this is the second week with the 1992 XJS 5.3 v12


the hood ( convertible top ) works... the rear passage quarter window would not roll down more than 1 to 2 inches when I got the car... oddly... I remember when I was down town with the Opera... seeing it drive by with the top down and the window still jutting up... a year later... I am buying it...


the dash lights do not work...
the turn signals stopped working last Sunday...
I went through all the circuits diagrams for them...
checked all the fuses... (number 7 on the passage side... ) good....
hazards work...
looked at the circuit again found that the power for the turn signals goes through the hazard switch...
hazard switch is kinda wonkey.... messed with it noticed it was not popped all the way out when not in use...
wiggled it until it popped all the out and guess what...
I have turn signals....


went and bought contact cleaner and silicone spray lube...
picked up daughter at G-Ma's after I got off from work..
sprayed silicone spray lube... down in the quarter window that was stuck... (top was down)


drove to micky-Dees got her a kids meal and put the top up then down while waiting in the drive thur...
GUESS WHAT...
all windows work now....


ok


just a little warm in traffic
cools right down when moving....


and the power steering leaks...


so


week two
solved turn signal
stuck window...


need to address
power steering
cooling... for engine...
radio dead...


bought
a case of oil filters...
ordered
jag valve stem nuts...
2800 cfm fan
need
air filters....
power steering stuff...


the adventure begins

 

And so it starts. Good luck to you and your car. Youll love it and nothing drives like the XJS

 

A man with a PLAN, AND an XJ-S, winner all round.

You have done very well so far.

 

Great stuff. Welcome and have fun.
Greg

 

Welcome to the 1992 v12 convertible. When you get on top of the maintenance or lack of, you will fall in love.

 

thanks every one! I appreciate your replies and encouragement...


the first week...
my Wife's Van... in a fit of jealousy decided to through a water pump fit and blow coolant every where....


so my first weekend
steam burn to the finger getting water into the van for cooling...
Van down sat morning Had to take a Wheel chair cab to get daughter to miracle league game...
19.99 for water pump... (took the XJS to by VAN parts....) (hahaha who knew!)
1 hour putting water pump in van...
and guess what... they have to be burped too...
running fine now all week and the finger is better....
Monday the sweet wife wants to got over to her sisters and work on things for her sisters Halloween party so I have to use the jag... (---and that is ok with me---)


the oil on the dip stick is sooooo clean... I thought it was the transmission stick......
had to look twice... it was the correct dip stick... I will call the dealer I got the XJS from on Monday and find out what oil they have in it and continue using that...


I need to pull that panel off and use some Lithium grease on that window track and gears as it feels a little reluctant to go up and down... it is better but there is no reason not to make it RIGHT


oh bought a cig lighter USB charger and a iphone 5 cable to use in the XJS.
The cable is a light blue to match the interior...
might take it apart and mount it like it was made into the slope.... <grin>
2.5 watts at 12v
300 mil amp fuse in line to it should do...

 

went to fill her up with the wife and her van
had the dreaded half engine power.. and check engine light...
pulled back into the front yard check the exhaust and bank B was out...

shut down popped the engine cover open disconnect a coil...
no start... reconnected disconnect the other one from dist.
sprayed it with silicone... started engine used paper towel roll to move wire to see that is spark strong and every time...
shut down reconnected to dist.
started ran strong...
put gas in her and drove her for about 40 minutes... speeds 40 to 70 (officially 70 <grin> I work for the Sheriff's Office... )
to get the cats clean of the extra fuel...
oh.. a Mazda 5 was revving it engine at me... then turned left and left the road...
how odd...

now rear quarter windows are down and will not go up...
worked on that ... still down though...
learned how to remove the interior in the rear of the convertible to get to that stuff...
the lights in the rear interior were broken... looks like they are prone to do that...
festoon type bulb loading the plastic in compression.... breaks where the rivet goes through... both broken in the same manner...
thinking about placing a led array in the back of the housing in the panel and still using the switch that the light has built in...

all in all fun...

oh I need to clear that error code...
the voltage at night is low... ( with the lights on... )
and she is running a little warm
I figure I need to burp her and make sure the radiator is clear of debris...
I might place the 165F thermos in her but I wanted to wait until summer...
fan clutch first after debris and burping...

oh clearing the code I just disconnect the battery? right?
fan has not shipped yet...

 

made sure I had power steering fluid
drove it to work... stop and go after lunch... a little warm...
voltage over 13v at 1200 rpm...

