Greg,

Thanks. I'll be off to the electrical supply store later today. Such strange little gremlins on these cars.

 

Good, I hope it does the trick. the overall diameter of the wire, including the insulation does not need to be more than 2 or 3mm.

 

Update:
First the good news. Drove the car 100 miles today without a hint of an issue with the motor, brakes, steering.
Engine temp read two full bars below the bottom of the N while driving, it climbs up a bit when stopped.
Oil reads right below 50.
Gas gauge works but not sure if the low fuel indicator light is working. More on that in a bit.
Battery reads one bar width above the 13 - mark.
Mirrors, door locks, interior lights, windows all working as designed.

Buuuttttttt.....................

Now the bad. Little electrical gremlins for the most part but the vehicle will not pass safety inspection until most are fixed. Hence my sense of urgency.
Left turn signal blinks once and then quits.
Windshield wipers not working but washer fluid does.
Speedometer not working. Had been working intermittently (some days yes, some days no) but did not show any life all day.
Trunk lights not working but bulbs have been replaced
No sign of life from the blower motors. (They must work for defogging to pass inspection)
Radio mast would not retract all the way. it may just need some lubrication on the mast.
Radio is working but not locking on to signals from either AM or FM stations. have I missed a connector somewhere. CD player works find and speakers are clear and crisp. Journey at 80 on a gorgeous day is a good start.
And finally, stopped for some gas and afterwards fuel odor was very strong. It had been present before but after putting 7-8 gallons in it was noticeable even in the cabin while driving with the windows open. All new fuel system components installed last May. Do I have a vapor recycling issue? I have NO leaks but the fuel odor was strong enough to make my friend comment about a potential safety issue.

I took some pictures of the kitty and will try to post in a bit once I fiddle with downloading from the new phone.

 

Going back to square 1.

Step 1. Replace all fuses in the Main box
Must get wipers, turn signal working.
Try to trace out why trunk (boot) internal lights are not coming on.

Step 2. Address speedometer. It must work all the time. I think Warren mentioned something about fluid in something connected to the transmission as a possible culprit.

Step 3. Replace all fuel venting hoses and fuel line hoses in trunk.
Replace gas tank insulation/cushioning pad.

Step 4. Pull climate control panel and begin trace out of entire system electric connections, fuses, relays, diodes, etc...
Pull blower motors/ fix or replace.

Antenna mast retracted with some silicon lubrication.

One final item I forgot to mention. The transmission kick down did not work while out on the highway yesterday. Switch on the throttle pedestal seems fine. Besides the fuse where else should I check to see if functioning?

 

Hope these pictures come through

 

Those Pics deserve to go in the 'What XJS Related Photo Section'

She sure is a really great looking Car.

 

Looks sharp!

 

Thanks. I have always thought so....and why its so frustrating not to be able to get her fixed up to be as fit as her pictures deserves.

Working through fuses replacement.

Having trouble finding a store with 35A and a 50A fuse. Went thru and did all the 5,10, 15, and 20Amp fuses in the Main box and under the hood. Replaced the in-line fuses for the trunk lights and the aerial antenna. Trunk lights might be a wiring, not a fuse issue.

Tightened all fuel line hose clamps (and in the journal of Murphy's law) I found one that was not secure which may be the main culprit in my fuel odor issue. Time will tell.

Owners manual indicates that there is a 15A in-line fuse behind the LH cheek panel for the A/C "Ranco" switch. I couldn't find any fuses behind the left hand panel. I did replace the 3A fuse behind the RH cheek panel. No idea what a "ranco" switch is or does.

Moving on to the bizarre. Headlights.

Started car, turned lights on "Low" beam. Right side works, left side didn't.
Cycled switch lever to "Hi" beam. Drivers side came on, both bulbs, passenger side went dark.
Passenger side marker light and turn indicator light come on.
Drivers side marker light and turn indicator light did not.
Fog lights never did come on. Either with Hi or Low beam.

Lastly, there are some discrepancy's on the fuses indicated between the Owners Manual and the access panel charts. For example fuse #9, Owners Manual says a 35A fuse for the wipers, access panel chart says 20A. Fuse #8 says 3A in the manual but access panel says 5A. Forgot to cross check the Aux box panel chart.

I feel like I am pretty close to getting these issues all solved but it is frustrating.

 

The large leaping kitty on the hood was already on the car when I bought it 25 years ago. To remove it would require plugging two sizeable holes. you will undoubtedly notice some detailing highlights on the motor. The Jaguar V112 emblems came off a later model car and were epoxied onto the rib vanes. No issues in 15 years. A little paint here and there for some color, two in line Tebfa radiator coolant filters with the caps painted blue, magnacor plug wires, painted throttle pedestal and capstan, wiper bottle cap and decal, plus painted air intake nozzle caps helped with some personality. I also removed the small cross over pipe and rerouted the hose connections. never a hint of an issue.

 

Go by the access panel or owners manual, took me an hour to find a fuse in my car turns out the ROM location for my year was incorrect and my owners manual had the correct location.

Auto fuses (the plastic spade types) are very reliable and rarely fail without good reason. So I wouldn't worry too much about replacing them. The fuse holder is another story and these do cause issues, the spade terminals inside the fuse holder push back and/or become loose, these need addressing.

