Well I jumped right in and I’m making progress on my wife’s new 1990 XJS
(V12, Marelli, 65K miles). You might recall that her new car (1990 XJ-S )
failed the CA emissions test in 2001, spent 4 years in Florida where there
are no emissions tests and then showed up in Arizona where I purchased it
through ebay. When the car failed the AZ emissions test (failed HC, failed
CO, passed NOX), I negotiated a better price with the seller and bought it.
I drove the car back to CA after changing the oil filter and oil, then
changed the air filters back in CA. Now, after 3K miles of driving I have
found this car to be very sound. The idle remains smooth, and it used only
2 qts of oil in over 3K miles of driving. I have fixed most of the
electrical problems (bulbs, wiring, grounds), replaced the bonnet struts,
and I am now getting ready for the CA emissions test which I must pass
before the end of April.
I “cleaned out the vee” this weekend, pulled the plugs and ran a compression
test. All 12 cylinders were plus or minus five percent or so of each other
ranging from 185 to 205 PSI. I’m not confident of the absolute numbers as
the XJ-S battery started to lose power after the first 5 or 6 cylinders and
I wound up using jumper cables from another running car to get the last 6.
The engine was cold (how can you possibly do a compression test on a hot
V-12, it take a while to clean things out!!)). So I am pleased with the
overall trend of the numbers, although the absolute values are a little
suspect.
The plugs came out relatively easily, had light tan deposits and the gaps
were 0.025 to 0.028 inches. I removed the fuel injectors and they are in
the shop now for a clean, spray and flow test, and filter change. The fuel
hoses were original as evidenced by the tag saying “1990”, so they will all
be changed out next (one cracked hose was changed immediately upon return to
CA). Next I plan to replace the two Oxygen sensors, install two new 88
degree C thermostats (for a warmer, possibly leaner burn) and gaskets,
change out the fuel filter, install 12 new NGK BR7EFS plugs gapped to 0.035,
change the oil and filter and take it in for the CA emissions test. I have
been using fuel injectors cleaner and Chevron Techron 91 Octane gas.
My hope is the old gas, dirty oil, dirty air filters, cooler thermostats,
old O2 sensors, improperly gapped old plugs all added up to the past failed
emissions tests. At this point I don’t plan on changing out the wires,
distributor or rotor. Should I?
I’ll let you all know how things progress.
Did I forget anything?
Regards,
Paul Novak
1969 E-Type FHC
1984 XJ6 SIII Vanden Plas
1990 Classic Collection XJ-S convertible
1957 MK VIII Saloon
Ramona, CA
@Paul_M_Novak1----- Original Message -----
From: “Paul M. Novak” <@Paul_M_Novak1>
To: xj-s@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 10:04 PM
Subject: Re: [xj-s] New XJS owner, 1990 Classic Collection XJS convertible
{Scanned}
The 1990 Classic Collection XJS convertible (Signal Red/Doeskin) that I
won on ebay last week is now home in my garage. I flew out from San
Diego to Phoenix on Friday, met with the ebay seller, carefully examined
the car from top to bottom, took the car to a Phoenix area Jaguar Dealer
for a “pre-purchase inspection”, then to an Arizona smog test station.
Some “issues” came up with the car, but the seller was reputable and
quickly acknowledged the need to renegotiate the price because it turned
out that it wasn’t exactly as stated in the ebay advertisement. The
primary issues being inoperative air conditioning (low refrigerant) and it
failed the HC and CO smog tests (but not by much) but did pass the NOX
test nicely. Before the smog test I noticed that the air filters were
filthy, the oil was obviously very old and low, and I believe the gas was
also very old and the fuel tank nearly empty.
With the help of Mark Stephenson (Phoenix area Jaguar enthusiast
extraordinaire) and his outdoor lift, I changed the oil (wow, 10.5 qts!!)
and oil filter, changed a tire due to a slow leak (a nail), inspected the
undercarriage thoroughly and was soon ready to drive the car home. We
celebrated the purchase at a local restaurant and Mark drove one of his
many Jaguars (a 1987 XJ6 VdP)
I used 17.1 gallons of Chevron 91 Octane Premium on the 350 mile trip from
Phoenix to San Diego and got 20.5 MPG at an average speed of 62 MPH. This
drive was by intent restrained as it was a new car with unknown history,
and I was anxious to see what the fuel consumption was on a long highway
drive. The trip computer was remarkably close to the same numbers. The
idle is very smooth and the transmission shifts nicely. There’s plenty
of power (when compared to my 4.2L XJ6) and the car is very quiet,
especially noteworthy because it is a convertible. I added some fuel
injection cleaner to the gas before the drive home and again when I filled
up near the house.
You will soon start to see my questions as I work through my issues. But
for now, I’m just very pleased to have completed my search and obtained an
excellent example of these beautiful cars.
This car was a present for my wife and needless to say she was absolutely
thrilled to drive the car when I returned home with it this afternoon. I
do suspect that she will let me drive it from time to time.
Regards,
Paul Novak
1969 E-Type FHC
1984 XJ6 SIII Vanden Plas
1990 Classic Collection XJS convertible
Ramona, CA
@Paul_M_Novak1
----- Original Message -----
From: “Doug Dwyer” dougdwyer@adelphia.net
To: xj-s@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: [xj-s] New XJS owner, 1990 Classic Collection XJS convertible
{Scanned}
Looks like you found a good 'un, Paul. Congratulations. This car will
seem a
bit intimidating at first, compared to your XJ6, but you’ll quickly
adjust
(trust me) and find ownership to be very rewarding.
Doug Dwyer
Longview, Washington USA
1987 Ser III XJ6
1988 XJS V12
From: “Paul M. Novak” <@Paul_M_Novak1>
I was the winning bidder on a 1990 Classic Collection XJS convertible
today on ebay, auction #4515491731.
I had a lot of help and encouragement from three Phoenix listers, Rob
W-M,
Mark Stephenson and J. Rick (Smitty) Smith.
// please trim quoted text to context only