Hi all,

Probably something that has already been asked on here a few times, however, I'm trying to get my XJS back on the road, and the few times I have drove it, the brakes pull to the right, now I've seen a few things where the main block needs rebuilding, or a solenoid isn't working correctly, however, I'm just wondering whether it could also be down to the fact, I have a new caliper on the right, and a rebuilt one on the left.

Now for the horn, it just does not work. It never has since I've owned the car. I've traced the relay etc and there's a live to it, and a live out of it but nothing at the horn, however, there's been two aftermarket alarms fitted to it, which have spliced into the horn wire under the dash, I don't want to strip the dash down etc, so am I missing anything before I end up just wiring a new horn cable through.

Any information would be appreciated

Regards,

Richard

 

Where is Chesterfield?
Sounds UK to me.
I have a good set of horns from my 94 Donor car.
Cost of shipping, plus $10.
Steve in Pacifica CA USA

 

Hi Steve,

Yeah, UK. I do have horns, I have the originals plus a set of snails that I bought to replace them, however, none work when on the car! Which is slightly annoying.

Thanks.

 

Richard,

You haven't said what car you've got?

Paul

 

1990 XJS, 3.6 5 speed.

 

Wile I am not discounting about the block, I would first check to see if a caliper is locked or if there is a defective brake hose.

 

Richard,

If the brakes just "pull to the right", my initial guess is that it's extremely unlikely to be the ABS system. It's much more likely to be a sticking piston caliper or sticking pads etc. I would start by looking at the workings of the caliper and pads, even steering geometry.

As regards the horns, they are notorious for poor connections. If you have output from the relay when the horn is pressed, I would start by looking at connections at the horn and then tracing the wires back, ultimately to the relay output.

Good luck

Paul

 

Regarding pulling to the right: If the brakes check out OK, you should check the shock absorbers are symmetrical left and right (bounce test) and inspect the suspension and subframe rubber bushes.

HTH, Dave

 

1. Make sure the car has been aligned. I don't believe your rear wheel have any alignment options, so don't pay for a 4-wheel alignment. Furthermore, the shop likely won't adjust your camber, as it's a little more complicated. So basically they'll fix your caster and toe. The toe is what should fix your problem.

2. If you're convinced it could be your calipers, spend a couple of hours trying bleed them. When I did that, I found that I couldn't get one of the front calipers to bleed. I ended up replacing both front calipers with ones from RockAuto. (one of the pairs they sent me was defective, btw, but they ended up sending me another one. It just took more time.)

 

People often think that if the brakes pull, it has to be the fronts. Not necessarily, it could be the rears, or a bad suspension part.

 

Thanks all for the replies.

I haven't had chance as of yet to look at anything on the car, however, I have replaced all of the front suspension, other than the springs etc, bushes are brand new, ball joints, shocks (bilstein), new discs, new pads, new steel brake pipes and bled up.

I am not sure what I'm doing with the bounce test, so that'll be something I have to look into.

it only pulls in the steering when the pedal is pressed hard, the car drives straight (I've test drove it a couple of times) it's just that braking issue which is, annoying. My thought was initially the rebuilt caliper on the left isn't working properly, however it does brake.

I'll have a nose over the weekend between work and see what I find and let you all know.

Regards,

Richard.

 

Hi Richard

Regarding "bounce test" - just press on the car car and see if damping is similar on both sides. Looking for worn shocks. But if they have already been replaced with new, that shouldn't be an issue.

-Dave

 

When you check the brake calipers, see if the pads can be freely pulled in and out of the caliper. (If you need to push back the pistons, open the bleed valve to allow this, otherwise contaminated fluid can make the ABS unit malfunction).

If they cannot, grind down the metal edges on the pads so they can easily be slid into the caliper. Pads that jam in the caliper are a common cause of brake pull on the car.