Blew up the car, started smoking after long drive to school and I turned off the car. Turned it back on after inspecting the engine and it blew up. Gonna need new fan, new radiator, belt and god knows what else. Here is picture. At least 20 people swarmed the car after loud pop.
Any apparent physical damage ? Other than the splat of oil on the asphalt?
Ouch!
The only physical damage is a large tear in the radiator and a scrape on the belt, but apart from that thankfully nothing else.
Is that a piece of the yellow fan I see?
Did the fan blade break apart causing this?
Yes, indeed that is a part of the fan.
Yellow fan known to break after aging. Most likely the cause. Hole in radiator and possibly other shrapbel damages in engine area are the effects.
There’s been discussion on the forum if replacing yellow fan is really necessary. For $75 and an hour of work, i say yes.
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I still have original yellow fan in my 90 with 104k miles. Gettin a little nervous. Who sells the best replacement fan? Hope that your repair goes easy.
I just hit 101k. I’m now scared for you. And as for replacement I bet either eBay or a junkyard may help. At least that’s what I’m gonna do for parts.
(For my 1988 with yellow fan) I purchased the new and improved black fan, make Eurospare, from FCPEuro, but it’s available elsewhere. Paid $80.
While replacing, I went ahead and replaced the fan clutch. Hayden 2665 is a good make and fits perfectly. $35. Car stays nice and cool with mechanical fan on it’s own. Aux fan rarely comes on.
I also replaced the four nuts holding fan/clutch to pulley, got grade8 so they’re easier to turn without stripping (as you can only get open end wrench on them) Don’t forget the antiseize!
And regarding black fan, it’s EBC4553. Some websites (like FCPEuro) claim it’s for 1993 and up. That’s because it was improved for those years, and then became the replacement for the older V12s.
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For sure… I had one look at the yellow fan i removed from my 83 and tossed it in the garbage. never to harm anyone or beast…
Kirby’s book, page 214:
PLASTIC FAN CRACKING: Issue 68 (June 1996) of Australian Jaguar Magazine: “Graham Cummins has recently found that the main plastic fan on the H.E. is prone to cracking and breaking up which can cause immense damage under the bonnet.” Any guesses as to how Mr. Cummins discovered this problem? Are you gonna find it the same way? Mark D. Stoner did. “My yellow fan decided to explode one day when shifting at full throttle from 1st to 2nd gear. Put a nice dent in the top of the hood along with shredding the steel fan shroud and blowing a huge hole in the radiator.” Lee Opausky wrote: “Yes, the yellow plastic fan is cracked at the front. When questioned, the shop foreman of one prominent Jag dealership told me not to worry, the crack on his XJ-S is ½” wide!” More proof that you can’t trust the dealers for good advice. Jim Isbell ordered a replacement fan, and reports that the fan he was shipped did not look like the original. “It is black and has a flat center metal piece. The old one was white (now yellow) and the center piece was dished. The old one had a lower aspect ratio (short and fat) to the blades while the new one has the higher aspect ratio (long and skinny). The black flat one makes up for the “dishing” by offsetting the plastic instead.” With any luck at all, this means that Jaguar has recognized the problem and redesigned the fan, and this new one won’t have cracking problems. By the way, some of us believe the original fan was yellow to begin with, not white.
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The fact that this isn’t an isolated incident Is terrifying
Recommended reading is Kirby Palm’s book; there are other safety related concerns specific to the XJS, such as all fuel hoses (risk of fire), Marelli ignition, etc. Read it before you drive! Remember that the newest XJS is 25 years old…
The V12 definitely has a lot of pitfalls, which is why most people, collectors, and even mechanics, avoid them.
But addressing these through Kirby’s book, and keeping up with the forum here, the V12 can be a very very dependable engine.
shaguar, SO sorry to see this. What a beautiful car you have. Hang in there it’s worth fixing IMO.
I’m in the process of doing all of the above right now to my 88. Yellow fan is cracking. WOW so dangerous.
Did you high rev the motor while parked as in photo. I just changed my fan and clutch… just like gregma described… No junk yard stuff for that … Cheaper in long run to buy new… my 88 has only 46000 miles… But age is the problem with the plastic fan
Will do, have yet to get around to it. Have been told it is the XJS bible.
Yeah, we were looking at the pieces of fan that came off and the had cracks in them, so did some on the fan. Was only a matter of time, would definitely get yours done if your seeing cracking, now I’m not an expert by any means, just talking from experience.
