Hey guys,

I posted a few weeks ago regarding a potential XJS buy. I am finally in town and ran by to look at the car today and will probably spend a couple hours looking over the car tomorrow.

Problems / Oddities :
> I moved the car forwards (while in neutral) and when to apply the hand brake to secure it. It went click click click as I brought it up, then snapped and let loose. Is this the cable perhaps...?
>Also onto the brakes. They are very soft with little pressure. I depress the pedal and it pops up, sticks, then comes up the rest of the way never building break pressure. I have not noticed any leaks, but then again have not scoured it. Brake master cylinder? Also can anyone describe where the reservoir for the brake fluid is please
> Most alarming, the fuel rails seem to be rusty on the outside. Additionally there was a lot of moisture in the engine, on the top and on the underside of the hood. It seemed like oil (darkish liquid). But the inside was very damp and covered with oil / oil-water mixture. The weird part is the car has been stored indoors and has not been run in probably 6 months. Anyone have insight to this? (Engine also smokes some when run, I am not super familiar with these cars but does the oil ever migrate when it has been sitting for a long time?)

> Also are the seat belt motors located in the back panel behind the doors? The seat belts are off, disconnected I assume, and inoperable.

So there are the above problems. Additionally I will look it over tomorrow for more problems, note my concerns, and report back. Also I've tried to search the other threads and internet...when searching for a dropped valve, is listening for a click the best method?

Thank you and sorry for the long post with rambling questions,

-Ben

That would be my guess, yes




>Also onto the brakes. They are very soft with little pressure. I depress the pedal and it pops up, sticks, then comes up the rest of the way never building break pressure. I have not noticed any leaks, but then again have not scoured it. Brake master cylinder?


To be honest I'm not sure if I understand the condition you're describing but if there's no pressure, yes, a master cyl is a possibility




Shoule be right next to the brake boost with a couple hose to the master cylinder



> Most alarming, the fuel rails seem to be rusty on the outside. Additionally there was a lot of moisture in the engine, on the top and on the underside of the hood. It seemed like oil (darkish liquid). But the inside was very damp and covered with oil / oil-water mixture. The weird part is the car has been stored indoors and has not been run in probably 6 months. Anyone have insight to this? (Engine also smokes some when run, I am not super familiar with these cars but does the oil ever migrate when it has been sitting for a long time?)




Not sure about the water in the engine bay and/or on the engine

Not unusual for the V12 to develop oil leaks. I'm replacing cam covers on one right now, if fact. Heavy leak, oil dripping onto the exhaust pipes...and then smokes like crazy



> Also are the seat belt motors located in the back panel behind the doors? The seat belts are off, disconnected I assume, and inoperable.[/quote



Yes, behind the rear panels.

The motorized belts are subject to recall but parts haven't been available for 2-3 years at least....so there's little hope of fixing them if new parts are needed

Are you sure this car is an "87"? The motorized belts were an '88-89 model year thing for the USA cars, starting at about VIN 140xxx

What's the VIN on this car?




More of a clattering. Some click is normal, though....due to valve clearance and fuel injectors.

Cheers
DD

did you buy it? are you still thinking about it? personally, i would buy it in a heartbeat, fire it up, do a seafoam clean, rebuild the master cyl, and bleed the brakes.

ithe brake fluid reservoir is right beside the booster and master cylinder. it sounds like you know a thing or two, and since you cant find the reservoir on your own, i would say it has been removed.

@ Doug ...145934, MFD Date 10/87, so in reality probably an 88 model.
@ m90, no promises yet, but im like 80% sure. Is sea foam advisable? I know on my BMW at least it fouls the 02 sensors... (again not super familiar with the ins and outs of these, which is why I came to the great minds on this forum )

Brake parts are cheap. I replaced literally every single part in my brake system and I think it cost me a total of $700 by ordering everything off Rockauto. 99% sure you can skip on replacing the booster and that saves you over $200 alone. Rear calipers are fiddly but doable on your own in an afternoon. MC and all front parts are easy. The "stick" when the pedal returns may actually be the little wedge-shaped "ramp" that the cruise cancel switch rides up on,mine was worn to the point it would keep the pedal from returning all the way. Doesn't explain the loss of pressure though.

