Pleasantly surprised by the sophistication of the adjustment but how the hell do you access the adjustment nuts? Both the nuts on the threaded screw are 9/16ths but strangely the trunin bolt seems to be 10mm.

I have tried with every spanner in my kit but cannot get to the inner nut, that applies the tension, in a way that allows me to adjust it. I am tackling this job from above as I cannot get at it from below.

Any ideas please.

 

From memory, doing it from underneath is so much easier. Just jack the car up a bit and it's accessible that way. Also, from memory, you can only adjust the thread a small amount on each spanner turn. So, it's a bit time-consuming.

Good luck

Paul

 

Thanks Paul. I found a Youtube video for an XJ6 which showed that method. I will try to get my low profile trolley jack under but the car is too low to do that at the front and space is restricted. will have to wait until the snow has gone before trying again.

Regards

Roger

 

Your memory is working very well apart from it being a bit time consuming. I would say very time consuming and uncomfortable unless you are a double jointed midwife!! All sorted now but now realise the noise is not the alternator belt slipping but the fan blades hitting the shroud!

Thanks for your advice.

 

Glad you got it done!

However, if the fan blades are touching the top of the shroud, do not drive the car!

If you have the original yellow fan, then you need to change it anyway. The original were prone to getting stress cracks where the blades meet the centre part of the fan. If the fan touches the shroud, it induces great stresses on the fan blades and is likely to shatter them. If a fan blade lets go, it can make a huge mess of the engine bay and even punch its way through the bonnet.

The common reason on the six-cylinder cars of the fan touching the top of the shroud is a worn gearbox mounting. This allows the front of the engine to rise.

I'd strongly suggest that you check the gearbox mount, and definitely change the fan anyway as it will now have stress wear from hitting the shroud.

Cheers

Paul

 

That adjustment is one of my memories seared into my brain from c.1988 on a '76 XJS I used to own.

A much simpler, less complicated adjustment could have easily been incorporated (using only one or twp parts instead of 12 parts or so), but IMO, if was made complex to give more work to the engineers, manufacturing and assembly people and repair mechanics, to help lighten the wallets of the vehicle owner.

Doug

 

BTW, if you remove the fan, fan shroud and radiator, the adjustment is much easier.

Doug

 

Doug,

On a six-cylinder car that the OP has, you really don't want to start dismantling fan, rad etc. It's just a job you do from below, a bit of a fiddle but it's OK.

Paul