My car has been sitting for 15 years alright. Now, having a second life, I'm slowly addressing all the million issues it has. I'm driving it every day a little. Engine didn't run well. I was planning sending injectors in for check. And replacing the fuel filter is in order. And checking the fuel pressure is planned.
Today something happened. I was light on the gas and revved over 2500, and suddenly it jumped forward like a young Jaguar. Then the coolant temperature dropped. So now I'm guessing it is not fuel issue at all causing poor performance. Ignition was too retarded. I'm wondering why and how the heck it suddenly started working. Now sometimes it jumps forward when revved over 2500 and sometimes it doesn't. Shall I take the distributor apart or there may be some XJ-S specific vacuum issue? I admit I haven't read thru EFI/Ignition manual yet.

 

 

Before I tear the distributor apart, is there a repair kit with new springs and whatnot sold somewhere?

 

Have you looked at Palm's book? It covers this topic extensively, including how to rebuild the distributor.

Thanks,

John
1987 XJ-S V12

 

The springs shouldn't need to be replaced. However, the workings are probably gummed up, so taking it apart and a good cleaning will improve things. Make sure that the vacuum advance mechanism actually moves under vacuum, I bought a new one and the rotating mechanism was frozen in place. I ended up cleaning the old one and reusing it with a new vacuum capsule. Once all the moving parts are clean, I lubricated them with synthetic ATF, to withstand the heat.

 

I put this here as a warning for people who may read this thread in the future.