Zytek ecu model number?

Ping!!

Any further developments?

Just waiting for confirmation on the Zytek diagnostic unit which I should have had last week. Also- Jaguar Classic is a bit of a mess. Have emailed and called them 8 times over past month about getting parts my mechanic asked for and they still don’t have an answer. I have heard they are in a lawsuit with Don Law over who owns the rights to reproduce parts for the XJ220. They said parts will be available “soon” through their dealer network. Meanwhile do I want some Pirelli tires, or do I want to ship my car to them in the UK and they will do the work. Sounds like Don Law all over again. Luckily the clutch and brakes are AP Racing, and the hoses can be made locally. Could use cam cover gaskets, but if they can’t supply them we’ll find another way. Don’t need anything major as the engine was never run in.
However, the fuel cell bladder was never changed and all the foam inside has dissolved into tiny particles like sand. took out a bucket load the other day, and it’s in all the fuel lines. Hope it stopped at the filters, but everything is being disassembled and cleaned or renewed.
If I had known parts would be such an issue and Don Law so obstinate, and Jaguar Classic so slow to respond, I might have gone another route. Meanwhile everything is progressing nicely.

Would someone like ATL or Fuelsafe have any insight into replacement foam?

Yes, there are many suppliers. But we found the serial #, name and phone # of the OEM supplier in the UK, who is still in business, and had the records for this particular cell, which he confirmed as a competition car (got a different bladder than street cars). The bladder itself is fine, literally brand new. But the foam inside needed to be replaced every 6 years or this will happen. Or you drain all the gas out if you are not going to use the car, but OP didn’t do any of this. New foam lasts much longer, as it’s a new formula to be compatible with alcohol. So they are making up a new bladder for me and sending the new foam. I believe new foam good for 10+ years and possibly longer. ATL can make a bladder for this car as well.

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Yes, I’m sure any fuel cell manufacturer will know all there is to know about the foam. I have not been dealing with the vendors myself, but if you have a specific question I’ll try to find an answer for you. Meanwhile we need some valve cover gaskets but can’t get them. Don Law isn’t selling, and Jaguar Classic is a mess and can’t answer even simple questions let alone provide any parts for this car. Looks like some 3D printing will be needed.

What about the old-fashioned way? Tapping them out of a sheet of gasket material.

yeah, I’ve made hundreds of gaskets out of various materials, admittedly for old vehicles
You wouldnt think a valve cover gasket would need “special” material to seal

They should have made all the fasteners for really expensive custom Jaguar tools, then refused to sell that to customers

Thank god they didn’t make special tools. Ferrari had a few and was a PITA. A Canadian engineer who runs 6R4.com and makes parts for the 6R4 told me they won’t use any gasket in the 6R4 valve covers, just Loctite SI5660, which apparently gives a better seal than the gaskets ever did. So we’ll go with that. He can also repair, rebuild and refurbish any part we send him, and make a new one from scratch which they do for the 6R4s. He uses 3D scanning, CAD and a CNC milling machine. May cost a bit more than Don Law, but there are now 3 XJ220s needing recommissioning in the shop, so we can spread out the engineering costs.

I cannot believe what a hot mess Jaguar Classic is. They advertise that they carry parts for the XJ220, then either don’t respond to requests for parts, or don’t respond at all over 7 weeks. One day you speak with one person, a few days later you get someone else who has no idea what you are talking about, and you have to start all over again. Then they forget who you are. They also told me I should ship my car to them so they can recommission it, a la Don Law. For a few gaskets, a fuel cell and a clutch? What’s the story with these guys? Whenever there is a slight problem the rich Yanks should spend $10K shipping their cars to England? We have some great mechanics here, just send us a few parts.

Yesterday I got an email from them telling me they are “evaluating” their XJ220 parts program, and parts “should” be available at their dealer network at some vague time in the future, but meanwhile they could send me tires from Pirelli. If I had known the parts situation was this bad I don’t think I would have bought this car. I would have gotten one that was used and maintained all along, not a 400 mile garage queen that never had anything serviced, except for the idiot who used JB Weld to try and stop a valve cover leak. Then again it is a factory competition car and we are finding all sorts of race goodies on the car, like Brembo big brakes, larger floating rotors, race car uprights, AP Racing clutch, race suspension, etc. so it is kind of fun. Thank god I don’t have a real job so I have time to hunt for parts and annoy people (only those who deserve to be annoyed).

One thing I can’t seem to find in the US is Castrol XH21 transmission oil. Apparently this must be used. Found some in eastern Europe but no ordering address or phone. Anyone know if Castrol still makes the XH21? Or an equivalent? I think Castrol Syntrax is nearly identical, but can’t get that in US either, only Syntrans which won’t work. Are you allowed to ship oil from europe to the US?

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lol…you must never have had a dispute with the Australian Tax Office, where I learned (again) to record all calls, and noted the name and date, time & outcome of each call in my journal
It took me over 50 calls to resolve the matter

If I was in your position, I would knock heads with the other USA owners and have a carefully worded letter written to Jaguar. Even though the cars are “old”, it seems Jaguar is not being very supportive

You are absolutely correct. As I see it, when this car first came out there was a huge problem that Jaguar did not handle well at all. I understand that if I thought I was getting a V-12 supercar with awd when I put down my $100,000 deposit, I might be reluctant to take delivery of a V-6 with rear drive only. Along with the end of the car speculation frenzy of the late 80’s, and the recession of the early 90s made it hard for Jaguar to sell these cars, and they couldn’t wait to wash their hands of it. So when Don Law came knocking as TWR was winding down, Jaguar was happy to dump the whole mess into his lap.

