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Mar 12, 2020 21:31:24 GMT
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Is there any other sort??? ;-) Coffee and salted caramel from Five Guys. Their shakes are truly excellent. Burgers too for that matter...Five Guys rock. When my friend and I go to Twickenham we always stop in at Five Guys at Stratford Westfield on the way back. I have yet to savour a shake from there though, as being Type 1 Diabetic, I tend to use their "100 flavours" Coke machine - it's SO good getting something that isn't a bleeping Diet Coke!! Carry on XJ-S-ing. I love reading about it! |
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Mar 13, 2020 23:38:27 GMT
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I miss being able to experiment with the Coke Freestyle machines.
Sadly I'm one of those people who can really taste the alternative sweeteners, so Coke Zero or Diet Coke to me taste like someone has dumped a teaspoon of vinegar in it. Aspartame has the added bonus of giving me horrific migraines.
With the introduction of the Sugar Tax they went and turned off all the flavour options on everything aside from the sugar free drinks...so the only option on that machine I can now drink is plain, boring Coke.
Really bored of plain Coke! As the sugar tax resulted in virtually every maker swapping out some or all of the sugar, it's vastly curtailed what I can drink. Particularly irked that Irn-Bru is among that list.
-- -- --
Pretty sure we've got a developing issue with either the alternator or the regulator on the Jag. While the light goes out as normal when the engine starts, it doesn't seem to properly start charging until the engine is brought up to around 3000rpm and held there for a couple of seconds. Then the system seems to wake up and start charging properly. It will then stay there until the engine is next stopped. Before that point the system voltage will hover around 13V - so it is still generating power, just at a reduced level. Once the system "wakes up" it jumps up to a normal charging voltage.
Need to do some research on the likely cause and get the necessary things ordered in. At least alternators don't look to be massively expensive if a new one is needed. This one has been rebuilt - but that was back in 1998 so it's not really undue some attention.
I will obviously have a crawl under that corner (I *think* it's relatively accessible from underneath) and get myself covered in oil and clean up the connections to the alternator as it wouldn't be the first time I've fixed odd charging behaviour with naught but jiggling a connection.
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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1985 Jaguar XJ-S V12 HEPhil H
@philhoward
Club Retro Rides Member 133
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13V is still a charging voltage. What does it go up to after “waking up”?
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Last Edit: Mar 14, 2020 4:17:03 GMT by Phil H
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Mar 14, 2020 15:17:59 GMT
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13V is still a charging voltage. What does it go up to after “waking up”? 14.4V - so right about where I'd expect it to be. That's what's puzzling me... I'd expect no charging, overcharging...but "not great until you kick it then it's fine" is a bit of an odd one. See below: Note that the gauge reads about 1.5V low. It does drop back at idle (the idle speed is a bit low sometimes due to a sticky ICV), but never as far as the starting point. |
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Last Edit: Mar 14, 2020 15:19:22 GMT by Zelandeth
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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Mar 14, 2020 17:06:29 GMT
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I would connect a multimeter across the battery to get a better idea of the charging voltage, rather than relying on an innacurate old dashboard gauge.
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Mar 14, 2020 17:14:01 GMT
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I would connect a multimeter across the battery to get a better idea of the charging voltage, rather than relying on an innacurate old dashboard gauge. I have done - the numbers I've been quoting are all from a digital meter, the video there is purely to provide a visual representation of what's going on. |
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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Mar 14, 2020 18:12:50 GMT
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Does the warning light work and have the right bulb in it, my TR7 did something very similar when the bulb went.
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Mar 14, 2020 19:29:32 GMT
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Does the warning light work and have the right bulb in it, my TR7 did something very similar when the bulb went. Yep, ignition light is the one with the lightning bolt symbol, leftmost lamp of the right bank visible in the video. It behaves precisely as you'd expect. |
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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Mar 14, 2020 20:58:58 GMT
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Is it the correct wattage bulb is what he means, the wrong one has all sorts of potential to cause odd behaviour.
