Just PM'd you Rex
Greg

 

Did you ever find the parts for this project?

 

SNG Barratt had this link lead as item : DAC2347 (31 GBP), but it is not longer available. I bought this in January 2018.
But maybe they can help You with info about connector (or supplier).

 

I burned a lot of time a year ago looking for this plug. Lots of close-but-no-cigars.

Would it it be worth having some made up via 3D printing ( plastic ) or CNCd out of alluminum? Either would be somewhere ~$USD 10/per

 

Can't be metal, has to electrically insulate the two connections.

 

You can try JaguarSpecialties, Andrew posts here occasionally. He has a guy who makes OEM wiring right down to the ugly plasticy rubbery socket things.

 

It needs to hold the connectors. Modern, available spade females. I was thinking the beefy squarish insulated style. Machine out a recess for them.

 

Newby here. Name's Adam. Just bought a 1987 XJS 12, 5.3 from some guy who just gave up. My wife has always wanted the 2 door long nose coupe 1960's E-type but settled for 87 XJS. Not going to lie, I was scared. I've been an aircraft mechanic for 26+ years and thought I could "handle it". The car was running when we went to look at it and we shut it off to set up my ramps to take a look underneath. Wouldn't restart. Looked at oil and coolant, seemed to be fine. Body and interior are excellent. Some leakage around the heads in the valley and down on the bottom. First red flag. Previous owner was attempting to install an electric cooling fan in place of the clutch driven one. Another red flag. Got $2,250 knocked off price and trailered it back to Florida. Installed A/C in my garage to be comfortable (too old to sweat) and got to work to get it started again. Found high resistance on the harness going from the distributor to the Lucas amp and a melty connector in the valley to the distributor. Another red flag. Saw the thread about the connectors not being available so I decided to build my own from shielded wire I had at work. I butted the connection at the distributor and just put well insulated spade connectors at the amp (original connector wasn't there). Shield wire was wired as original. She starts! Drove it around neighborhood and seemed to do fine. I figured out where the guy went wrong on the newly fitted 16" electric fan and fixed that (sort of). Thought I was sitting in tall cotton until today. My plan was to flush and refill vital fluids, drain and refill gas since it has been sitting a while and put in some injector stabilizer/cleaner. Then in time, fix/tune whatever was needed and just take her out on "date night" with the wife occasionally. Well, I wanted to start off by changing the oil and oil filter. What Satan designed where that filter is!? Following my manual, I took off the left hand air filter assembly. A rusty crack up near the intake manifold caught my eye. I silently prayed that it was a cracked heat shield and tapped it with a screwdriver. It felt pretty solid and my heart sank. I pried at the multi branched crack and a thick chunk of aluminium came out. Yep, I got a hole in me block.
My question to the forum is what engines drop in nicely into these cars. I was reading that a lot of owners replace it with a 350. I don't think I want to drop another Jag 12 in there. It gives me flashbacks of my old F-4 days where it could take 30 minutes or 3 days to change the battery!

Melted harness connector

Lovely chunk of my engine on top of intake and to the right you can see the hole from once it came

 

I'm very surprised at hearing about a hole in the block, I think that's the first one I've ever heard of. The V12 is a very robust engine, it's not unusual for them to go 300,000 miles and still be in spec, they will generally never need a rebuild in their service lives.

In terms of a replacement, partly because they are so durable, the cheapest and easiest thing to do is simply replace it with another V12. They should be fairly cheap to buy used, as there is little demand. If you go with anything else, then you have to get a transmission as well, plus wiring, fuel, engine and transmission mounts, driveshaft etc, and it turns into a big job. Obviously I don't know what your skills are, but I've seen a number of 350 conversions and nearly every one is a hack job in some ways and I don't think I have ever seen one where everything worked as original. Usually things like speedometers, cruise control and AC don't work after a 350 conversion.