25 years later we can bring these cars to the US, and recognize it for the wonderful supercar (hypercar?) it is. It will still blow away many modern exotics, and it has looks to die for. Jaguar should now be embracing this car as their halo car, and making the most of the increasing publicity it is getting. Free advertising for the next few years at least. Considering that they don’t have a newer supercar, they should be supporting this one and enjoying the publicity it is generating. It can only do good things for their image. But they are not helping.

Unfortunately we don’t have a USA XJ220 club that I’m aware of. As you mentioned, a letter to Jaguar from such a club would carry far more weight than one mechanic, particularly if members were known Jaguar collectors. Maybe it’s time to start such a club, or at least a registry of these cars in the US. If I had the time and knowledge I’d start an owner’s website myself.

I think the next move is contacting JCNA and seeing if they can help. Don’t know what else I can do. At least winter is coming and I’m not all upset about the beautiful weather and having no car. I just hope it’s ready by spring.

I can only imagine what the Australian Tax Office must be like. Like fighting with hyenas who just want to eat your leg:anguished:. The IRS in the US is tough enough.

I think your reply here is almost the start of a letter on behalf of US owners

I guess the over riding question, apart from any legal agreement that may exist with Don Law,
is under what circumstances it is reasonable to have a vehicle “shipped to the factory” (or their representative

You would know far more than me, but this may be the case with some Ferraris ?

I have a big advantage when negotiating with ass-hat bureaucrats, having been one myself, and apply those lessons when I need to negotiate

Jaguar made the cars, there may be a question of consumer law, but what you said about the reputation of the company is spot on, it surely must be worth $ to Jaguar to have it go one way or the other.

The start would be to talk on the good old-fashioned telephone to other owners

good luck and great work you are doing, I feel confident you will get it sorted
Its hard enough for us to keep our older Jaguars on the road, without anymore hurdles !

I think I know a dedicated man for the job of being its first club president…:grimacing:

Seems to me, in this or another thread, someone ID’ed a suitable substitute.

I remember something similar…it must be the other guy who is also a smart cookie

do they use sensors and other parts that are “common”, or are all the parts bespoke ?

I have not done that. How does one go about tapping a gasket out of gasket material without a template?
I believe Fel-Pro or similar would work. None of my service or parts manuals give dimensions or shape of gasket. I’d like to try and make some. Could you explain the process? Assume the existing gaskets will be a mess when we remove them, so can’t use them as template.

I sent you a pm…easier for me to describe it on the phone.

Youtube is your friend

there are a lot of techniques and “tricks”

lot of racing guys make their own gaskets, including copper head gaskets

an engine is an engine, and gasket and sealant technology exists to replicate
if man made it once, he can again

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https://www.motor1.com/news/77000/how-the-jaguar-xj220-was-saved-by-science/

It would seem to me that unless they’re contractually obligated to sell only to Don Law, you could source the substitute directly from https://www.morrislubricants.co.uk/

Worse case, maybe one could get Jag USA to buy it and update the old “SPM030” CASTROL XH21 part number. My limited understanding is that Jag USA is different than Jag UK from a support perspective? And that Jag UK contracts with say Don Law might not apply to obligations held by Jag USA? But that’s just the impression I got speaking w/ George at JNCA.

Per another thread: https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=515557 The XH21 was used on some race Porsche’s and Subaru’s…(which would need to be identified)… for perhaps a factory recommended substitute for those cars? Therefore possibly cross-compatible?

USA avail Syntrax … or a version of it: https://www.amazon.com/Castrol-Syntrax-Limited-Slip-Gear/dp/B00HXC8Q4A Not sure this is the right stuff though… just has “Syntrax” in the name.

Castrol’s website isn’t helpful:
https://applications.castrol.com/oilselector/en_us/c/recommendation?vehicleType=cars-and-suvs&manufacturer=jaguar&model=xj220-(1992-1996)&modelType=xj220-(1992-1996)
What’s JV6?

Re backwards analyzing the box… - not that I’m the person to do it - but I have figured out that what’s needed really isn’t an Oscilloscope - although the high end ones I’ve been thinking of provide the required function I was thinking was needed —… it’s a “Logic Analyzer” that’s needed, and I had no idea how inexpensive one of those could be. Again this is for future reference, but something like this:
Amazon.com (under $20) which can use various analysis software like from https://www.saleae.com/ could help decode the protocol for communications between ECM and box.

I’m still working on the program… but that might be a dead end. It’s hard to find old DOS tools these days to look at what the program is actually doing, and I’m not sure I’ve got a good capture of the serial port output yet… All I’ve got is a string of hex that translates (one way) as an “EXT” command repeated over and over… which I think is a send data… I’m listening command… but I’m not sure. I’m still playing with it on and off.

Gaskets: It would take a bit of work to digitize a rubbing of a surface, but you could probably get ones laser-cut by various services if it came down to it. Finding a place that has access to a good material - like a gore-tex/steel/gore-tex sandwich material might be difficult.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Custom-Gasket-Laser-Cut/ Custom Gaskets: 40+ Materials, Custom Cut | Mercer Gasket <–& many more competitors.

~Paul K

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Not that @Ray_Livingston will have an answer, but he’s pretty damned clever at this stuff, and was in the biz, back in the day when the 220 was current.

Worth an ask.