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Mar 14, 2020 21:29:40 GMT
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Yes and also does it have a robust 12v going to the other side of the bulb.
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Mar 14, 2020 22:19:30 GMT
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Worth double checking...though I'm reasonably sure they're all identical in the XJ-S. The flex PCB on these instrument panels are famous for causing trouble though so not a bad idea to both check the lamp and double check there aren't any high impedance joints in its path. I want to get the rest of the warning lights swapped out for LED ones (home made, none of this paying £200 for a set nonsense!)...I only had enough lamp holders on hand to make half of them, so will need to get the rest out to work on those. Most of the kits I've seen use coloured LEDs which I reckon would look wrong... I've been using warm white ones so the colours still look right - they're just actually bright enough to see in daylight - indicators in particular (before and after comparison showing the results of installation of my first prototype below)...and I really want to get the main beam light done as it's honestly uselessly dim. This is what I came up with. Ballast resistor is hidden under the heatshrink.  Here's what the indicator lights on the dash look like as standard. Pretty feeble.  Then here's the other one which has the lamp shown above fitted.  Will be a lot easier to get the panel out this time as I've discovered the reach adjustment on the steering wheel since I wrestled the panel out last time! |
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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Mar 22, 2020 22:32:31 GMT
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Got the base carpeting back into the boot...which does a wonderful job of showing how grubby the rest of the carpets in there are.  Gave the instrument panel a good going over to check for any dodgy connections, didn't find anything obviously amiss. Gave me a good opportunity to get a few more of the dash indicators upgraded with my home brew LED lamps. Rear screen heater and main beam ones done here. Main beam indicator is still pretty dim, but it is actually visible now though!  I found the centre bank looked odd as the LEDs sit too close to the diffusers (which are less dense than those on the side warning lights), so have left those alone for the time being. The seat belt warning light has been done here though, shows that the colour match is decent to the old lights though. It's a good deal brighter though.  Ignition light is obviously still incandescent, will probably upgrade it in the future once I've taken some measurements to ascertain what shunt resistor is appropriate. I have quite enjoyed this little diversion, has been a while since I tinkered with some electronic projects, even if this one is about a 1/10 on the difficulty rating. I also added a bit of new foam around the top of the cluster, straightened the bit around the steering cowl which has been tucked in on itself, and put some reflective tape over the general warning lamps to stop the light leaking into the space above the cluster. This looked to have worked well until I out things back together... though then it became apparent I put it in the wrong spot! Still have an annoying glow from above there.  Ah well, I'll need to get it out again to do the rest of the lamps anyway so I'll sort that then. It takes all of 60 seconds to pull the instrument panel now I've figured out how to do it...oh, and that the steering wheel reach me adjustable. That makes it waaaaaaay easier to get in or out. Yesterday I was lucky enough to have enough free time to give the poor thing a wash to get rid of most of the caked on salty grime. Still scrubs up well I reckon.  I really need to attack the wheels with some solvent cleaner though to get rid of the foam backing from some old balance weights, though equally I may wait till the new tyres go on.  It's bugging me though...as is the exhaust tips being tilted like that. I may well get a couple of more generic trims to put on there just now - something that's obviously not stock will look better I think than stock parts fitted badly! The other thing I really need to look at sharpish is clearing the heater intake drains. This was the result of me pulling out of the drive after the wash! Cold water peeing out of the lower heater ducts.  Carpet has been pulled just so it doesn't turn into a sponge. |
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Last Edit: Mar 22, 2020 22:54:28 GMT by Zelandeth
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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Mar 26, 2020 21:15:26 GMT
