Hey, I'm a 16 yo, recently purchased an 89', that's been sitting for approximately 3 years, now my dad and I are willing to do all the mechanical work, but I was wondering about a few things.
first if anyone knew where I could obtain a service factory manual.
second what kind of repairs the vehicle may need
third how much those repairs may cost

 

The service manuals (often called a ROM-Repair Operations Manual) are commonly available on CD from JDHT-Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (they're on the web), larger Jaguar parts vendors, or even Ebay.

If you prefer paper manuals they often come up on Ebay.

One of the advantages of the CD versions is that they often come with parts manuals and the improved wiring diagrams as well.

What kind of repairs? I presume you mean what kind of repairs might be needed after bring a car out of storage.

Changing all fluids would be a very good idea and pay particular attention to brake fluid and the brake system in general. It's the brake system that usually takes the worst beating from years of storage. Rusty fuel tanks are a close second after rusty brake systems.

Once the basic re-commissioning is done you'll want to replace all under hood fuel hoses. This very important.

Next, if you have the Marelli ignition system you'll want to make sure it is 100% up to snuff. A malfunctioning Marelli ignition can cause serious problems, even start a fire. The easiest way to tell if you have Marelli ignition is to look for two coil wires going to the center of the distributor cap and two square-ish control modules on the panel right above the radiator.

Speaking of the radiator, you'll want to make sure the cooling system is in perfect shape. Overheating is about the only thing that'll hurt a Jag V12.

The details of all the above can be discussed as you get into the work.

Cheers
DD

 

hi
i just purchased a 1993 that had been sitting for quite a while. i had to have the entire fuel pump assembly replaced.

 

any clue on how much that might cost?

 

hi...the fuel pump assembly varied anywhere from $700-$1300 in price...depending on where you get it from. at first we thought it was just the fuel pump that quit out but after some work, it was shown that there was a short in the assembly. i am not the most mechanical but it was a burnt out plug.

 

Follow Doug's advice to the letter ! After that you can look around to see what else might need doing. Whilst is is all DIY-able, there can be an awful lot to do, so you need to set up a list of jobs and put a priority on them. I expect your car will have the inboard rear brake calipers. These are hard to access and hence can suffer from a severe lack of maintenance.

Bodywork is the other main concern as these cars were not very well protected, at least for owners living in bad winter areas

 

thanks guys!

 

What about cylinder walls after all this time?
Back to the fuel pump assembly, can one of these units be rebuilt?

 

Good question about the cylinder walls. On lots of other cars it would be an easy matter to remove the plugs, squirt in some oil, and turn the engine over a couple turns every day for a few days to make sure the walls weren't dry. You could then spin the engine on the starter to build up some oil pressure before reinstalling the plugs and seeing if she'll fire. That would all be very nice.

But...removing the plugs is a big job on a V12 and it's easy to damage things along the way. The easiest and best way to do it is to "clean the vee" and remove everything all at once: wires, plugs, fuel rail, throttle pedestal, etc. Then the plugs are easy to reach AND you can replace fuel hoses, replace vacuum hoses, repair wiring connectors, etc all at once. It's an all- weekend job for me and I've done it before. If you wanna dig in we can give good instructions.

However, if you want to, it IS possible to remove/change the plugs without doing the full meal deal. Just be careful that you don't knock all the wires and stuff around too much. They'll be very brittle.

I'd be tempted to just charge the battery, change the oil and filter, put in some fresh gas, and then kick the tires and light the fires. If it runs and sounds pretty good you can go back and do all the rest. If it clatters like all hell after oil pressure comes up it probably has dropped valve seats and you'll have to rethink the entire project.

Opinons will vary on all of this. Others will chime in. I said that I'd be tempted to just fire it up. I didn't say I'd feel really good about it. :-)

I dunno if the fuel pump can be rebuilt. I don't think so. It's a Bosch pump...easy to find and easy to replace. You can get an off-brand replacement for a $100 or so. A genuine Bosch will be $200+.



