In a fit of possible madness, I today purchased a 1990 XJ-S 3.6 Auto.
66300 miles, few owners, seems like a niceish car, besides it was CHEAP!
Unfortunately the words "cheap" and "Jaguar" are mutually exclusive, which will no doubt mean I have to get my hands dirty and work on the thing, so I turn to this font of Jag knowledge to ask some questions.
Horn doesn't work, but allegedly "used to last time it was driven", so probably a fuse, but I haven't looked at the fuses yet..
Bulb failure light is on, but all the lights work except full beam (the high beam, not normal headlights, they're ok)
No flash or full beam.
Handbrake is crap, but it's a Jag.
Passengers electric window has no signs of life, not even a dimming of the lights with current drain
Heater control doesn't regulate the heat. The low - norm - high - defrost bit works fine.
Hints and tips would be gratefully received, as would a good flaming if it's funny enough.
You nailed it, cheap to buy used, expensive to maintain. Great cars to drive, though. You'll love it. Welcome to the breed.
I have an 89 with about 130k miles. bought it several years back with
90k miles.
I have learned to live with the bulb failure message... I was told by my shop that the lamp modules at each corner of the car send the failure signal, that the modules are no longer available for my car (may be for yours) and if I went to a newer module I would have to buy all four modules, at some high price like $150 each. On another forum, it was claimed that resoldering the connections inside the modules would usually fix them... there are a LOT of soldered connections... did mine twice with no effect. There are also about 6 relays inside each module, but no information available that I've seen on how the relay gap ought to be adjusted. My failure light often comes on when braking, but sometimes for no apparent reason while driving steady state, and goes off again sometime later by itself. I've heard there's a way to bypass the modules, but I haven't seen any instructions posted anywhere.
My heater isn't working either, I haven't had it looked at yet. My understanding is that it could be as simple as a stuck water valve or a vaccuum tube leak, but I haven't yet tried chasing the problem.
I never use the horn, so I can't even tell you if mine works. I had the emergency brake adjusted when the rear brakes were refurbished, but I rarely use the emergency brake either.
The other items (power window, high beams) ought to be relatively easy to troubleshoot by checking wiring points with a multimeter.
There are shop manuals available on cdrom from eBay sellers; they are not particularly good, rather clumsy to use since they are essentially jpeg copies of the pages, not a searchable database, but they can be helpful and a lot cheaper than a paper manual... you can always print pertinent pages from the cdrom once you've found them.
Sorry mate but Jag and cheap do go together, if it was an XJ40, that is. I saw a 3.6 engine on eBay a few weeks ago by XJ Ltd for under £60 and a manual g/box for £35, try and pick a peugoet or vauxhall xe engine for that price.
On my '40 I have noticed a lot of parts that are found on other motors, ABS - Merc 200T, C/L motor's - post 89 Ford's (Granny/Sierra).
Leccy windows usually respond to a good ol' clean of the circuit's and check all your earthing points, it's amazing how many systems come to life after an earth has been cleaned.
I am building a database on cross referenced parts on other vehicles and will post a link here soon.
I am also looking at rewriting a couple of the cd-roms to replicate the menu driven system's found in workshops with a searchable point database and menu troubleshooter, wonder if that will sell well???
I lived last year next door to the bloke who invented the full beam/dip beam down in Bodmin, his reason was the roads in Cornwall were so crap and kept stacking his cars. sound's like the relay circuit is failing, whether it's the relay itself or the control feed or the earth, use a test lamp or digimeter on circuit continuity.
An air lock in the heater matrix can cause intermittent heating, as can sludge buildup, reverse flush it to see if that helps, make sure the electrical components are all good as there are safety cutouts to prevent operating A/C on a degassed circuit.
Sorry to snip it but was getting a bit too long, ;-)
I ended up with my Jag through swapping my Merc 200T for a Renault 19 and then for the XJ40, I only paid £150 for the 200T, and the '40 is t&t'd for a year and just had a major £1400 service at the dealer with only 66K on the clock, now that's a cheap car!