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Decided to take advantage of the sunshine this afternoon to try to get something done without me having to leave my property. Garage clear out is now on hold as we obviously can't get any rubbish cleared out to the tip. Today's target was the thoroughly blocked "atmospheric coolant catch tank" - seriously Jag, it's an expansion tank - on the Jag. I'd like to get rid of the bottle currently wedged between hoses in the nearside front of the engine bay. Access is gained by removing five 10mm (I expected them to be imperial sized!) Bolts and pulling the wheel arch liner out. First contact with the enemy.  Immediately obvious is that the overflow bung has escaped the side of the tank. The idea of this setup is that if this tank were to overflow any water or steam would exit via that metal pipe you can see to the left. However if the seal between the tank and that pipe is compromised (which it is basically from day one as they never fitted well) this will simply escape into the wing. Made worse by them sticking a foam pad underneath it to hold onto the moisture for as long as possible!  The tank originally would have been a friction fit between two brackets however these were missing so once I fed the pipe through from the engine bay it was just lifted out.  This left behind a lot of crusty mess.  Quite how much crud was apparent once it was swept out. Hey, there's the remains of the bracket that should have been holding the tank!  The results of this were honestly predictable.  On the plus side, the outer wing just bolts on so access should be fine to carry out a repair. I could be naughty and bolt the liner back in and pretend not to have seen it as the MOT tester would never know...I'd rather properly fix it though given the car seems likely to be sticking around for a while. Even bearing in mind that I'll need to chase it back a ways to find solid metal it shouldn't be the worst repair to do. Especially as it's out of sight so my horrible welding won't be visible. I had a bit of a peer into the void using my phone camera and the inner wing looks fine. Couple of bits of surface rust but nothing terrifying. It looks like the tank itself was replaced in the early 90s judging from the date of 1991 on a sticker on it.  Given the line was completely clogged I was surprised to find that it did have some water in...well...something vaguely resembling liquid which may at some point have been water anyway.  This smelled precisely like you'd expect for 30 year old Barr's Stop Leak or K-Seal...lovely! Given that Jag used to recommend adding two bottles of the stuff at each coolant flush, not surprising to find this. There was about an inch of compacted mud at the bottom of the bottle under about 1/2 a pint of water. Trying to clear the pipe took way longer than getting everything out. The culprit was unsurprisingly the narrowest point in the system, the coupler between the two pipes.  That was choked solid end to end. I had to resort to drilling the gunk out of it as it had the consistency of concrete. Again, I reckon age old leak stop compounds are probably to blame. Removing the hoses (once I eventually managed to get the hose clips free) required them to be cut and then peeled off with a pair of pliers as they were utterly welded onto it.  The whole lot is now soaking in the sink in the utility room, probably awaiting a run through the dishwasher tomorrow before being refitted.  The bung on the overflow will probably be sealed to the body using Sikaflex to hopefully make it something resembling water tight. Hopefully the system will be less troublesome going forward given that cooling system sealant potions won't be going anywhere near the car. I will need to figure out some means to secure it though as the bracketry has long since dissolved too. Welding the wing up will need to wait a bit as I'll need a bunch of supplies first which I obviously can't get out for just now. In summary: It's been said a thousand times before by pretty much every owner of an XJ-S ever...what a stupid design! |
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Last Edit: Mar 26, 2020 21:22:56 GMT by Zelandeth: correcting autocorrect...
Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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Great write up as usual,
Is it worth considering that the radiator / heater matrix might be similarly solid in the lower areas and requiring cleaning ??
Nigel
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BMW E39 525i Sport
BMW E46 320d Sport Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 325 Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 320 Cabriolet (Project car - currently for sale.)
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I think if you left the radiator in a bicarb bath for a few days there would probably be a lot of loose stop leak crud and not much radiator left!
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Mar 27, 2020 11:27:27 GMT
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The heater seems to output a decent amount of heat (when the control logic plays ball and let's it), so I think the matrix is okay, coolant in the system seems to be staying pretty clean too. The radiator was replaced at no small expense about a few months before I got the car. Glad of that as getting it out isn't a five minute job.
