[xk] Jaguar Backpacks!, Lawyer Joke and XK Problems

XK
1

Jim Reminga,
My sides are still hurting from the backpack references. I’m heading out at
lunch to Walmart to get some. If I find any, I’ll report back. My Yugo
backpack from Nordstrom is starting to show it’s age.

Ranting:
I thought the Jaguar Collection meant putting a Jaguar Logo on a five dollar pen
and selling it for $50? (Wow, I’ve gotta have one!) How about that burlwood
cellphone they keep advertising? (Two please.) Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for
everyday items stamped with a leaping cat and marked up to ridiculous/overpriced
levels.

Lawyer joke:
What’s black and brown and looks good on a lawyer?
A doberman pinscher.

XK150 Question #1:
I have a clicking, rubbing sound when I start out from a stop in first gear. It
doesn’t occur when I rev the engine at all. I sounds like a wire dragging on
the ground. When I get up to 15 mph or so it disappears. The gearbox seems to
be okay. I don’t have any problems shifting and no noises seem to be coming
from there. I’ve climbed under the car once and didn’t see anything. I’m
borrowing some ramps this weekend to really take a good look. Any suggestions?
Where should I concentrate my search?

XK150 Question #2:
Saturday ,while driving around with no particular place to go, I noticed the
ignition light had come on and my ammeter was discharging. I made a beeline
towards home but after twenty minutes or so the ignition light went out and the
ammeter was pegged on the charge side. I checked the belt and it appeared to be
the right tension. The car has charged normally since then. I’m paranoid that
I’m about to be stranded. I’ve never had any problems with my charging/starting
system to date. I’m running two 6 volt batteries and I’m still positive ground.
Is this a sign that my generator needs to be rebuilt/replaced? Should I do it
as a way to start eliminating culprits? Are there kits that I can do myself or
is this something best left to experts? Is there something else that I should
be investigating?

Thanks, Listers for all of your help!

David Meek
1961 XK150 DHC
(My whitewalls can’t cause electrical problems, can they?)

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2

RE: Question #1
Check the inner sidewalls of your rear tires.

RE: Question #2
Electro-Mechanical Regulators can have the points stick on one of the
solenoids, which prevents excitation voltage from being sent to the
generator, which, with no excitation voltage, will not put out anything at
all. When the system is using power and there is nothing coming from the
generator, the Ign light will come on and the ammeter will show a discharge
(rightly so as this is a true reflection of exactly what is happening). I
would look at your regulator as the source of the problem. If you decide to
be brave and take it apart, or you decide to put on a replacement, then
before you throw the old one away, you might check the points for pitting
and heat discoloration just to verify that you found the source of the problem.

I wish you lots of luck on this one as intermittent problems are the
absolute WORST to find, and until you do you are never comfortable taking a
long ride.

RE: Whitewalls causing electrical problems
OF COURSE THEY CAN! ITS A JAUGAR WITH A “PRINCE OF DARKNESS” ELECTRICAL
SYSTEM ISN’T IT!!!

We all know that it is an absolute fact of history that the reason the
English drink warm beer is because Lucas manufacturers their refrigerators.

Richard---------------------------------------
At 09:56 AM 10/25/00 -0600, you wrote:

XK150 Question #1:
I have a clicking, rubbing sound when I start out from a stop in first
gear. It
doesn’t occur when I rev the engine at all. I sounds like a wire dragging on
the ground. When I get up to 15 mph or so it disappears. The gearbox seems to
be okay. I don’t have any problems shifting and no noises seem to be coming
from there. I’ve climbed under the car once and didn’t see anything. I’m
borrowing some ramps this weekend to really take a good look. Any suggestions?
Where should I concentrate my search?

XK150 Question #2:
Saturday ,while driving around with no particular place to go, I noticed the
ignition light had come on and my ammeter was discharging. I made a beeline
towards home but after twenty minutes or so the ignition light went out and the
ammeter was pegged on the charge side. I checked the belt and it appeared
to be
the right tension. The car has charged normally since then. I’m paranoid that
I’m about to be stranded. I’ve never had any problems with my
charging/starting
system to date. I’m running two 6 volt batteries and I’m still positive
ground.
Is this a sign that my generator needs to be rebuilt/replaced? Should I do it
as a way to start eliminating culprits? Are there kits that I can do myself or
is this something best left to experts? Is there something else that I should
be investigating?

Thanks, Listers for all of your help!

David Meek
1961 XK150 DHC
(My whitewalls can’t cause electrical problems, can they?)
OF COURSE THEY CAN! ITS A JAUGAR WITH “PRINCE OF DARKNESS” ELECTRICAL
SYSTEMS ISN’T IT!!!

3

David;
I just went thru the same “clicking” sound on a '77 Merc… I was
having a devil of a time finding the noise… it sounded like the ft rt wheel
to me, to a rt ft seat passenger it sounded like the left front wheel…
In the end it turned out to be a front U-Joint… ironically I had
just checked them about two weeks before and both showed to be tight, no
play, etc…
The “give-a-way” is an increasing vibration up thru the speed
range…
On you “Question #2” I look at the regulator and brushes… both
can cause intermittent charging… moste likely the Generator is showing
it’s age.
Non-Jag Lawyer joke:
What have you got when you have a lawyer up to his waist in
concrete??
Not enough concrete…
Charles #677556

4

David,
Nice comments about the Jaguar logo…
Now, regarding item #1, I would check the drive shaft universal joints. #2.
You evidently either had a tempory ground, or your generator brushes were
not contacting the armature. They could be sticking or worn. Good idea to
check that out. You can do that by just removing the band at the rear of the
generator.