Also Holdenhurst Books, I think they are or were called(Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth) who do a huge amount of rail related stuff have downstairs a huge and cheap basement full of service repair manuals for most of the cars made here in the UK, I bought a SIII service repair dealer kit there two years ago for a tenner and flogged it on for close on a ton when I lost the Daimler, when I am over there next I will post all jag related books he has plus a few other's for those who are interested.
Learn to ignore the bulb warning light, I get an XJ40 when I take my XJS to the garage and the warning is always on. BTW on my XJS it comes on when the lights are turned on and its supposed to extinguish after about 20 secs, sometimes it takes minutes.
Spend sometime with all the contacts for you eleccy windows and don't ignore the possibility of a faulty switch, a quick short of the wires will let you know.
Anyone who understands the insane complexities of the XJS heating system I salute you. I get warm air when the engine is cold but as soon as the temp gauge goes up the heater blows out cold, I've given up and use the heated seats switch!!
Most of all you are driving one of the most stylish and elegant coupes ever made, when its nice and clean ( don;t forget windows inside and out ) it will get envious looks from everyone. The driving experience is fabulous too, load of power, slightly wafty suspension and a nice exhaust growl when the pedal is buried. Ignore the fact that the onboard computer may be registering 4mpg average!!
ENJOY
Nick Nick Bennett buys 007 memorabilia The Biggest Online Bond Collection @
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-- Nick Bennett buys 007 memorabilia The Biggest Online Bond Collection @
In news:bvvill$d4b$ snipped-for-privacy@titan.btinternet.com, PH decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows
Handbrake on mine almost works, but the back brakes are sticking on slightly, so I need to get under the f*cking thing and do them.
One more thing I've spotted, there's a total airlock in the heater system, the heater system is blocked (unlikely) or the thermostat is knackered.
Temp gauge never gets more than about 1/8th of the way up, and the heater pipes seem to be empty.
Engine runs sweet as anything though, is very quiet, and the oil pressure is on about 7 on the gauge 90% of the time, no emulsification of the oil or water, no smoke, so I doubt very much it's the head gasket.
Electric windows have both sprung to life now :-) but the mirrors have died.
Sorry if this is too late but I think I may be able to help, Firstly the horn, depending on chassis number has a relay situated either under the drivers side of the dash, on the left hand side of the engine bay(with the headlamp fuses) or most likely on your year, low down on the right hand side of the engine bay by the screen wash filler tube where it goes through the wing, It will have a thick purple and purple /yellow wire on it, With the ignition on press the horn button if the relay clicks its the horns or connections if not; check fuse first if ok then you may have a problem with the column wiring, Get back to me if this is the case. The bulb failure system is actually very simple/reliable (unlike other jaguars with electronic units in the corners, The chances are you have got a duff bulb, and it dosent check the dip or full beam! Check the sidelights with the ingnition off as well as on as it uses different bulbs! failing that change the sidelight bulbs. (The bulb failure light will come on if the handbrake is applied with your foot on the brake which is normal) The headlamps could be a fuse or failing that the switch on the column or the extremely expensive headlamp relay, on early cars silver box (hella) on the left hand wing or later cars black plastic hella again but two of them. The early one is easy to test, locate the blue with black wire on it and connect it briefly to earth, if the unit clicks its the switch or associated wiring, if not then the power supply fuses and connections. Handbrake, a pad has probbably fallen off, not a job for the fain hearted, but do not be tempted to tighten the cable this will only sort it for a day or so. the handbrakes are self adjusting and a tight cable will stop this occuring. Passenger window sounds like the switch (not very reliable) worth replacing this first, then the motor itself can have a dead winding, motors from earlier cars are much stronger (and cheaper) but get the sintered bush that supports the shaft with it (will need it to fit your regulator). Check the heater is set to auto, the left hand knob pulls in and out, otherwise this is a whole manual on its own. Hope you find some of this drivel usefull, Chris Window
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