I’m Bob, 63 yrs old living close to Topeka, KS. I’ve been playing with old cars and motorcycles since I was 15. I have never owned a Jaguar before, but currently have a 71 MGB, 71 Triumph 500 and a 68 Triumph 650- all obviously completely different animals than the XJ40. I recently bought 2 1994 XJ40s at a bankruptsy auction, 1 XJ6 and 1 XJ12. They are very nice cars, but have been sitting a lot, I am currently trying to get them sorted into reliable driving condition fighting some small coolant leaks, occasional no start issues, and just generally figuring out how they operate. They certainly are lovely cars to drive!
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Hi Bob, and welcome to Jag-lovers! You are certainly in the right place for advice, technical info, and moral support (which all DIY’ers, and especially Jag DIY’ers, need at times). I have owned my '94 XJ6/XJ40 since January 2000, so for the last 23 years this month, and have found J-l to be an invaluable resource for maintaining and repairing my beloved car. So much so I chose to become a Patron by donating to the ongoing costs of operating this service. Kudos to the administrators for keeping this going! By the way, XJ40 was the internal Jaguar code name for the fourth generation of the XJ6 models, and the code name for your XJ12 was XJ81.
There is a plethora of information available in the archives and the time spent learning to mine that info is time well invested.
1994 (Sep 1993 build), 197k miles
thanks for the welcome, Mike. I will spend some time doing some research soon. Did not know about the 12 being coded XJ81. I’m including a pic of the literature I recieved with the cars, can you tell me if it is a complete set? Also looking in the V12 section I saw mention of a special spark plug wrench in the tool kit- I see no tool kit with either car, or mention of one in the owners manual. also no mention of simple things like oil and coolant capacities.
Welcome to the JL forum, as Mike has already pointed out the archives should cover almost every problem you are likely to encounter.
The literature you have posted looks almost complete for one car, I’m guessing it will vary from country to country, in my folder pack there are extra booklets detailing the operation of the Radio/CD/Cassette system and some detailing Jaguar UK service centres.
The tool kits are normally stored in the trunk held in place with an elasticated strap on the panel behind the number plate, on others I think it was on a shelf on top of the fuel tank so it might be worth looking to see if you missed it.
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will do. thank you.
You are right Bob, XJ40’s are lovely cars to drive and although different to previous cars you have owned they are actually quite user friendly and not too difficult to maintain and service yourself. I would recommend you buy a workshop manual, its handy as a reference for all the fluid capacities, torque settings etc. I have both the Haynes manual and the ‘Owners Edition’ with the brown cover, both are easy to source, I got mine cheap on E.Bay. In my opinion the brown one has far superior wiring diagrams, much easier to read because they are larger, but to be honest I still have trouble understanding them 
I am so grateful for the help I get on this forum for interpreting them.
Getting the engine management .pdf is also a good idea!
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thank you for sending that, I put it on a thumb drive.