Good luck,
Larry J

5

Dave (Meek)

Since you said that the “gen” lite went out and the ammeter showed a
“healthy” charge, I would suspect the cause to be in the
“cutout/regulator” There is a section in the service manual for them…
Essentially they are relays, that is units with electromagnet operated
external contacts. These contacts can become worn, pitted and burned
much like deteriorated ignition points. Unfortunately you cant install a
replacement set of contacts, but you can redress or burnish them to a
point where they function properly. After burnishing which is like very
fine abrasive cleaning you will have to reset the “regulators parameters”
These are specified in text as well. As a matter of course, I would
check all the harness connections from and to both the dynamo (generator)
and the regulator. If nothing seems amiss so far, you can also loosen and
remove the band on the dynamo and visually inspect the innards that are
visible…

Look to see if the commutator is clean and shiny. Its the segmented
copper element that’s about 2 inches in dia. With the engine running and
a friend to watch the dash light, gently giggle the dynamo’s now exposed
parts with a small wooden dowel to see if the “trouble” reoccurs. I
would resort to this if the cause was not the regulator or connective
wiring. If the giggle brings the trouble in and out, the dynamo will
need fixing. It too is covered in the manual.

Routining a dynamo is not too difficult as most frequently troubles lie
in and around the commutator and brushes. I would not think this
attention level necessary however as you said that the charging picked up
to a reasonable level and now seems ok.

Again do let us of the outcome …

Regards and luck
Rick
677342-DHC
673190-Roadster
Somerville NJ, USofA

6

Dave (Meek)

Since you said that the “gen” (ign) lite went out and the ammeter showed
a “healthy” charge, I would suspect the cause to be in the
“cutout/regulator” There is a section in the service manual for them…
Essentially they are relays, that is units with electromagnet operated
external contacts. These contacts can become worn, pitted and burned
much like deteriorated ignition points. Unfortunately you can’t install
a replacement set of contacts, but you can redress or burnish them to a
point where they function properly.

The cut out relay disconnects the dynamo from the battery when the engine
is off. This prevents the dynamo from draining the battery and damaging
itself by sitting connected to the battery. If this happened with a
broken fan belt, the dynamo would act as a motor and be spinning (still
draining the battery, but much slower than when “stalled” by the intact
belt).

Anyway upon starting and when the engine reaches sufficient speed for the
dynamo to supply power, this relay closes (supposed to!) and connect the
dynamo to the car’s electrical circuit. This is the one area to most
likely to be at fault.

After burnishing which is like very fine abrasive cleaning you will have
to reset the “regulators parameters” These are specified in text as well.
As a matter of course, I would check all the harness connections from
and to both the dynamo (generator) and the regulator. If nothing seems
amiss so far, you can also loosen and remove the band on the dynamo and
visually inspect the innards that are visible…

Look to see if the commutator is clean and shiny. Its the segmented
copper element that’s about 2 inches in dia. With the engine running and
a friend to watch the dash light, gently giggle the dynamo’s now exposed
parts with a small wooden dowel (do not use anything electrically
conductive or anything that “sheds or melts” for this) to see if the
“trouble” reoccurs.

I would resort to this proceedure onyl if the cause was not the regulator
or connective wiring. If the giggle brings the trouble in and out, the
dynamo will need fixing. It too is covered in the manual.

Routining a dynamo is not too difficult as most frequently troubles lie
in and around the commutator and brushes. I would not think this fix
would be necessary however, as you said that the charging picked up to a
reasonable level and now seems ok.

Again do let us of the outcome …

Regards and luck
Rick
677342-DHC
673190-Roadster
Somerville NJ, USofA

7

David, I drafted an answer to your ques 2 and completely forgot about
your first…

Do you hear the same wire scraping noise if you try a second gear start?
If you still hear it you might entertain checking the spindle bearing
free play and the condition of the front universal joint (behind the gear
box) If its going bad and is in the process of digesting its rollers it
can sound like someone clearing their throat in reoccurring “hacks” till
their frequency seems to make them disappear. Look too for drive train
vibration that you might tend to blame on a low tire.

I do not know the 150 well enough to comment on specifics but there is a
remote chance that on a start off the line from a stop, that the applied
engine tourque is tilting the engine in its mounts sufficiently far
enough that some rotating part hits something This could be the fan
blade ticking a release cable or wire or something of the sort up front

Do you have a mechanical or electric tach? …If mechanical, and if the
engine torques to one side, the cable might temporarily bind or pinch
against the body (cut through the grommet) and cause a rotating scraping
sound that is “amplified” by the contact with the bulkhead metal…

Something hanging against the clutch pedal return spring might produce
the squeeking screen door sound…

A slow start scraping sound that goes away at speed is a toughie to
diagnose so if you can add more maybe we can get a bit closer…

Regards and again luck

Rick
677342-DHC
673190-Roadster
Somerville NJ USofA

PS,

A break shoe retainer spring could be loose in one of the rear drums (if
you have drum brakes) and give you intermittant scraping sounds as well…