still preparing my fog lights operation I noticed that the front headlights are grounded by wires leading to some interesting clamps that are visible upon opening the bonnet.
It is a two-sided clamp held in place by a screw in the centre and the ground wires are fixed as simple push-in contacts. The wires have fixed wire end sleeves and are then pushed into the clamp, it seems.
Now my question: Is the clamp the “Cable clip” (C.34950) referred to on p. 2L02 of the parts catalogue? I wasn’t able to spot that particular ground assembly in the catalogue.
The second question relates to these clamps and the wire end sleeves: as only one side of each clamp is used to accomodate a ground wire and the other one is left free (for the fog lights I assume) I wanted to make use of these as ground connectors. Now what size of end sleeves is required, are they Jaguar specific (no hint in the parts catalogue) or do you simply “adjust” the clamp by the torque of the central screw?
but no, it’s certainly not bullet connectors (the red/yellow wire from the head light wiring loom ends in female bullet connectors, but I interpret the clamp fixed to the body to accept wire end sleeves of some kind. The end sleeves are probably not more than 1 mm in diameter - I’ll take a walk to the garage tomorrow, take a picture and measure …
The first picture shows the right side. The clamp is installed horizontally; only one receptacle has been used and obviously the wire has been torn off. I didn’t have any tools to pry out the remnants of the wire and the central screw is very tight (probably frozen and given the location there is hardly any chance to apply serious force). The diameter of the receptacles might be around 2.5 to 3.5 mm). Still I doubt that a bullet connector would fit.
The second picture shows the left side. Here the clamp is mounted vertically. One of the receptacles has broken off and someone has resorted to an easier solution by squeezing a ground wire underneath the clamp.
As I know the PO removed the bonnet at least once to perform works on the front crossmembers the changes from the original condition may have occurred in the course of this exercise. Could anyone please shed some light on these forgotten parts of our cars and their original state? I’m almost sure now that the clamps are not the wire clamps shown in the parts catalogue as C.34950, as these apply downward clamping pressure whereas the parts in the car seem to hold the wires in place only by the friction.
as I was planning to make a complete write up I’d be happy to document as much as possible - in particular when it comes to the setups intended originally. Just PM me with the scans and I’ll post the pics.
That‘s it. Positive. I’ve seen these somewhere… David
To answer your question you‘d have to measure. If you can’t get it out get a piece of paper down there and make a ‚copy‘ by rubbing your dirty finger over it, so you can measure it easily.
Let me add that OVS have your part number in their price list; and that your lower receptacle must have broken off from the picture.
Jochen,
That part is called an “Earth Connector” by Jaguar. It is Jaguar part number C5204. My 1957 MK VIII has a bunch of them. Two earth connectors are shown in the attached picture, along with the “Sleeve Terminals” used to connect wires to the terminals. To use these you strip the insulation from the ends of the wire leaving copper strands exposed, slide the sleeve onto the wire and drape the copper wire strands over the end of the sleeve. Then the sleeve with the copper strands is inserted into the end of the earth connector. The curved ends of the earth connector will expand to accept the sleeve and wire strands to complete the electrical connection. I didn"t realize that the Series I XJ6s had these kinds of earth connectors.
Very interesting!
I wonder whether they later streamlined this to bullet connectors. Maybe give OVS or another vendor a call and they can look up which kind of part is hiding behind that later part number. Jochen has a Series II, arguably prettier than mine.
If you want to remove it you can stand a chance by using the pozidriv bit on a ratchet and apply pressure via a wooden piece as lever; then slowly wrench it out. Seems like there is enough space and the force should be sufficient. Otherwise hammer a drill bit through and clean the wire out using that. But I‘d redo them if I possible. Nothing can go wrong.
Hi Jochen - As Paul says they’re earth connectors - here is a link to a place in the US that carries them (as well as all kinds of other Bitish wiring stuff). The wire end that goes in there on an XJ6 is a regular ol’ bullet though.