Cheers
DD

 

Well, I've told my son, (GardandTackle) that he would have to clean the car inside and out to show room quality before I would even evauluate what needs to need to be done. This I was thinking that if the project proves to be to cost prohibitive we could sell it for better than the $800.00 purchase price.

Peace
Neil

 

That's cool.

To be honest, a non-running V12 Jag wouldn't be my first choice as a stepping-off point into auto repair....or even a first step into Jaguar ownership. Heck, many *veteran* Jag owners are intimidated by them and with good reason. They're quirky and difficult to work on....until you get the hang of it. That mostly means working very slowly and methodically, and carefully removing six things before you can even touch the one thing you're really after. The car will fight back at the first sign of impatience.

But if you guys want to go for the gusto there are many here who will help. There's a *lot* of satisfaction to be gained in exchange for the effort. Hard to put a price on that.

Cheers
DD

 

Welcome to the forum thuffner3, it is great to see a father and son team on the board.

If you do get into this as a project you will find great help from very Jaguar experienced guys.

And like you say $800 is nothing for one of these cars, it's what you put in afterwards that can add up and up.

Although if you are handy with a set of spanners, and can remain sane when nothing seems to make sense...... as Doug says... *the satisfaction*... Priceless!

 

Patience is the key to these cars. Go slow and do things as advised.

As for your question about a manual. I would buy the CD-ROM for your car. This includes electronic copies of the ROM, which is the DIY Jaguar manual, the dealer service manual which is 4 volumes. A parts manual which comes in handy for obviously looking up parts but also to see what goes where. There is also various electrical manuals which will come in handy too.

I just had to buy a fuel pump for my 1985. I found a guy on ebay selling genuine Bosch pumps for about 1/2 of retail. There are 2 Bosch parts numbers for our cars. One also fits late 70s VW Transporter. The VW uses a ring terminal for the pump but you can buy them either ring or spade. I obviously chose the spade for a drop in fit.

I agree with Doug, change the oil, make sure the radiator is full and fire it up. If it does not sound bad shut her down and get to work. There is much to do before driving the car. You do NOT want to overheat this engine.

And before doing anything download Kirby Palm's "Experience in a Book".

 

Thanks for the input guys, I will be purchasing the CD-ROM.
Think first order of business would be to drain and clean the fuel tank.
Flush the cooling system.
Check most if not all of the belts and hoses.
And go from there.

Peace
Neil

 

Thanks for the input guys, I will be purchasing the CD-ROM.
Think first order of business would be to drain and clean the fuel tank.
Flush the cooling system.
Check most if not all of the belts and hoses.
And go from there.

Peace
Neil

 

can't even spell guard right dad? oh well anyway it should be at my house in about 2 weeks so i'll be able to clean it then. then, we'll just have to see what's going to happen then

 

Ok, Hello all.
My son and I finally got the Jag to our humble garage. Young John is going to start cleaning from top to bottom. I'll order the CD-rom this week. Got my fingers crossed that this thing will be a worthy project we will keep you up dated.
Peace
Neil

 

hey man im 19 and bought my '88 xjs about a year ago. It had been sitting in a garage since 1997. The woman i bought it from had it from an estate sale, no key, no idea if it was running.but i was willing to take the chance on a total unknown because i knew i could sell the wires for nearly as much as i was gonna buy it for

After a few days my dad made a key for me (he used to be a locksmith). It had the original pirelli's on it, 2 of which were completely flat. So while i was waiting to get new tires I changed the oil and filter and charged the battery (which i later replaced).

the headliner sagged in the center down to the headrests. After alot of looking I found some headliner material that matched at a fabric store. The stuff is fabric backed with foam made for headliners, its perfect. Jaguar recomends taking out the windshield for that, but don't listen to them lol.