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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Mar 27, 2020 21:30:14 GMT
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The bottle was left soaking overnight before getting thrown in the dishwasher on an intensive wash this morning. Hasn't cleaned up badly actually given there was about an inch of solid mud in the bottom of it originally.  Looks perfectly serviceable to me. Has now been reassembled ready for refitting.  I'll make sure both the hose inlet/outlets are sealed properly once it's back on the car. I'll be careful about the hose routing to make sure it doesn't get kinked as I know that's a common problem with this setup. |
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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Mar 28, 2020 22:33:54 GMT
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I've got a parcel on the way (the factors say it's business as usual for web orders so hopefully should be here soon) which contains: [] Full coolant hose set. Thanks to the expansion tank hose having been blocked for goodness only know how many years, the system has been over pressurising and at least two of the hoses are showing signs of distress as a result. See below.   These both have cable ties wrapped around them to act as reinforcement until the new hoses arrive. At least the system pressure is being kept at sensible levels now. Given they're all 34 years old, I figure they've done their time and are probably due a change. The radiator was replaced only a couple of months before I got the car, so having the hoses all replaced as well should hopefully mean I don't need to actively worry about the cooling system for a while. I'm sure I will invent several new and exciting curses while trying to fit them. [] Set of spark plugs. [] A/C Compressor to condenser hose. Speaking of factory bodges - using jubilee clips to hold together the hot gas lines on the A/C system qualifies I think! It probably worked fine if the system was to be gassed up every year or two, but with the price of refrigerant these days (the system has been converted to r134a at least) I'd rather get shot of two joints which I know will leak...I've spent many hours helping out a friend who is a HVAC technician, so this makes my teeth itch!  That's exactly the sort of bodge we used to find on equipment on the farm. Bonus points if it's on the high pressure side of a hydraulic system. [] Cam cover gaskets for both cylinder banks and a set of half moon seals for the cam boxes. [] Inlet manifold gasket set. Both cam covers leak like a proverbial sieve at the moment...actually changing those is pretty simple...once you get to them! Um... Can't even see the one on this side...  Nearside one you can see bits of at least!  Which also does a good job of highlighting how ridiculously long the engine is given that the cam cover runs from the oil filler (mid way between the radiator caps) all the way back to just above the windscreen washer bottle. She's a substantial old beastie! Pretty sure I recall seeing someone quoting a figure somewhere around the 450kg mark for the drivetrain in this thing...The unladen weight of the Invacar is 410kg! Yeah, getting at the cam covers requires removal of the inlet manifolds (which of course requires removal or disconnection of no small number of things which are attached to or in the way of them). Well it's a good opportunity to change the gaskets I guess! The distributor also needs servicing...which will be massively easier with all the nonsense it's normally buried behind out of the way. So doing this while I've already got things apart to do the cam cover gaskets makes a lot of sense to me. I'd rather not take this much stuff apart more often than I need to. Spark plugs will also be changed at the same time as getting to those requires you to unbolt the A/C compressor and to remove the assembly holding on the throttle linkage and ignition coil. This is a job that's way more awkward on the HE cars because of the angle the plugs screw into the heads. The plugs on the pre-HE cars just screwed straight down into the heads which made things way easier. Hoping once the plugs are done, distributor has been overhauled and a new cap and rotor arm are on it that we'll finally be able to get an idle that's as silky smooth as it should be. Currently there's a very slight intermittent miss at idle which is really bugging me. I wouldn't complain if it improved economy a bit either! |
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Current fleet: 73 AC Model-70. 75 Rover 3500. 84 Trabant 601S. 85 Sinclair C5. 06 Peugeot Partner 1.6HDi.
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,906 
Club RR Member Number: 40
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1985 Jaguar XJ-S V12 HEjamesd1972
@jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member 40
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Going to have to buy some popcorn for the next instalments !
Are you going to do a temp fixing on the expansion tank or break out the welder ? Lot going on for the old girl at the moment but taking it from a show car to a useable car so nicely.
Thanks for the updates
James
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is there a hollow around the plugs Z , that you could occasionally squirt a bit of plus gas or like into so theres more chance of the plugs coming out without a horror squeak fest ?
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