Heh guys

As some of you may know I'm a relative newbie to the XJS game and have another question that should'nt be too hard to answer I think:

I have heard it said many times that short little drives is a bit of a killer for the V12 engine. In fact the XJS like to be driven hard (lots of highway driving?)

Why is this exactly?

Is it because the engine is not put under full load? What goes on inside those piston chambers to make my XJS sad?

I live near the beach and like to cruise around the area in her doing around 50km/hr. Also i do a fair few short trips down the road to pick up the milk or kids from school.

Am I making her sad?

Your input as always is greatly appreciated.



cheers

 

'Killer' is a bit much.

It's not like shorter trips and gentle-ish style are gonna make the motor break in two, or blow up, or seize.

Longer journeys where the oil get fully warmed up are generally considered good for an engine (Jag V12 or any other).

Lots of short trips might allow your combustion chambers to carbon-up a bit. Problems are not too likely to result from this...but a good long trip, giving 'er the boot a few times, will clear the chambers and bring a smile to your face.





I'm not sure a Jag V12 'likes' to be driven hard over and above what I mentioned above ....but they surely don't dislike it . Most are driven as though they were made out of glass. I have (seriously) spoken with Jag owners who are afraid to use full throttle as they think the engine will be damaged. I don't know where these ideas come from. It's a good, stout engine. I used to buzz mine up to 6500 redline all the time

If you have a good road, decent oil pressure, and are not pinging/pinking run the bejesus out of the old girl and have some fun.

If circumstances don't allow such exercise as often as you like, no worries. Nothing horrible is gonna happen from gentle driving

Cheers
DD

 

Take it for a good highway drive (within speed limits, of course) a coupla times a week and you'll be fine - get it good and hot.

 

My mechanics advice to me last week was don't start it up and stop a couple of minutes later. Let the engine warm up properly.

Cheers

Steve

 

The Goose is back! For what it's worth, I treat mine like cars: driven rain, sun, gridlock traffic, Sundays on backroads, road trips across Texas, 3 minute trips to the grocery store and back (and even these have a sense of occasion).

The only place I'm hesitant to drive it is to clients; even though their parking lots are full of $60k Ford Dually pickups, they get the impression that my old *** Jags are high dollar. It's nuts.

If they've been subjected to short trips for an extended amount of time, I'll deliberately give them the boot in order to blow out the carbon deposits. Hey, it's in the owners manual, and you can actually see it coming out of the exhaust on kick down.

Fact remains that performance has fallen woefully behind modern standards (at least in engine output - ride comfort and noise suppression are fine).

[edit]

Also, if it's really cold, I follow the Jaguar recommendations of not idling more than a minute or so until the temp gauge just starts to move, and then keep RPMS modest until the engine / oil are fully warmed up.

 

Too right Flint. the ONLY thing that knackers XJSs is not using them enough. Doesn't matter how or where, hard or soft treatment. But it all needs using - brakes, electrics, suspension, engine, the lot. The more they are used the better they go and the more reliable they are.

An AJ6 plus torque kit will sort that out! I am a great fan, transformed mine.

Greg

 

The Maleny-Kenilworth Road through Conondale is perfect for this very purpose. And close to your place.
Mostly newly sealed, long sweepers, tight hill climbs and descents, plenty of open farm country and not many enforcers in the area. I always get to give the bikes a good run through there, even the XJ6 has hit the ton on some of the straights.

It may even be on the agenda for the Sunshine Coast Hinterland drive next month, since we are in the area anyway.

 

My 2 Bob's worth!
Is some driving is better than none, personally I think 2 things kill motors, loading them right up and my brothers driving, Oh sorry scrap the second should of being that lack of maintenance,. LOL (never met a person that can "F" every car his being in, I wont let him drive my cars) Ah maybe a third thing is simply a ***** driver/owner.
Even if you don't get a chance to do any open roading, use the gears every now and then, let the motor wind out in 1st and 2nd it wont hurt it.
Driving as you are is fine.
I personally dont pay to much attention to anything Jaguar recommends about these cars, eg a can of BARS stop leaks every service keeps it healthy, "really" WTF!
We can make them out to be some sort of super highly tuned U Bute piece of industrial art, but its just another motor and like all motors they work the same and needs the same things.

 

This applies to any type of engine. Run it up to full temp or don't start it at all.

 

Hi Bro

When I have no where special to go, I like to take the GF out for an
evening meal, at one of our favorite Countryside Pubs.

It's only a half hour drive each way through lots of different Terrain.

Long Straights and Sweeping 'S' bends where you get a chance to really
drive the Car.

The more you drive them the better they get, as I know only too well with all the problems I've had, after having this Car laid up for 10 years!

 

the major thing with a JAG V12 is dont overheat it,(or run it without oil).

 

Guys thanks so much.

This was quite a good read. I knew I could count on yall!

 

Y'all? This man's practically a Texan already

 

Well he does work on an Oil Rig so that seems like he has got the right credentials!

 

ha ha ha ha ha...i was waiting for somebody to pick that up.

All the blokes i work with either come from Houston, Lousiana, Missisippi, Alabama and alot of the southern parts of the states.

I also noticed they say " I'm fixin" alot.

Im fixin to go and take me a bath
Im fixin to go and buy me a new pair of sneakers
Im fixin to go and fix my Jaguar XJS....nah.....

ha ha

Flint, Its highly likely ill be back in Houston in the next 6 months, probs around North Sam and that area. We gotta catch up and talk Jags!

 

you guys should hear me talk,,1/2 Boston Mass. accent,and 1/2 Texas accent, mixed.

what a mess!

 

Just in case you want to learn the lingo!

More Colorful Texas Sayings? | Texas Monthly

 

i hear around central texas , "i'm goin down chonda"