My car, an early series 1 with chrome instrument bezels was originally registered in Italy. There is a green lamp set into the aluminium centre panel behind the left hand ashtray and level with the cigar lighter socket. I have the drivers manual but the UK version and I can’t find any reference to it nor work out what this lamp is for. It’s illuminated when the key is turned to run and as far as I can tell never goes off, It is quite bright and meant to be seen. Does anyone know what it is supposed to be for? Short of dismantling the console to trace the wire I can’t think of how to find out;
Ian,
Jaguar never installed anything like that green light on their production XJ6s or XJ12s. It must be something that a prior owner had installed, probably some kind of aftermarket security system. If you want to find out what it is you will have to disaasemble the console and see what you discover inside.
My 1984 XJ6 Vanden Plas had an aftermarket security system installed when I got it. It had a small red blinking light on the two upper front door panels, a movement sensor, and a horn inside the engine bay. I removed all of it, (as well as a mobile phone) and the all the questionable wiring from the car after experiencing random electrical issues.
A guess from way out. A PO was very “hard of hearing”. Could not tell when the great DOHC was running. A look and the green light assured him, indeed, the cat was purring…
Paul:
Yes, I removed a really crude one from my Jaguar.
My Jeep has the remnants of a car phone under the passenger front seat. So far, no harm. Oh, I left the little curly wire antenna on a rear window for no good reason!!!
Many listers have solved electric issues by removing poorly installed “alarms”
The one that blast the horn always perturbed me. irritating and ineffective…
I do not. I’ve owned 71 and 73 USA versions and that spot was unoccupied, but there is an embossed circle marked, exactly symmetric with the cigar lighter, as you indicate.
I fit an intermittent wiper control at that location–it’s a good place to put something.
from your description I’d exclude any type of anti-theft protection indicator. These are typically red - to deter - and are turned on only, once the engine is shut down and the car is locked.
Italian cars came frequently as low-spec 2.8l manual cars. So your car might have seen a dealer installed A/C the function of which is indicated by the green light? A PO using the car in Switzerland and forced to use the low beams during day time may have added a green and obtrusive control light to be reminded of the lights when parking the car outside during daytime - it is badly necessary … ask me where I know … or he might have construed a negative oil pressure light - hence in green and operating as long as the engine is running and providing sufficient oil pressure …
At the end of the day you’ll probably have to lift the console cover. The good thing is that it really isn’t overly difficult …
Good luck
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)
Other extras may include a hidden amplifier for the stereo indicatorchanged the setup of the low beams to come on with ignition
Our car has this hole as well. The striations in the aluminium give way to a flat circle with a hole in it. I used it for the fan speed controller on my retro fit A/C. I think it may have been used to run the radio ariel in the distant past. Paul
Thanks all for the suggestions. The car is and always has been a 4.2L according to the heritage certificate and has factory fitted AC with the York compressor which is still working though wheezy after fifty years. There seem to be no mods to the lighting set up nor any sign of an alarm system though it may long agao have been removed. Everything electrical works as it should except for the handbrake warning lamp which I’ll look at soon.
It looks like I have some wire tracing to do to solve this puzzle…
Well I found out what it does, it tells me if the fan is switched on, I assume that was something a PO put in because of the instruction in the operating(p28) and service manuals that states that the aircon system must be turned off when stopping the engine by turning off both the aircon B switch and the fan. The fan makes so little noise, and consequently doesn’t move much air in the low position that it’s difficult to know it is on. I assume if you don’t turn off when stopped the compressor clutch may remain energised. I will check the circuit to find out if that is the case.
I thought it might have been wired to show when the solenoid operated starter carb was energised but no, its is definitely part of the fan setup.
**
It would be normal to have separate control of the AC and fans, Ian. But it would be unusual to require the AC to be turned off with ign ‘off’ - normally the AC/compressor and fans would be unpowered with the key ‘off’…?
However, the compressor clutch is normally powered whenever the AC is 'on - and dimensioned for continuous operation. Using the fans to cool the AC clutch if the AC is left ‘on’ when stopped would be a rather crude solution compared to an ign key relation…
In the early cars the AC was fitted as an option so who knows…
This feature might well have been added by a PO due to the nature of the S1 fan control. The AC knob left of the radio controls an adjustable Ranco thermostatic switch. At full left, the power to the compressor clutch is off. When the switch is advanced to the right, a thermostat sensing the evaporator coil temperature turns the clutch on until the the set temperature is reached, then turns the clutch off. In operation, the clutch cycles on and off. The fan control switch is (mostly; see below) independent and used for both AC and heat.
By 1971 at least, Jaguar fitted a microswitch to the Ranco switch that operated from a cam attached to the switch’s shaft. The microswitch was in parallel to the “low” setting of the fascia-mounted two-speed fan switch. This assured that at least the low fan speed was switched on whenever the AC compressor was powered (Ranco switch advanced past “off” position). The reason was to prevent evaporator freeze up which could occur if the AC was in operation with no air blowing through the evaporator.
But on a cool day, even if the thermostatic switch is not fully rotated to the left (off position) the compressor will not cycle on, so a driver might not bother to ensure that the AC is off. In this case, the fan will be on even though there is no AC and even though the fascia switch says the fan is off–this might be why the warning light was fitted. It’s also possible that the light is wired to show AC clutch cycling–an excellent way to check on AC operation. In your testing, the fan being on might be merely a concomitant of the compressor clutch being engaged.
BTW, in 1972 the circuit was changed so that the Ranco switch by itself selected a fan speed that is slower than “low” set by the fascia switch. So, in AC mode but not heat mode, there are three fan speeds available.
Tanks for all the info. On my car the fan switch only seems to switch on the aircon compressor clutch, the switch on the thermostat control being either non existent or inoperative. The car is a January 1969 build and looks like the aircon was built in from the factory. It is working though the compressor is noisy and the high pressure outlet is very cold, not insulated and right next to the exhaust manifold. Next job will be to insulate it in some way and maybe add a heat shield to increase the efficiency. I suspect I will be updating it later in the year so yes Paul, I would be interested in pictures of how you did yours. My email address is we3@vanuatu.com.vu
