I am just back from a two week trip to England to see my nieces and some old friends.
Bottom line: the car ran perfectly. As follows:
Mileage: 1,724
Fuel consumption: 21.4 mpg
Fuel consumed: 81 imperial gallons = 362 litres @ about £1.65 a litre = Fuel cost of £598 = US$789.
Average speed for the trip: 51.4 mph
Average speed on French autoroute: 71.2 mph

Incremental cost of using the XJS over the cost of taking our Ford Mondeo:
Fuel used would have been 49 imperial gallons = 221 litres @ about £1.65 a litre = expected Mondeo fuel cost of £364
Incremental cost of having fun in the XJS = £598 - £364 = £232 = US$306. And at my time of life this is the most fun that £232 will buy!

I was and am very pleased with the car's performance. The new starter motor and the AN fittings/PTFE braided hose that I made up to replace the failed aftermarket power steering high pressure hose performed faultlessly.

The one thing that did happen was as follows: on the final three days I had quite a strong fuel smell in the boot (trunk). Now because of the international petroleum situation, I always topped up the car to the very top every time I stopped. When I got home I emptied the boot and looked for the cause. There is an overspill drain in the fuel filler well that drains down and out through a spigot inside the rear LHS wing (fender) in the cavity outboard of the exhaust tunnel. The drain flexible hose is pushed over the spigot which drains out of a hole flush with the body. As shown in this diagram:
https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.../brand/jaguar/



The hose had expanded and was no longer a tight fit on the spigot, so some of the fuel that drained from any spillage in the filler well could accumulate inside the cavity, instead of draining out. New hose fitted and tunnel carpet drying out. Worth checking on any XJS.

 

Hey, Greg, that sounds like it was a great trip, so nice to "stretch the legs" on the XJS. It is certainly no surprise to me or most people here on the forum that your car ran beautifully, it is a testament to your excellent maintenance! Fantastic!
John

 

Greetings Greg,

What a great post to brighten up our day. Amidst faults and hiccups threads, I love a positive story of enjoyment Thanks mate.

Cheers and best wishes,

 

Thanks very much CaT! And here are some photos to prove what fun it was!

Crepe Suzette!


Fine burgundy


Aged owner removes overalls and gets scrubbed up for the trip!


White cliffs of Dover as I drive off the ferry


Waiting at Calais for the ferry


Nieces at the end of their charity walk for Brain Tumour research.

Incidentally, a number of people, old and young, came up to me and said what a lovely car, and were very interested in it. But I saw no other classic Jaguar of any model at all in the entire journey.

 

The extra cost of the fuel is always worth it, in my opinion.

 

Greg,

Great to hear about the trip and see you looking so well! I'm sure the sense of enjoyment you got from bring the XJ-S over contributed to your happy demeanour!

Well done!

Paul

 

20+ MPG on the v12.... that's great to see!

Looks like a fantastic trip!

 

That and the fact that my very generous old friends and nieces bought me or cooked me many wonderful lunches!

 

Yes, great news on fuel for the car . . . but that Louis Latour burgundy seems essential lubricant for the driver!
Looking good mate.

May you enjoy plenty more such wonderful tours.
Cheers and best wishes, Greg.

 

Very nice Greg, good to see that all your hard work and diligent maintenance over the many years that you have owned the car has certainly paid off in a big way.
Interestingly my 6.0L gives me about the same MPG. On a long trip the computer was showing an average of 19-19.5 mpg. When I compared the trip computer with actual odometer and fuel used it showed that the trip computer was off by about 1mpg for the average combined driving figure of 15.5-16.5. I was actually getting better than the computer was telling me and I live in the mountains. So my driving is up and down hills and highway which does the same. Of course I'm not sitting in traffic very much. I'm really happy with the figures I've been getting.
Your overspill drain issue may be the issue I have had of late as well. I will need to be pulling the tank for checking my 1/2 tank issue so what you identified will be something I'll have to check as well.
Thank you for all of your input on many of the issues we may have with these cars. Your experience is invaluable.

Thanks again,
Chris

 

Chris
Thank you so much for your kind words. My own computer is about 10% optimistic on MPG. It read 22.5, so I know that actually the real MPG, which I calculated a few years ago, top up to top up over 1500 miles, is 21 +.

Aren't these cars just fantastic to drive!

 

Looks like it was a great trip!
Iv been getting around 21-22mpg on some long runs in my 86. there such fun to drive!!!

 

I'm running 6 litre /4L80E in my '89 and average 10.4 litres per 100klm. Mostly long trips, only occasional city.

 

Yes :-)


Cheers
DD

 

That is fantastic! in km/litre I got 13.4. Average speed was what? I suppose the lockup top on the gearbox helps a bit too.

 

I made a trip to Glasgow in my '87 5.3 V12 and got 23mpg, very happy with that. I'm about 15 minutes away from a motorway junction so 99.9% of the journey was motorway speed (either 70 or 10mph depending on traffic ).
I also realised, after about 3 hours, I was getting some lower back pain so the seat support wasn't great, but a small, rolled up towel seems to have sorted that.

 

Unfortunately we are generally limited to 100 or 110 kph. Probably 75% of my driving at that speed, occasional "tune up" sessions are possible however by observant drivers. And the lock up definitely helps, barely idling for most part.