 

You can not clear the code by disconnecting the battery. If the problem that caused the code is fixed then after you start the car 3-5 times (I forget the exact number) the mil light will not come on.
Jomo

 

Every car I have ever owned has had a power steering leak. When I found out that my recent acquisition, an '88 XJS in Nimbus White, had no leaks I almost lost it. I was tempted to jab a hole in some hose somewhere just for the nostalgia!

Then the moon roof leaked, and all was well.

Glad I'm not the only new XJS owner on the road - how many miles were on the clock when you pulled the trigger?

 

Welcome to Jag ownership...

If you ever find out the problem, and can fix it, with the rear windows PLEASE tell us all how to do it.

 

well, the warm running hopefully is under control...
found that the coolant level was 1.4 gallons low....
glad I have been reading and went out when it was cold and checked...
held the new coolant level for 12 non running hours...
drove to work this morning... did not even make the temperature gauge go fully half way... (it is a short drive though)

will go out and check the levels at lunch time... and let the top down...
I will find and solve the rear conv. top windows.... I am memorizing the circuit...
everything is connected to ground until the relay(s) switch from ground to power...
so all relays have to bee good...

I went out to cover the car last night and there was a miniature Black Panther looking out the rear window at me.... you have to love cats!... or... yeah you have to love them... I call her Nikcole the girls call her skitz... as in frentic

 

oh 97k miles... I have 300 of them

 

so at lunch I went out and checked the coolant level put .4 gallons in this time green coolant was visible when the other tank showed I had filled it... last time it showed clear fluid (water) it is mixing...
drove across the parking lot parked not under a tree and dropped the hood (conv top) put it back up... GEZZZZ! the passenger side rear quarter window worked... put the top up and down about 4 or 5 times.... every time the passenger side rear quarter window worked... but not the drivers side... ahhh.... I WILL WIN...
Drove her to C-fil-A
waited in the drive thur...
temp just below the middle the whole time
with top down and ac on... then off then on... no change...
on returning to work and shutdown... electric fan running when I walked away...
<GRIN>


___

 

cleaned up an engine part...
scraped rust and old flaking paint off it...
found some silver metallic paint on the shelf
gave it 2 coats
and put it back in place

need to do a lot more
the air injector pipes are showing some rust...
the fan shroud is flaking and rusty
all in all a lot of fun to have!

 

Sunday,
needed to by discounted fuel limited to 35 gallons the Van takes 25
so we do the Van and the Xjs at the same time...


checked coolant ok checked power steering Fluid topped up


drove to the filling station and used our 80cents off filled the Van and the XJS
as the Jag was half full and the van had 5gallons in it...


went to buy fix a flat for the Vans chronic leaky rear tire...
Yes the tire guys said not to use that stuff but they also said the leak was to slow for them to find... so, I used it...


funny how when I drove up to buy that stuff some one was admiring the Jag and said nice car I said thanks then they told me how their parents had one in when they were young and they just LOVED it.., he said he did too...


nice to be able to drive it and get that kind of friendly conversation ... after leaving a white suv shadowed me then drove by while I was turning right at a light and the person in the passages seat mouthed.... "Nice"... as it drove through the intersection.... I noticed the tag on it... XJS ### hahaha... wow! I waved...

 

I personally love having head-turning vehicles. I got a few compliments on my Mark VIIs, the Jag has gotten a few awed stares, but the real showstopper is my Royal Enfield Bullet. I can't ride that thing anywhere without attracting a crowd... Even if it is just because she backfired.

 

have driven the Jag to work every day this week with the exception of today and we were due for some RAIN.... left her home under the cover...

wow went to lunch with my wife drove the Van and silly me gasped as I went down a dip, forgot the van does have quite a bit more ground clearance ....

found the leak last night with the help of an old lady driving a M Kompressor... she pointed out water running away from my Jag she thought it was the Air cond. I looked and found a pin size stream of water squirting through where the Elec. fan is and landing right on my power steering pump... I guess it was never full enough to vent water instead of steam... now I have a little hole to fix...

any one have any ideas how to fix a small hole in the radiator high up in a tube? if it is the tube and not the joint..

are these cross flow radiators... I think they are...

 

Welcome to the illness of XJS ownership.

13V is too low, either your battery is bad or your alternator has a bad diode pack.

Charging should be no less than 13.6V. 14.4V on a fully charged battery

 

Fix it properly - pull the Rad and have it re-cored

There are 2 different fin counts for XJS radiator the later from 1988 I think uses more fins. Make sure you get the later core.

Radiators are 2 pass 33% across the top and 66% bottom. They work well despite what some say. After I had mine re-cored and installed themo fans (my viscous coupling was shot) NO overheating even in 35°C heat AC on sitting in traffic.