Long Christmas holiday down this part of the world.
Time for maintenance on my 3 Jags.
First up is the 88 convertible at 131,00km. I bought it in 2007 at 118,000km so have not used it much but never let it sit idle for long. The PO had some questionable work done on it but it was running OK. The fuel tank leaked but that was the only major problem that needed fixing. Otherwise I just did the usual routine things on engine and body that takes care of things the PO might not have done.
I had a list of routine items to go through including brake fluid purge, thermostat check, coolant purge and so on. I keep the engine reasonably clean, but not up to Paul Novak’s pristine standard. Clean enough to see all the important accessories and wiring if something goes wrong, hate working on dirty engines.
Traced it back to where the PO or his butcher had been at work. The mystery throttle cable was the original still poking thru the bulkhead but obviously not connected to the pedal. It must have broken and perhaps they thought it too hard to remove thru the bulkhead. So they left it and hacked a hole in the bulkhead just below the bonnet catch for a new cable.
One day I will sort that out and blank off the hacked hole.
Next thing was to figure out removing the PO’s alarm which did not work anyway. However it had dozens of wires attached and it might be problematic if the wiring + alarm still had an interlock function which interfered with car operation once removed. Luckily on removing the plugs from the alarm it seems, so far, that all is O.K.
I will cut that lot back and cover with heatshrink.
Final effort will be interior clean, polish and leather treatment. Then exterior wash, canuba wax, tire clean and all the other cosmetic attention to detail.
Then to enjoy summer driving in a car that always invites attention ( envy ? ) from the great unwashed who probably think they cannot afford one. Just kidding - if only they knew how cheap an old Jag can be to own with a bit of luck and good maintenance.
Not a throttle cable, that’s the cruise control cable / you’re missing the bellows et al in the valley behind the A/C compressor. Best left alone, the cruise system is a massive vacuum leak waiting to happen.
If you’re driving an XJ-S long distance enough to warrant using the cruise, you’ve selected the wrong car for the trip
Also, the vacuum line for B Bank’s fuel pressure regulator is unhooked, which means the car is running super rich - circled on pic. That FPR runs the show, so you want it hooked up asap.
Richard, I am not familiar with anything except my 95 6.0 v12, LHD coupe.
Having said that, I can’t help but wonder if that cable tucked away there is supposed to connect the right hand bonnet release mechanism over to the left? I can’t see that there is connection. On my car, even though it is left hand drive, the two release mechanisms are connected and release in concert.
Well spotted Jeff.
True the engine runs noticeably rich when both cold and at idle, not so much otherwise.
I will fix that soon as I look up where the missing hose attaches to manifold.
There are a couple of other temperature activated vacuum switches on the water rails with no hose connected. Since the engine runs pretty well I guessed they were either not essential outside of California type emission requirements or just not mandated for sale of the car in Australia.
I never bother using cruise control on any car, and the convertible did not have it when bought. Still puzzled about the hacked hole in the firewall for the “real” throttle cable.
Dead simple fix. You can see in the photo that you marked the end of the hose close to where it should be located on the thermo switch spigot.
This illustrates one drawback of the V12. I had done a number of maintenance things spread over 3 days, and finally I eyeballed the engine bay to check I had put everything back. There are so many hoses, connectors, bolts and screws, and sundry items to check it is not hard not to miss one.
