So, I just bought a 1990 XJS Conv. I think I got it for a good price, $1500. 74,000 miles and the car is in good shape. I am the 3rd owner and the last owner only put 5000 miles on it since '09. I have 25 years of service records with it. My plan is to repair the problems (no hurry) and make it great once again. Here is a list of issues with the cat. Most is to be expected in a 25 year old ride.

Conv. Top doesn't work
Conv top needs replaced.
Brakes are very stiff! Accumulator?
Oil pressure gauge doesn't work
New ac compressor, leaky hoses.
Front seats need reapolstered
From looking at the service records its been through 3 batteries in 5 years. Car was dead when I went to start it. Yikes!!

 

sounds like a good deal. got any pictures of it?
what motor does it have?

 

I will post pics later. I'm picking the car up in a few hours. It has the 5.3l v12. The tires have 2,000 miles on them and it has a brand new exaust. There is my $1500!

 

cool, i paid more for mine and it had a bad paint job on it when i bought it but a new top but front seats need to be re-done as well, my power up down for the top does not work either. there is a valve you can turn to manual and its very easy to manually lift and lower the top. i had some problems with my temp gauge witch turned out to be some issues in the cluster. oil psi i would guess would be the sender or possibly the wire clip on the sender.

after i get my car put back together from a re-paint ill be tackling the interior so i will probably have some tips for you there as i get worked threw it.

 

Depends on your thoughts...

I would most likely address the dead battery first. It could be that it just isn't driven enough. I went through 3 batteries in my TR6 in two years. They were optimas. The manager of the store asked me how often I drove the car. I told him very little. He said the battery wasn't able to sit indefinately, and expect to hold a charge. I knew that, but what I didn't know, was that if a battery deep cycles down to 0 charge, It may not recover. He strongly advised a trickle charger.

On my XJS, the brake pedal being hard, was the accumulator. When you turn the switch on, the accumulator pump should run, and once the amber ABS light, and the red brake light go out, that means the accumulator has charged. Under normal conditions, (good accumulator), you should be able to turn the switch off, and have 8-12 times of pressing the brake pedal before it goes to hard.

Flushing the brake system with fresh fluid is a absolute must if it hasn't been done. Replacing the rubber hoses would be in my "must" category as well, if they haven't alread been replaced.

The oil pressure gauge is most likely the sending unit down in the "V", toward the back of the engine. Requires engine to be pulled to replace. (Just KIDDING LOL!!). It is however, a real pain to replace.

The convertible top could be several different problems. If you can hear the pump run, you start with that. The seal has most likely gone bad in the pump. I bought mine on eBay for 15.00. But then it requires a fluid no longer made for Jaguar, but there is a compatible aviation fluid I bought that works great! About 8.00 for a quart. If the pump doesn't run, make sure you have the car in park or neutral, and the handbrake has to be pulled enough to activate the brake light. If it still doesn't run, there is the fuse, the switch, ????.

I did my convertible top replacement, and it is a bear of a job. Expensive even doing it yourself, not to mention time consuming. Knowing what I saw, I can't imagine a independant shop spending the prep time to do this job right. There are tabs on the front header that rot away. These have to be replaced

I've purchased seat covers from Pauls Jaguar in Ft Lauderdale Florida, and was very satisfied.

The AC compressor on yours is the old GM compressor. Very available, not too bad to replace. We have a hose company in my town that will make any hose I need. I just take them the old one, and they use my ends, fittings, and replace the hose itself.

Hopefully, you can do most of the work yourself, as finding someone you can trust to work on these cars, and be decent in their rates, is very hard to find.

 

74,000 miles and the front seats need recovered? My '96 has 93,000 miles and the seats are very good. I would question the mileage, even though it is 6 years older. A massive amount of work to be done but the price is so low you may be okay.

Cheers, RagJag

 

Congrats on the purchase, that's a great price. In my neck of thr woods, Craigslist blokes want 5 grand for clunkers that dont run.

On the battery issue, are you saying it goes down with a good battery when sitting? If so, check what the current draw when engine is off by connecting an amp meter (dvm) in series with one of the battery cables. This will tell you if you've got a current drain or not.

 

No need to question the miles. The pervious owner did carfax report on it, I have all of the service records.... The seats aren't that bad, but I'd like them to be perfect.

 

I'm not sure what the battery issue is. Maybe related to the car alarm? The car sits a lot.. Once I get her home I'll look more into it.

 

Now the fun begins
Use a amp meter to source the battery drain. Maybe clean the grounding points and connections.

 

Yes it's not unusual for the seats to be mistreated. Depending on the kind of care they get and climate they are in they can be in bad shape even with low mileage. That, plus most of the v12 cars have full top grade leather interiors---which are harder to maintain----versus the later straight six cars which have very little real leather and mostly Ambla (jaguar vinyl) instead---and the ambla lasts forever---

 

Welcome - need pics!

 

Congrats on your purchase.

I've installed a batter "cut off" switch in the trunk that places the battery in a no use state. It works for me while working on the Cat. No draw... Just have to reset the clock, etc when I put back in service... It's a $20. fix..

Ken

 

I installed battery switch on mine as well. I feel its a must with these cars.

 

Welcome, great buy!


I paid a lot more... I just have a instrument light problem and leaky radiator and leaky power steering...


one thing at a time though....