The screw that holds it on is a pozidriv headed machine screw which has probably been chewed up with a regular philips screwdriver. It might still come out easier with a Pozidriv
BTW - no affiliation to the company. love their stuff though
indeed, it must be the earth connectors as shown on Paul’s pic - I’m curious whether I’ll be able to find them and the sleeve terminals. Now that I see the picture I kind of remember a similar thing was used to connect the horn wire to the steering column.
When I get to fitting the fog lights I’ll try to put everything back to the state the car left Brown’s Lane. It won’t be easy though as space is very restricted. Soaking in penetrating oil, some taps on the head of that bolt and a ratchet might do the trick if I manage to put on enough pressure from behind. Thanks David!
the heads look pretty much o.k. - it’s just that they felt like welded in even upon the first attempt … As I didn’t want to chew the heads with my philips carb screw driver I called it a day immediately.
Jochen,
I can’t remember where in the world you are located but if you type “Jaguar C5204” in any search engine you will find the earth connectors for sale. Whoever sells the earth connectors will also carry the terminal sleeves. In the USA SNG Barratt, Terry’s Jaguar Parts and Welsh Enterprises (and others) have them. You should be able to easily find them.
I’m located in Germany, but usually get my Jaguar parts from SNG Barratt as well. I’ve found C.5204 immediately in their online catalogue. No problem about that.
The thing that keeps me a bit more than just surprised is that the part no. list in the parts catalogue doesn’t show this part. The only sleeve I can find is C.12194 (for the steering column connector).
Now I’m wondering whether maybe anyone between 1975 and 2007 made use of the old Jaguar parts bin to resolve a grounds issue for the inner headlights maybe. Unfortunately both the parts catalogue and the ROM do not give any information as to how the wiring harnesses are installed or grounds are connected … that is at least I couldn’t find any bit of information - but I’ve missed other things as well. Maybe though the two connectors aren’t even designed to be in this place …
Jochen,
I agree that it is unlikely that your Series 2 XJ6 came from the factory with that earth connector and that it is very likely that a prior owner or his shop used these bits from an earlier Jaguar or other British car to provide a ground.
Perhaps someone on this list with access to an unmolested Series 2 XJ6 or XJ12 can help with a picture of the grounds in that area.
I have a three Series III cars that I can take pictures of. If you would like me to do that please let me know. In the meantime, if I were you I would not purchase the C5204 earth grounds because I believe that they are not correct for your car and that better ground wire solutions are available to you.
I have to chuckle a bit at that ground connector. No protection from the elements at all. This is where the “Lucas, Prince of Darkness” jokes come from
To be fair I’ve seen just as bad on many other, non-British cars.
FWIW for this type/location of grounds I’ve had best luck with ring terminal. Clean the surface to shiny metal, use a ring terminal with a star/serrated/toothed washer and a fresh screw. Protect with a few dabs of paint, colored or clear. Or, for that matter, just a smear of heavy grease will hold corrosion at bay for years.
Actually, similar could be done with the ground clamp. New sleeves, shiny-clean clamp, shiny-clean surface, and some sort of protective coating.
Connected question, for engine grounds, and anything that won’t be disturbed for a long time, does lacquer work as protection?
These of course are for removal with the bonnet and I‘d grease them.
I thought it a bit Jaguar like. Over elegant engineering…
I’m mostly with Doug as to grounds. Very important. but, protection, more like “a little dab will do ya”. I have two favorites. A “clean” ;lube used in the food industry for their machines and plain old petroleum jelly, aka Vaseline.
Now, I’m wondering !!! A couple of weeks, ago,
My car was at idle as I backed from the garage. then a loud “Pow”. not quite an explosion. A cloud of odd colored gases came out from the engine bay under the car. it quit. A couple of efforts to refire, no go… It sat in the drive for a day or so. son came by and we looked. !!!
It fired right up and sounded just fine.
Confirming evidence. K&N style knock off air filter blown off. It’s bite to fasten a bit iffy. hiccup!!!