Perhaps try calling places like Coventry West and see what they would charge for a used engine? That would be the quickest and cheapest way to get you back on the road, and also preserve the unique aspect of owning an XJS.

As a minor aside, the most unreliable part that usually causes a V12 to quit is the GM ignition module. It's in the Lucas cast aluminium box, but inside is a GM 4 pin HEI module. Those are reasonably regular failures. I always laugh at people who take out a well running V12 and put in a 350 "To make it more reliable" and then use the same ignition module, although in a different engine.

 

I cannot see the hole. That flake of ally looks like a flake off the main casting. Has it left an actual hole into a water jacket or oil passages? Can you actually look into the interior of the crankcase or head through it?

 

Hello Adam

I have also blown up the photo and tried to have a look at the hole - cannot see it either.
The car was running well, oil and coolant the proper colour I presume. Can't really see a lot of buildup either in the photo

In case of offending you with your mechanical background - I would make sure that you have a issue before going down the motor transplant path

Cheers
Steve

 

Potato chip. That’s a potato chip. All good.

Seriously, I want to see the hole. This is no small thing. Was it an errant lever prying a part? Is there impact damage visible on either the outside or inside of the removed chunk?

edit: The hole is directly above the throttle shaft to linkage connection. Nut on linkage is tangent to the hole. And I do think that area is on the case.

 

I can't see a hole either. Better pic, please !

If it was a hole leading to oil or water you'd certainly know about it in a hurry

Cheers
DD

 

According to the Moderator the hole is below the black high pressure hose. That appears to put the hole in the intake manifold. That being the case, if it is the case, the engine should run rough and maybe any audible hiss could be heard. My opinion, there is no hole. I agree with Greg and Doug, don't try an engine swap!

Things can easily get out of hand.I had an XJ6 years ago with a rear seal leak. Went to the dealer to buy a seal, (cost $2.50) he asked me how I intended to replace the seal and I told him with a Chinese finger. He said there is no room to drop the pan and the engine has to be pulled. I said how much do you charge for that. He said $1500 I gasped a little, and he ask how many miles on the car? I said about 60,000. He said, "Then since the engine is out of the car you should do a complete overhaul. I asked how much, he said, "$1500. to pull the engine, $6000 to do the overhaul and $2,50 for the seal. Like I said things can get out of hand!

What did I do, I went home and had a spaghetti dinner and with the tomato paste use the can to catch the small amount of oil that dripped from the seal.

 

I still don't see it !

What I see above the throttle shaft is the bolt that holds the heatdshield in place, item #10 in this illustration

https://www.jaguarclassicparts.com/u...fold-5-3-litre

Let's just wait for a better picture !

Cheers
DD

 

Hi Mark, have you ever found a source for that cable ? I need one for my Lucas Ignition . Do you know where I can buy one ?
Many thanks
Michael

 

Adam, check the coolant temperature sensor. My failure mode was to work when it was cold, but failing when it warmed up. You can jump the terminal connector with a paper clip. Check out the sticky posted by Grant Francis, "So you have a V12 that wont start" Check out my thread that I started about my V12 having problems starting and running. If your ignition amp plugs are bad, just make a new harness using individual terminal connectors until you can source a more original part. I would try to stick with the V12, they are one of the better of Jaguar's "Pantheon of Engines" I hear that they will last a long time without being rebuilt. I bet that no ones' every kept one running long enough to wear it out! (Just kidding! As I cover my head!) Best of luck!

 

I saw that my local O'Reillys down the street had the Dorman 85841 connector for like $4. I thought, what the heck. Let's give it a shot. It was about a millimeter too wide on each side and the tab is about a millimeter too tall.

I popped the connectors out of the Dorm 85841 connector, filed each side down about a millimeter, filed off the nub on the release tab. heated up the release tab with a heat and then smooshed the release tab down a wee bit, and then slid the Jaguar connectors in.

It works great. Took me about 15 minutes. And $4.

 

if there is a will, there is away,, nice!