Hi all,

Just joined the forum as I am now tasked with the care of a 1992 Jaguar XJS V12 Convertible in lovely Flamenco Red Metallic with just under 70K miles. For context, my father purchased this car about a year ago from a small car dealer in Florida. He wanted a car to run around town in during retirement...probably to reminisce about his 1950s XKE that he drove during college in the early 1960s. Unfortunately his health now precludes him from enjoying this fine automobile, so he decided to give it to me now, so that I could care for it.

I flew down to Ft. Myers and drove it back to Charlotte, NC a few weeks ago - a pretty brave endeavor in a 26 year old vintage British car on tires who knows how old (I couldn't interpret the DOT coding). Needless the car was fine other than a voltmeter that landed a hair over 10V on the gauge about halfway through the trip (and at night!). It didn't go below, and on occasion would bounce back up to slightly under 12V.

My dad had a vintage car specialist perform a few maintenance items including rebuilding of the convertible top hydraulics and a front end refresh consisting of wheel bearings, inner and outer tie rods, calipers, rotors, pads, ABS accumulator and hoses. I have a carfax from the dealer which shows that the car lived in Kentucky and Florida for most of its life (it did have a six month stint in NJ), along with notes about various service and repairs at Jaguar dealers and independents.

Cosmetically, the car is nice, but it is far from perfect. From what I can tell, it has been repainted, although it must have been an expensive job as I cannot find any over spray, tape lines, etc. It does have a few imperfections and a small amount of orange peel, but overall it looks great (Flamenco Red is an amazing color). Inside the leather is in fine shape, although some of the wood accents are cracked. Unfortunately, the wheels are the chromed cross-spoke BBS style wheels. All four wheels have a bit of pitting, and one has a few areas where the chrome has peeled on the lip. I did lose one of the growler wheel caps on the ride back. The center smoked brake reflector on the passenger side has a crack.

The car handles quite well, and I noticed that it does have KYB Gas-a-just shocks front and rear (thought the four shock rear was kind of cool). It brakes nicely, too. The engine is very quiet, no smoke, no leaks and oil pressure and coolant temps are good (oil reads to the right of the center part of the scale, temp reads smack dab in the middle). Most of the electrical bits seem to work. The A/C blows "cool", so it might just need some refrigerant, and it appears to have been converted to R134a due to the nozzles in the pressure lines.

The biggest issue is that is suffers from the common fuel odor. I notice it most after I have driven the car for a while...if you open the windows with the top up it downright stinks. Plus it does seem to be building in tank pressure as I got a good whoosh when filling up on the trip home.

Unfortunately I am not in the financial position to own this beauty long term. As such I plan to fix up the few imperfections and sell it sometime early next year. I am going to start a thread on the fuel smell issue, as the tank appears to have been replaced (it has a 1994 date stamp on the sticker), plus it looks like it has an in-tank pump. It is not at all like the other tanks I have seen listed on this forum. Oh well!

 

Sorry to hear that your father has felt the need to pass forward his passion, but understand completely, as my dad is in his late 70s, and although in great shape, no longer has a passion for owning a collectible car. Hate to hear you will sell it as well...keep up posted.

 

As the only true car enthusiast among my siblings, I think my dad felt I'd be the one who would appreciate the car the most. I have actually enjoyed driving it, and have become somewhat attached, but the current financial situation of me being out of a job going on a year means that I unfortunately need the cash more than the car. I do plan on getting the car properly sorted, which means I will have some time with it over the winter. With the help of enthusiasts on forums such as this one, performing repairs doesn't seem that daunting (plus I've have experience with BMWs, Volvos, Alfas, VWs, Porsches, so I am fairly decent with the spanners). However, now that I've experienced a Jaguar, who is to say that I couldn't pick up an XJS coupe project later down the road?

 

Hi Petebee

If I were you I would keep her as She is a great looking Car and at least you know what you've got, your financial situation is sure to improve over time and you may not find another Car that's as nice as her

So hang in there!

 

Two birds with one Jag, so to speak--rent it out on Turo or something similar, perhaps? Your car becomes an income source. (Disclaimer: the only thing I know about Turo (or is it Truro?) is hearing Doug DeMuro waffle on about it.)

 

Very nice XJS. I had a 92 convertible in the same flamenco color, but with tan colored top. A great car. New tires would probably improve the ride even more.

Regarding the gas smell, do a search on the forum for the Rochester Valve. It can get clogged or fail and contribute to the problem. It should be located in left front fender. Look for a removable panel in the wheel well, in front of the driver side front wheel to get to it. I would also try to borrow or buy a gas sniffer. Sometimes around $70 on ebay for a used Tiff 8800 model or similar.

If you remove the spare wheel in the trunk and then remove the vertical rectangular plate covering the gas tank (about a dozen bolts or so), you can get to the plumbing on top of the tank. You may already have it apart based on your description. The evaporative loss flange (round plastic bit with vent tubes coming out of it) on top of the tank and the associated plumbing can be the culprit of the odor. After a few minutes with the sniffer, you get pretty good at calibrating it to pick up the heaviest source of a fuel smell. You can do this without moving the tank.

Also, the '92 and later models did have in-tank fuel pumps. As you said, your tank may have been replaced already with a later tank in an effort to address a fuel odor.

 

Thanks Noah. I have a separate thread covering the fuel smell, but most are pointing to that Rochester setup in the front wheel well. I did remove the tank plate in the rear and it appears the tank has been replaced (label has 1998 date code). I am going to replace the Rochester valve as a first step...everything fuel vent hose-wise in the trunk seemed okay visually. I did find a few used Tiff gas sniffers on eBay for cheap, so that will be next route if the Rochester replacement does not solve the problem.