A fuse in a loose connector can work for a while until it gets warm then fail, I had this in an electric scooter where the fuse was not in the spade but down the side. The scooter worked until you went up a hill and then stopped.

Wipers work directly off the wiper switch, fuse is 15A #9 in main fuse panel. I would suspect wiper switch first.

Get the wipers working or at least find the problem before you move onto the next issue. You can then tick them off.

 

Warren, you lost me with the first part. "Go by the access panel or owners manual, took me an hour to find a fuse in my car turns out the ROM location for my year was incorrect and my owners manual had the correct location."

My car does not have any of the plastic spade type fuses, they are all the glass tube/wire style. The spade style came a few years later.

 

I could not find a fuse - ROM said it was in the Aux fuse panel under the glove box but my owners manual said it was in the engine compartment, which is exactly where it was.

Ok I get it I made the incorrect assumption an 87 would have auto fuses not glass........... Replacing them is a good idea.

When you've done the fuses, work on the wipers and get them going. Then move on to the lights, etc etc. If you work this way then you have a better than average chance of fixing everything once and for all.

I have been fixing electronics all my life and working through each fault one at time is the ONLY way to approach multiple issues like you have, otherwise you will be chasing your tail until you luck on a fault.

 

Fuse Conversion Chart






The Ranco thermostat and fuse is behind the RH cheek panel. It's an inline fuse clipped to the side of the main climate control case, on brown and brown/yellow wires.

Behind the LH cheek panel is an inline fuse on the black ground wire for the climate control amplifier.

The above "assumes" you have the Delanair Mk II climate control. If you have the later Mk III system then all bets are off. The circuits and fuses are all different, and you won't have a Ranco thermostat/switch at all.

(The Ranco switch/thermostat, by the way, cuts the compressor circuit in the event of the evaporator icing up)



Cheers
DD

 

Not that Warrjon's advice needs any backing-up from the likes of me but his is very good advice for any and all of your electrical problems.

One problem at at time.

In many, many cases on these old cars simply cleaning and/or tightening relevant wiring connections and grounds will restore proper operation of whatever circuit you're working on. If not....

Use the diagrams and a test light or meter simply begin, in most cases, by verifying power and ground...and go from there. That majority of the electrical architecture on these cars is simple "power and ground" circuits.

Whenever you're working on any part of the car and happen across a ground point, take 10 minutes to clean it. Eventually you'll catch all (or most) of them and you'll be preemptively solving a lot of the much ballyhooed "Lucas, Prince of Darkness" problems

Cheers
DD

 

"Seems fine" isn't very reassuring


First, are you sure that the switch is closing? The system is design to close the switch only with the throttle 100%-plus open. That is, after the throttles are fully open the cable has an extra bit of travel to actuate the kick down switch. Have a helper mash the throttle pedal right down to the floor while you observe the switch. A little 'bump thingy' on the throttle cable should press against the lever arm of the switch, thus operating the switch and closing the kick down circuit.

Does it?

If not, adjust the switch. Tiny, tiny screws must be loosened. The adjustment is self-apparent.

With the key 'on' you should have 12v on one of the wires to the switch (I can't remember which one, offhand). Check with your test light. With the switch closed you should have 12v on both wires.

The wire from the kick down switch goes down to a connector on the LH side of the transmission. Is the connection secure?

If all of the above checks out OK then you might have a dead kick down solenoid in the transmission.

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks Doug, Warren,

All the main fuse box (except the 50A) and engine compartment fuses have been replaced and have a liberal coating of dielectic grease on them. Square relays above aux fan also have grease coating on the spades now. The headlights are now working properly but still need some work on the drivers side parking lights although the turn signal light does work now. Still no joy with the fog lights.

From everything I 've read and looked at I have the Delanair Mk III system in my car so this means there is no "Ranco" switch. I found one in-line fuse on the passenger side "cheek" panel. 3A.

I found some 25A and 35A fuses tonite at an older style parts store. Very refreshing. Still need a 50A for the blower motors. The Lucas fuse looks OK but of course no way to tell for sure.

Front drivers side parking lights are next to be followed by the wipers.

Almost forgot.....opened the trunk this evening and the fuel odor was noticeably less pungent. No entirely gone but dramatically less intense.

 

My '89 has wiper and AC blower problems. Wiper is likely the motor-they rot away due to exposure to the elements; Assuming you have power at the motor when you test...best solution is get a rebuilt one from engel imports. cost is like $300

AC blower the most likely problem is the AC ECU. It's on the passenger side where the console meets the dash and looks like piano keys. Pull it out, get the part number, then find another used one. Should cost about $50 from a breaker

 

Greg, All,

Is this the black plastic piece with three white wire connectors clipped into it? held in place with the small nuts and screws?

 

The climate control ECU for the MkIII system looks like this

http://www.galaxyusedautoparts.com/i...s/dbc12229.jpg

Cheers
DD

 

If you are going to test the ecu Brad it really needs to be done in the car, at least it needs to be plugged in. If you are removing it, it is held in place by two small self tappers, not nuts or bolts or the sockethead fasteners you might see. The two screws are not easily seen nor got to.
One of them secures a slotted tab so only needs to be loosened not totally removed.
I can take a detail pic of a spare l have showing screw locations if you need to remove it.