would get same result. I put a inline fuel gauge in my 89 Marelli car, just so I could raise the hood, and check fuel pressure in no longer than it takes to raise the hood. Inexpensive small gauge, right beside the fuel cooler.

 

I think so. I've been having intermittent no-starts that would just mysteriously appear and resolve themselves. I also shorted the fuel relays and got no buzz from the pump. About the pressure gauge, seeing no fuel pressure would narrow down troubleshooting how? Sorry, I've not fiddled with these parts before.

 

The pump earths are on the RHS tunnel top just under the ECU and relays. Worth giving these a very thorough cleanup. Also, the pump feed is (on my model anyway) taken directly off the positive earth battery cable. Worth checking that this connector is also sound.

If you hotwire the pump and it runs, then the relay of relay feeds are suspect. A new rubber gasket for the locking ring on the sump tank exit should cure the weep (if that is the part you mean).
Greg