(01/14/2023)
Look up “Jaguar XJS fire on YouTube” – you will find more than one result.
This picture is the main positive battery cable as it traverses from trunk, where the battery is housed, to the engine bay. Notice it pinched under a heat shield.
Yes, it is clamped and there is foam in there. Still, seems poor.
Removed more of the 4,000 shields today and revealed more of the driveline.
And I started removing part of the intake on the engine.
(01/08/2023)
I randomly decided to tackle removing the exhaust. Or at least the driver side.
I found this bolt already missing. Hopefully that’s not important.
Back in the cabin, I pulled off this transmission cover to reveal…wait for it….MORE FOAM.
This is starting to look really good.
(01/07/2023)
I decided it was time to get the hood off and get serious about the engine tear down. I want to tear down as much of the engine as I could before I have to pull it. This saves on weight, frustration and most importantly me pulling out hair from my already-balding head.
Why is there a second ignition coil here? Why is it potted? Is this a choke? Why?
Radiator is out!
Radiator was leaking!
What a very crude way to tighten a belt.
(01/06/2023)
If you look closely underneath on the passenger side, the SECOND engine mount is visible!
Is there a reason Jaguar left the engine pull hooks attached to the V12?
I had to remove more coolant. This is one of the hoses I pulled.
Oh look, more relays random electrical crap mounted somewhere random.
Jag didn’t want that oxygen sensor to get unplugged I guess. Not like a light would appear if the sensor went bad (looking at you, 30k mile timer)
Another in-line fuse with a fancy mount.
(01/05/2023)
Jaguar: We use worm gear clamps for everything…
One of about 10,000 vacuum servos
And today was the first day I was able to see one of the engine mounts!
(01/04/2023)
The driver side of the cabin is getting cleaner!
This random pipe was under the hood. It’s used for coolant. It has a bleeder on the right side and exits the engine bay at the radiator support goes around the front and goes BACK into the engine bay on the left side. Why???
Under the hood I found more relays and inline fuses and a random resistor pack.
(01/03/2023)
I’m starting to move my attention to the underside of the car a little. All of this is prep work to get the engine out as easily as possible.
Here we have the driveshaft going into the rear diff. The other end disappears into one of 4,000 shields.
This will be fun to take apart later.
Oh look a bunch more grounds. Wait. No. Those are hots.
And a similar grouping on the otherside of the cabin
(01/02/2023)
Not a big post for today, but I’m slowly getting the carpet and foam glued down mess off from inside the car.
Today I found a random extra rivet from the factory that never made it somewhere.
(12/29/2022)
2022 will be remembered as the year I decided to finally tear into this pig. Now to keep the momentum going in 2023!
I finished the LEDs for the red part of the tail light and started working on the animation for the turn signals.
It’s time to pull coolant out of the car. I need to remove the heater core and I don’t have a good way to drain everything in the tight space I’m in. So, I decided to use an old garden hose and a small pump and suck all the coolant out of the engine. And it’s gross looking.
I finally won the battle with this HVAC box. I’m certain someone will email me and tell me that I’m ruining something special. That’s fine. The new setup will be under the hood and I can service it in an afternoon, not a month of afternoons.
Looks like the heater core was leaking anyway. Go figure.
So much more room for activities!
(12/28/2022)
I’ve worked on many wiper motors in the past. All of them have had some sort of crankshaft like bar attached to a cam like gear on a motor. I have never seen anything cable driven.
I have to admit, I don’t think I hate this. Yes, I hate the electrical connector, but something about being able to remove an entire wiper assembly from the car in one piece is kind of refreshing.
I’ll give this one to Jaguar.
And here’s the terrible electrical connection:
I started playing with the instrument cluster. The four gauges in the middle will be replaced with a small LCD screen, but the speedometer and tachometer will remain. The tachometer will be changed to become a KWH meter. Looks like I can easily put a pulse in and control both gauges. Maybe someday I’ll change them to steppers? For now they work like this and still has the old-car charm of bouncing gauges.
And then there’s this. This is just part of the incredibly over-complex HVAC this car has (had)
And if my dryer at home has it’s thermostat go out, I can just grab this spare off a nearby Jag.
EV-XJS 