Right now I am a Volvo guy with three Volvos - '97 850R sedan, '97 850 wagon, and '12 C30. (yep, I love my 5 cylinder turbos) I’ve always thought the XJS was a beautiful car, and would like to add one to my ‘fleet’.
I do all my own DIY mechanic work at home, so I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty, and am actually intrigued to work on something like a V12 and inboard brake system.
I’ve zeroed in on exactly what I want, a 1989-1991 V12 - anything but white or red. It would be a hobby car, I don’t want to restore anything, mainly want something in good shape that just needs a lot of TLC and maintenance.
Not sure about hardtop vs convertible.
Any advice while I’m looking would be appreciated. I live in the NW near Seattle.
If you haven’t already, check out BAT (bringatrailer.com). They just had a nice 83 go for a steal at $7350 on 5/30 that probably would have fit your liking. I would have bid, but the wife won’t let me have 2…
I guess some questions - buying a 89-91 is Lucas ignition? Which is better than Marelli? Or not? Is a 1986-1988 OK, or will there be many more issues.
I should def pass on XJS’s that have been sitting in storage for 10 years, how about 2 years?
How easy is it to do a compression check on the V12s? Can I just bring along my spark plug wrench and compression gauge, pull the ignition wire and fuel pump fuse, and check compression that easily?
Thanks, and I can’t believe how active this forum is, a great resource if I ever own a Jaguar.
Ohhh…here come the intricacies of the V12 beast !
You would have to remove the compressor to access the front plugs and the throttle tower to access the rear ones, and you need a thin and long wrench (normally provided with the car from the factory).
The middle ones are easier, unless they are stuck of course.
Definitely not a ten minutes job…
Fuel pump though is easy, you just disconnect it.
Download Kirbert Palm’s XJS Help from this site, it will answer all your questions and much more.
I think the changeover from Lucas ignition to Marelli was 1989. The Lucas system is generally considered to be more reliable, although it too has a few quirks. The longer the car has been sitting around, and in what conditions, will determine how much “catch-up” maintenance it will need. Cooling system needs to be well maintained, first.
A compression check on the V12 involves some dismantling to gain access to the plugs. The A/C compressor is in the way, as is the throttle tower. I highly recommend that you look at Kirby Palms “Book” which is available free on this site- MUCH information that you need to know!
Nope, different story here… much more intricate design, and repair ease was never a consideration by Jaguar.
But then again, we are talking about a V12, not the simplest of motoring solutions !
Gregma,
I can offer the following in addition to what others have mentioned in their replies…
We have two V12 Jaguars, a 1990 XJ-S convertible with the Marelli ignition system and a 1990 V12 Vanden Plas (a Series III XJ12) with the Lucas ignition system.
A prior owner of the convertible had a Marelli meltdown on the right side bank that destroyed both right side catalytic converters. The car was then sold to someone in FL where there was no smog test so the car was driven with the bad catalytic converters for years until I purchased it. In order for it to pass the CA smog test I needed to replace both right side catalytic converters. While I did that I also did a bunch of routine under hood component removal and replacement (belts, hoses, plugs, wires, etc). That was in 2005 and since then (70K miles) the Marelli system has worked perfectly, the car has always passed the smog test easily every two years (6 times?). The Marelli parts are almost impossible to find, especially the OEM distributor cap and the aftermarket caps have been known to fail (I experienced one such failure).
The 1990 V12 Vanden Plas had a failure in the Lucas ignition amplifier. I was familiar with that failure mode because of my experience with my two Serise III XJ6s, so I had the parts on hand and fixed it within an hour or two. Other than that the ignition system in this car has been trouble free for the 6+ years that I have owned and driven it (12K miles?).
I have done several complete compression checks on my 3 Jaguars with the 4.2L XK engines in well less than an hour. When I do compression checks on my V12 Jaguars it has taken me all day for the reasons given in other posts.
The Marelli and Lucas ignition systems both have their plusses and minuses and I am glad to have one of each to work on. If I were you I would select a Lucas ignition car over a Marelli car given all else was equal between the two cars.
One common recommendation that you will find on this and other lists are to purchase the best XJ-S that you can find and afford. You will likely be much better off in the long run. Don’t think you will save money by getting a fixer upper because you won’t. In addition, learn to do most if not all of the work yourself. Otherwise you can spend a fortune especially if you have the work done by shops that don’t know how to work on these cars and that remove and replace parts unnecessarily as that is the only way they know to troubleshoot.
Cars that have sat for a while can develop lots of issues not necessarily related to the reason that they sat. Let’s say that tge car sat because the fuel pump failed. But while it sat outside the hoses, belts, tires, brake system all deteriorated and mice took up residence in the engine bay and the fuel tank rusted through. You will probably find post with all of these problems and many more listed in the archives.
Yes of course. I will have to get current on Instagram to keep up. Here are some additional pictures. I mostly just want it to go to a good home so I will put it on eBay next week at NO reserve.
Wow, thanks for all the info. That really helps.
So I def prefer the pre-facelift XJS due to the classic rear on the 1991 and prior. I had heard that a lot of improvements were made after 1988, so that’s why I’m looking for 89-91. But then that’s when they introduced the Marelli system, and you say that’s a step backwards over the Lucas? If I did buy a Marelli system and replaced all components for preventative measure, sounds like I’d probably be OK? Or is there a conversion?
Too bad about compression check taking that long on a V12. I can do one on my Volvo T5 in 20 minutes! I would buy an XJS private, so not sure how I’d ask to spend a day working on their car? I doubt most XJS owners would oblige. But I don’t know how you can test drive a V12 and distinguish that only 11 cylinders have good compression.
I agree about spending a bit more money. $4000 vs $8000 seems to be the difference between a well-serviced one and a neglected one.
I have a 1988 V12 XJS and I love it.
Am able to incorporate many up grades that were added to newer pre-facelifts, it is a pleasure to work on and has a great look.
Your main concern for any year should be the engine cooling system, when it is working as designed then everything else becomes easier to maintain.
Don’t blame Jaguar on this one. I don’t know of any v12 that is easy to work on. They are all so big, none of them offer the space that one would like to service and maintain them.
No, in order to access the forward plugs you do not have to disconnect any A/C hoses. You do have to remove the belt and the four mount bolts and then reposition the compressor forward temporarily to do the compression check and the put everything back properly afterwards. There is a lot more to it like removing the cruise control bellows assembly and the coils and throttle pedestal. This is all covered in Kirby’s book and the Jaguar XJ-S Repair Operations Manual (ROM).
