Well it happened, just as Kirby said it would. About 1/2 a mile from home I got the dreaded electric burning smell and dramatic loss of power. I pulled over let everything cool down then started her back up and limped home. Even so, there were wisps of smoke coming from the engine compartment when I opened the hood at home.

Had to wait till this afternoon to escape work and look at the damage in the daylight. It actually doesn't look so bad. I now have to decide whether to replace the distributor cap and rotor with another Marelli cap and rotor or take the opportunity to jump to the Lucas distributor. Looks like the failed unit is not genuine Marelli. Any advice?

Also, while I was looking in my engine bay I noticed that there was a component hanging out of the air filter (pictured). Anyone know what is it and if it should just be hanging out of the air filter housing or not.


Thanks in advance

 

I call it the EAC- Extra Air Valve but there might be another name for it. When the a/c compressor is engaged the valve opens to increase the idle speed a bit. Or at least that's what it did on the older V12s. There should be a grommet to hold it in place

Cheers
DD

 

Unless you can find a good used one you're out of luck on a genuine Marelli cap. They've been out of production for some time now.

As of 2-3 years ago a genuine Marelli rotor was still available under the Jaguar part number.

Cheers
DD

 

You can tell the difference: original Marelli cap is very heavy compared to the aftermarket units. I kept my original, and applied Kirby's caulk / sealant fix to the aftermarkets. No problems since.

Glad you recognized it before catastrophic failure!

 

So, if I can't find a genuine Marelli cap which of the aftermarket ones is best. They all claim to replace the OEM part #JLM1909

AIRTEX / WELLS Part # 5D1187
STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS Part # LU437 - Intermotor
BECK/ARNLEY Part # 1747001 - Marelli Distributor

 

I'm not 100% certain but I *think* somebody researched this a couple years ago and found that ALL of the aftermarket caps are exactly the same and made by the same company. The different name brands are just an exercise in label engineering.

Others will chime in.

Cheers
DD

 

Personally I wouldn't jump backwards to a Lucas distributor, there is a fix for the merrelli and it works, the Lucas doesn't have that problem but suffers from a string of others.
If your serious about your car and going to keep it i would be looking into the one of the new after market ECU's that will run coil packs and dispose of the distributor altogether and while at it get it to run the injectors as well, for the life of me I can not see why this isn't the first thing you would do with these cars or why any off the manufacturer's has not offered a plug and play set for the v12 yet.
Good luck

 

Katoh, Any ideas on where I might start looking for such an ECU? I am serious about keeping this car for the long term.

 

85K miles on the original cap? Did you ever have the distributor serviced and the cap and rotor checked? I'm just asking because many owners never do this and these type of items do need to be inspected and cleaned.


I have met a few people that have purchased the Beck/Arnley cap and rotors and they seem to work fine. Just read Kirby's book and if you want, you can do the silicone caulk squirt for the rotor. Good luck...

 

I have a new cap and rotor, genuine Marelli if you are interested. You can PM me.

Thanks!

 

Because as far as I know it's not offered as a turnkey kit. Do this and I bet V12 owners will beat a path to your door.

 

Unfortunately I have no one, but I have been in touch with Haltech who got back to me and said there newer ECU will run the twin 6 coil packs. I have just simply being going through Ebay looking at second hand units and asking the question from the manufactures not the sellers. Since I have a second motor for mine that I am building I can set it up with all the good gear at my leisure and still drive the car, I realise not all have this luxury so time is the killer here.
There has being some work done with Megasuirt and Megajolt but I not seen how far it has advanced.

Have a look at this site this chap here in Oz is the man to talk to, I will be going down the same path, but he has being there and done it, from the Dyno specs he is also getting good results too, he is using a Wolf ECU from memory.
XJ-SC Modifications
I would start by asking one of your local machanics if they know of any aftermarket ECU resllers and go and have a chat with them. Or even send some an Email asking the question, Try Haltch, Wolf, Megasquirt, Microtech just some that i can think of.

Your spot on the money there! Maybe we should get together and a make something up, I can see the dollars rolling in already. LOL
Seriously its a little out of my field, but if there was/is a solution, and not for stupid money either, I would be interested.
I can't see it being that hard to nutt out, fair enought many things these new ECU's do can not be used on our motors, but as far as fuel and spark managment go they should sh*t it in. As said earlier Im still a little off from doing this but when I do Ill be glad to share my findings, for know I would simply pick the brains of the manufactures or people like Ian hissey XJ-SC Modifications who have already being there and done that.

Good Luck to all!

 

Just to carry on from last nights rants/comments for those of you interested in the distributor less ignition here is another gentlemen with lots of facts and How To on the subject.
Dual EDIS ignition