In the process of replacing the spark plugs on my '89 XJS convertible, I found a several small bits red insulation around the A6 plug. They appear to have come from the left hand of the two pipe connectors circled in yellow in the attached photos, which is damaged.

Which begs the question, what are these connectors and why are they there? And could they be the source of the copious amounts of oil residue in between the two cylinder banks?

As far as what caused the damage, I suspect the mice that left a plethora of droppings in Death Valley.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Those red hoses are part of the air injection system. I only know that because thats about where I am with my XJS. It does look like mice damage unfortunately. I have to assume the hoses are red to indicate that they are not normal heater hose material. Perhaps High Temp. Not sure otherwise.

 

They are high temperature rated - silicone if I recall and stupidly pricey at the time (ages ago, sure you can find them reasonably now).

 

If you are allowed to, remove the air injection stuff.

 

Remove it permanently? Just the red connectors with the hose clamps, or all the associated piping too? Will I need to cap it off somewhere?

 

Remove the lot, you will only have to cap the small holes that left when you remove the thin pipes that go into the inlet manifold. You can buy a kit, or you can carefully tap the holes and wind in a threaded Allen key headed bolt as a plug. Cleans up the V wonderfully!
By the way, please stuff some rags into those holes that the injectors have been removed from! If you get a nut or something dropped down there it will ruin your month!

 

I agree with Greg.

AND

NOT being picky, just hate wasted money. Clean up around those spark plugs BEFORE you remove them. Anything that falls down the spark plug hole COULD destroy the engine.

Been there.

 

Grant, what you see in the photo are the new plugs already installed! What remains around the spark plug holes is what is left after HOURS of cleaning up a filthy mixture of oil residue, burned insulation (from the injector harness running along the bottom of the V), and mouse droppings.

Some of this crud surrounded the old spark plugs, which I tried to remove to the best of my ability using rags, toothbrushes and Q tips. I could see extensive rust on many of the old spark plugs, so I used a liberal amount of nut penetrating oil to prevent the plugs from breaking off when I removed them. Having no prior service records, I assumed the spark plugs were original to the vehicle.

Unfortunately, the penetrating oil dissolved the crud into a sludge, some of which I believe seeped down the spark plug threads. You can see some of this sludge residue on the threads of the old plugs in the photo below — particularly the 2 in the bottom left.





Before installing the new plugs, I carefully cleaned the spark plug holes and threads. I tried to exercise extreme caution, but some of them are difficult to access (especially A1, A2, B1 B2). So it’s possible (likely?) that some small amount of this crud/sludge fell down into the cylinders.

So now what? Is there anything I can do now other than pray?!?!

Thanks in advance for your help!

PS - I will also immediately put rags in the injector holes before I do even more damage than I’ve already done...

 

Do not worry about the plugs/goo. The engine will be fine once it starts going the stuff will burn away. If you have an air compressor, then use that to blow out the plug wells next time.

 

Sludge and goo won't hurt a thing. As Greg says, it'll burn off.

You certainly don't want anything hard and non-combustible falling into cylinders such as a stray washer or nut. Or something gritty like sand.

I don't wish to sound alarmist but there is possibly some cause for concern. Working on a V12 can be a little tricky. I've been into a few V12 vee-areas and found all manner of stray washers and bits that have been dropped in the course of previous repairs, some of them quite tiny. Hell, I've dropped a few myself. Sometimes it's easier to grab a new one rather than fuss about finding and retrieving the one you dropped. Anyhow, you obviously don't want anything like this falling into the cylinders.

You probably don't have anything to worry about. But, if it'll make you sleep more easily, you can rig up your shop vacuum to suck out any tiny bits that might have fallen in. Use duct tape (and a bit of imagination) to affix a length of fuel hose to your shop vac hose. This can then be inserted right into the spark plug holes and rotated about. It'll pick up any tiny debris. Larger bits, if any, may not pass through the fuel hose but will at least be captured by the suction and can be withdrawn. Been there, done that !

Cheers
DD

 

My spark plug holes are every bit as bad as the description of those pictured. Probably the same mixture of ingredients too. My thought was to put a round wire brush on a drill in the plug hole and a running shop vac in the intake port. Seems to me as long as theres constant air flow, nothing too bad will settle into the cylinders.

 

As far as removing the air injection system, can you point us to a diagram of the system? Despite having taken a pic of the motor after each part I removed, I feel like I could use an "omission playbook" if only for what to leave IN. >>>Maybe I just need to go out and have another staring session.... In any case, thanks for the hint.

 

There is an air compressor at the front RHS of the engine, this doubles as a belt tensioner. Remove the large pipe attached to it but leave the actual compressor. The pipe runs back towards the pipes in your photo. remove all the bits yo can get to, but leave the bits you cannot reach. Remove the bigger pipes that the thin pipes drop down from to the manifold, and remove the thin pipes and block the holes into the manifold.
Diagram here;
https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.../brand/jaguar/

 

Excellent. It really is that simple. Thanks!

 

Jerry
FYI, the thin pipes that go into the inlet manifold actually lead through it to the exhaust ports, downstream of the exhaust valve. So capping the hole with a threaded metal bolt or similar is important, rather than (eg) a rubber bung.

 

With plugs removed, you can spin the engine with the starter and each cylinder will "blow" any crud that is in the cylinder out. It will spin nice and fast with plugs out and you may be able to see the crud flying out.

 

And since you are already wearing protective face gear, you just need to cover the rest of the car!