XJR hydraulic brake/suspension woes

Hi guys – I’ve just bought an '89 XJR JaguarSport.

As you know if has the Daimler-type self-levelling suspension.

This doesn’t seem to be working very well, and the fluid pump is pulsing about once every two seconds. I’m getting intermittent warnings about low power fluid, too.

How easy it is to dump this system and convert to the later type with a standard brake servo and non-self-leveling rear suspension?

Any suggestions much appreciated.

David,

Do a search in the XJ40 archives for “Bryan N sls suspension conversion” (magnifying glass icon at top right of this page)where you will find many, many posts on this subject.

I don’t know how good your French is, but this link is a rather good description of what is involved.

http://www.jcsovejag.com/jaguarxj/xj40_slsdepose.php

Whatever you do, make sure you replace the SLS springs with the longer ‘standard / sport’ spring for your model

David …

This picture will give you a quick and dirty look at what you have (highlighted in yellow) and the parts you’ll need to PROPERLY do the conversion.

You’ll need new top mounts #7 (The hole size in the top is different)
New bushings #13,14, and 15
New hard foam donut bushings #5
New springs (you may be tempted to save money and use your old springs, but don’t do it
And of course new shock absorbers (road dampers)

Probably more information on this conversion in the archives than any other subject. So spend a little time
researching and you’ll know all there is to know about the swap.

Thanks guys. Is there anyone who sells a whole kit of parts? If not, where’s the best place to get them in the UK?

David,

Jaguar never sold the parts in ‘kit’ form, only as individual items by part number.

I’m not aware of anyone in the UK who sells “a whole kit of parts” but if anyone offers one - beware!
IIRC some so called “kits” were incomplete in that they did not contain the necessary longer ‘standard/sports’ springs or the new ‘top mount’ and they included ?inferior KYB shocks.
Your best bet would be to find a ‘standard’ rear spring/shock assembly off a parts car from a breaker’s yard although I notice that JDHT Classic Spares do still show some of the parts available brand new (but at Jaguar prices of course!)
https://www.jaguarclassicparts.com/uk/jaguar-xj6-parts/steering-and-suspension/shock-absorbers-and-stop-rubbers/damper-and-spring-rear

Just a quick look on eBay turned this up. I think you can easily beat that price by purchasing the parts separately online or at a breaker yard

One more question – these are obviously the right rear suspension bits, but what about the hydraulic fluid pipe from the engine compartment? Is this removed, during the conversion? Is there a blanking plate for the hydraulic fluid reservoir needed?

David,
From memory, you take the bleed nipple from the ride leveling oil feed over the rear axle (the item shown as ‘purge’ on the first page of that French document) and install it in the solenoid valve block in the hole vacated when you remove the oil feed pipe which runs under the car to the rear suspension.
You can’t blank off the hydraulic fluid reservoir on a pre-Teves car - you need the hydraulic system for brake boost on your '89 car which I assume is pre-Teves?