After emptying the old gas out and putting in some new gas with booster I tried to get it running. At first it would run for only 1-3 seconds. After playing with the gas and helping it along it would eventually idle for a couple of minutes. Until i got tires i would let it run for about 30 minutes a day. when i was taking out the old gas i cleaned the sending unit because it didn't work at the time. Be very careful and remove all carpets or your trunk will smell like gasoline for *sigh*

Finally got tires, started the car went 10 feet down the driveway and dumped every ounce of steering fluid it had. Huge leak in the high pressure line ( it runs by the exhaust manifold). I took off the line and went to a local hydraulics shop and got one made for 70 dollars. I wrapped it in metal tape where it goes next to the exhaust. this is one fun job lol.

After searching i finally got a drivers side door handle for 50 bucks and replaced it yipee.

the car was then driveable daily.

After a while i decided i was going to put new freon in it, I went to do so and it blew it all out. My dad said this was a broken reed valve. compressors are expensive so its been left alone for now.

in idk...october or november my car quit in a parking lot. it was the fuel pump. Had to buy a new one and get a filter because all the crap from the oil gas that was in the tank killed it. Filter was 11 dollars and the pump was 30. Its based on a generic bosch pump. The primary filter and regular fuel filter DID THERE JOBs and crapped out to save the rest of the system.
The lines running from the resavoir to the master cylinder leaked a bit so I changed them out one day. This increased pressure blew out my rear calipers. I rebuilt the rear calipers and replaced the brake pads and handbrake pads. I did a write up on it here just search rear brakes or something. Its 10x more fun that the power steering.lol This blew out my master cylinder which i rebuilt.

that was about six months ago. This whole time its had a tiny oil leak which was really embarassing when it was hot because it would leak onto the cats and smoke. The other day i tracked it to the banjo fitting at the sender unit and replaced the copper seals. This blew out my sending unit. Which i bought a replacement for and need to go to the store to buy a crows foot to install. I also noticed the kickdown switched connections are really crappy which would explain why sometimes it won't accelerate well, so im bidding on one right now.

I don't know if im missing anything..oh yeah my car leaked when it rained onto my left leg. It was the drains for the cowl, dumped them out, there is a decent thread if you search for it showing you how to fix that in a couple of minutes.

I know i just listed a bunch of problems but they are all related to either the car sitting for nearly 15 years or the fact the PO was an idiot.
Other than that it has been a great car that I love (but wish was a standard) and I don't think i could ever get a better one for $1000.
Btw this is my second car, I owned a 1992 infiniti m30 convertible for about 3 months (cldnt fix it). This is a pretty complex car imo but you should be alright, its mostly hard to work on because everything is so crammed together.



you shldn't have as many problems because it was only 3 years sitting. to give you and idea of money spent.

oil and filter - $60
headliner and spray-$40
HP PS line -$70
master cylinder rebuilt kit-$30
door handle-$50
Ziex 912s -$300 (buy 3, 4th free)
res to mas. cylinder hose-$5
rear caliper rebuild + pads-$95
fuel pump and filter-$40
oil sending unit-$25
kickdown switch -$20
waterproof Pep boys "corvette brand" car cover-$50 Fits PERFECT, totally waterproof, well worth the $50
interior LED festoons-$12
trans filter kit -$8 (havent put in yet need money to by the ATF)

brake fluid $50~...it used to leak alot haha.

idk if anyone mentioned it yet but KIRBY PALMS xjs pdf is awesome and free. I have 3 of the 4 factory manuals ( the green binders) which I found in a junkyard for like 30 dollars. The are pretty expensive usually and sometimes hard to find.

be sure to post pics of everything man!!
I haven't taken any recent ones of mine unfortunately but here it is the day it came home. it poured that day. The stuff on the ground behind it is soap we had to used to get it off the wrecker because the rear left wheel was locked up.

waiting on tires

old brakes vs new

this is from about 7 months ago




Good luck have fun!!

 

Good work and great lookin' Jag :-)

Cheers
DD

 

Great work on yours man.
Hope right off ours is that simple????
Thanks for the list of starter ideas.
Fuel cleaning was the first order of business, then oil, & belts.

Got to get to 10 posting before I can see or post pictures.

Peace
Neil