Hi gents,
What are some of the best cooling mods you have done to the 71’-74’ v12 E type to have her run and stay COOL?
Has anyone ever changed the oil cooler for something more efficient?
Thanks would love to hear your thoughts on radiators/ fans/ thermostats etc.
Good afternoon James,
I went through my cooling system over 20 years ago, and these are the things that I did at the time that have worked well for me ever since. First up was replacing the OEM fans with a pair of Kenlowe high-volume fans; this system uses an adjustable temperature control that is mounted under the bonnet, and the water temperature sensor bulb is located in the upper radiator hose instead of using the OEM otter switch.
The second thing I did was replace the Lucas tin-can relay with 30-amp Hella relays, one for each fan. Using one for each fan was probably overkill, but I’ve thrown away more bad Lucas relays that I can count, and I wasn’t in the mood to take any chances.
I did have the original radiator cleaned out at the time and that has worked out great, but I’m sure others on here will recommend fitting a new aluminum radiator. I did install a low-pressure overflow tank just to make sure the pressure tank has stayed full, and that has also worked a treat.
Your profile only shows a 6-cylinder E-Type… are you looking to solve cooling problems for your XJ-S?
All the best,
Jay
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If you opt to replace your radiator, you’d be hard pressed to do better than cool cat’s offering:
Mine is awaiting the total restoration to reach that point in reassembly
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Hi James,
When I was refurbishing my '73 I had the radiator recored and I followed Mike Frank’s advice and installed VW fans and motors. Don’t know if you can even find someone to record a radiator anymore but the system works great in the E Type. Don’t know if it would work in an XJS.
Cheers,
LLynn
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The single best thing that you can do for a V12 that hasn’t been sorted in a while is to replace both thermostats. Dont’ test them, just replace them. A bad thermostat can go unnoticed for years, because you have two thermostats but only one temperature sensor.
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Ok… BUT TEST THE NEW ONES FIRST… And know HOW TO TEST them CORRECTLY!
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I had a sIII in California and drove in the heat. I never had a overheating problem, so I suggest you boil the radiator and check the timing and advances in the distributer.
In other words, fix what is rather than add “improvements”.
LLoyd
I’m suspicious of people who don’t like dogs.
But I trust dogs who don’t like people.
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Thank you gents… I’m a new series 3 owner living in Florida and even though it doesn’t have any cooling issues, I want to make sure I stay ahead of it by modernizing cooling system. 
A well maintained system has no issues even in Aussie 40+c climate.
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