The fluid reservoir is connected to the MC by two short hoses, in about the same place they are on most cars. If missing, you should be able to find another somewhere, but they aren't made anymore. Check Kirby's book for direction on a Mitsu replacement. I can't imagine why it would be missing though.

Before I bought my car I looked at another '88 with super low miles that smoked really badly like you describe. It more than likely is an oil leak dripping on the exhaust. While a lot of oil leaks are a royal PITA and possibly very expensive, they're all down low, so anything that can drip on your exhaust should be fairly cheap and simple to fix. I'd first check the half-moon seals on the front of the cam covers. You might want to check the oil level just in case before running it!

I still think for a grand this car's money well spent at least up until now. Keep going over it and let us know.

theres only a few things that would cause the exhaust to smoke.

running too rich
bad rings
bad valve stem seals
maybe a PCV issue

Depends where the smoke is coming from. Is it coming out the tail pipes or is it coming off the engine and under the car?
Also, who knows how old the gas is in this thing? Sour gas won't burn clean.

Seafoam will kill O2 sensors. if you must use snake oil do it and then replace the O2 sensors. They should be replaced when you get the car anyway.

ive been seafoaming cars for years and have never fouled a 4 wire O2 sensor.

why not just remove them for the seafoam? then screw them back in when the smoke has cleared from the countryside. lol

its not snake oil if you use it properly. it does a great job of cleaning the carbon out of the heads and intake.

doesnt do jack if you put it in your petrol tank.

M90 what is your reasoning for using Seafoam on every car you get?

You can actually use plain water to clean carbon out of heads by pouring it VERY slowly into the intakes. If you've ever pulled apart an engine that blew a headgasket you can tell which cylinder had coolant going into it because it's sparkling clean. The big thing to be careful of when using water is it has to be done very slowly or the engine will hydraulic..and then it's all over by the tears.

Bring the RPMs up and hit it with water. A spray bottle would work nicely. GM also made "Top Engine Cleaner". Not sure if it is available any more or not.

Yup, spray bottle would work. We used to have a small hose with a petcock to plug into one of the vacuum lines on the side of the carb. Bring the engine up to temp and RPM's up to about 1500 and then slowly open the petcock. Engine would die right down and white fog would roll out the exhaust. Worked pretty well too, but didn't clean out the carb, just the valves, head and pistons.

IIRC top engine cleaner requires changing the plugs, oil, sensors, gaskets, etc.

where did you get that from? i never said i used seafoam in every car i get. i didnt use it in my Jimmy, i havent used it in my V12, and i didnt use it directly in any of my supercharged GP's because the chemicals can damage the urethane coating on the blower rotors. my reasoning is that its a very effecient top end cleaner, and its tons safer than pouring water into an 11:1 compression engine! lol

besides, i think i already stated this.
yup.


its also useful for finding exhaust leaks and vacuum leaks, and i have never heard of it fouling out O2 sensors. the only reason i can think of as to how it would damage O2 sensors would be because of the decarbonization going into the pipes.

@ Jamie XJ6, the smoke was off of the engine, not sure which bank. It could be old gas, I'm gonna drain the gas in the tank and restart it & idle it tomorrow when I look at the car. It should be interesting to say the least.

> anyone got anything they wished they had checked before they purchased? I am sure there is a thread out there somewhere which I will also search out...

Thanks!

Ben

i wish i would have taken my car for some WOT runs before i bought it.

If it's coming off the engine and not out the exhaust, then it's just oil burning off the engine. Most likely it's oil that has seeped out the valve cover gaskets, the half-moons or something similar.

Old gas will cause the car to smoke out the tail pipes and run pretty crappy.

BUMP - not buying it anymore. I got a great deal on a Porsche 911 If anyone is interested in the car, for parts or restoration, pm me and I can put you in contact with the owner. I will also list it as a lead in the for sale section. I will still be around though as I will be working on a jaguar kougar replica.

Thanks,
Ben

hes gone to the light side of the force.

Wish I was closer and had the spare cash, I'd snap it up in a hurry!