Jaguar XJ-S V12 from the opposite end of Britain and a MG

[Hereward]

jamieduff1981 said:

... I need to get 10 litres of distilled water...

I came across this article recently which goes against what I thought I knew:

https://www.hyperlube.com/blog/blog/why-you-should...

What are people's opinion on this?

[lukeharding]

Paul S4 said:

Just a suggestion though.....would you ever consider changing the steering wheel for a wooden Nardi/Mota-Lita ?

Please don't, they don't suit an XJ-S at all! However, a steering wheel swap isn't a bad idea as the wheel you've got is one of the chunkier ones that I always find to not be as nice to use. A slimmer, earlier wheel, or a later airbag wheel would be nicer to drive with, and without looking like its from a different age and/or revealing the plastic column casing. TWR wheels are also good, but obviously not too cheap.

[jamieduff1981]

Paul S4 said:

Definitely I would do the coolant flush properly ...when I had my Lotus Elan I took a while to really back flush the radiator/block and used Radflush (?) until it ran clear. I would be tempted to put a new radiator in as well ; the modern ones are more efficient and that V12 will generate a lot of heat I would guess !!

Just a suggestion though.....would you ever consider changing the steering wheel for a wooden Nardi/Mota-Lita ?

Looking forward to your journey with your new car !

Hi Paul, That's a good point about the radiator although in honesty I hope I can get away without the expense this summer of doing that - I've checked prices and they're rather more than the cars I've had previously... I'll have a good look and see.

I do like the wooden & polished metal steering wheels but I do think they look a little at odds with the rest of the XJS interior in some respects. I prefer the look of the later 4 spoke wheel as the original 2-spoke isn't the car's greatest piece of aesthetic design, however this summer I'm going to concentrate on making sure it's running happily. Hence with the exception of those LEDs, everything I've spent so far (and it's mounting up fast, frighteningly) goes under the bonnet.

[jamieduff1981]

Hereward said:

I came across this article recently which goes against what I thought I knew:

https://www.hyperlube.com/blog/blog/why-you-should...

What are people's opinion on this?

I can kinda see what they're trying to drive at but they've fallen into the trap of pseudo-science. You can't ionise water by boiling it and condensing it again. You'd give yourself radiation poisoning by having hot drinks if that were the case.

Distilling water and de-ionising water are two different things. The water we find in nature has some (pretty low levels of) ions in it. Distillation boils the water to steam and anything with a similar boiling point will go with the steam and still be present in the condensed water. That includes the ions but not mineral salts which have much higher boiling points.

De-ionising is a much more complex process to strip ions out and you end up with something non-reactive.

Distilled water has no more ions than tap water - but the dissolved minerals have gone. Distilled water doesn't accelerate corrosion compared to tap water, but it does reduce deposits. Yes, de-ionised water *might* reduce corrosion still further but frankly that's what the corrosion inhibitor chemical in the anti-freeze concentrate is there to do. All corrosion is is the stripping of electrons from metals. Inhibiting that is literally what the corrosion inhibitor does.

[alabbasi]

Be very mindful of overheating, especially on the V12 engines as they have a propensity to drop valves when this happens. This is a very common occurrence in hot climate areas such as parts of the US where cooling systems can become overwhelmed by outside heat.

When flushing the system, you can go back in with a long life coolant. I like G05 / G48 chemistry as used in Mercedes Benz (G05 is also used by Ford, Chrysler etc) and distilled water (not tap water).

There are people on ebay that are selling Chinese made 3 row aluminum radiators pretty inexpensively, I bought one for my 94 XJ12 but it did not fit as Jaguar changed the radiator on the 6 liter cars. It looked like an exact fit for the 75-91 V12s, or you can take yours to a radiator shop and get it cleaned or rodded.

[jamieduff1981]

That's why I'm doing this. I'm aware that the US market cars have a reputation for dropping valve seats. I'm not sure I've ever heard of one in the UK in all the time I've been trying to convince myself to buy one but I don't want to be the first. The stuff is on order. I'll flush out the radiator and see what comes out

[alabbasi]

Good, instead of using an aggressive flush, you might consider a citric acid flush which is much more gentle. You also probably want 10 gallons of distilled water and not 10 liters. You're going to need to flush the system multiple times before you get all the coolant out.

There's also a special bleed procedure on these cars that you need to follow to prevent the system from getting cooked.

[HeWhoDaresRoy]

I replaced my V12 radiator with a Radtec one. Not cheap, but beautifully made and the company were just super to deal with.

Car always runs under the 'N'

[Bogsye]

Great choice of car Jamie. Brings back great memories. My friend’s dad was the DP of Appleyard Jaguar in Edinburgh and I recall getting a lift to the dealership in an XJS (demo) exactly like yours. He’d decided to host a JDC meet at the garage, so it was great to see all manner of classic Jaguars. He even took a deposit on an XJ220 that day.

An XJS is on my bucket list too.

Good luck with it!

[williamp]

Lovely.

Get a new battery. I imagine a complex classic like this will put a big drain on the battery. And a bettery which isnt 100% can lead to the sort of electrical problems you are experiencing.

[alabbasi]

williamp said:

Lovely.

Get a new battery. I imagine a complex classic like this will put a big drain on the battery. And a bettery which isnt 100% can lead to the sort of electrical problems you are experiencing.

Old cars are light on modules compared to new ones. There's not really much that stays on when the engine is off.

[jamieduff1981]

I have a receipt for a battery that was replaced not too long ago. I do agree that life is too short for clapped out batteries but fortunately the one in at the moment seems reasonably strong.

I'm working my way through the electrical gremlins. I fixed the cigarette lighter today. Fortunately it was nothing worse than a corroded negative spade connector and general fuzz around part of the body. It's been cleaned up with a file and contact cleaner and is working correctly now.

Electrically I think the biggest present threat is the aftermarket immobiliser that's been fitted. Sometimes the car plays dead for a few turns of the key and all my instincts are pointing to that thing.

[jamieduff1981]

I've goofed. The purpose of this post isn't to highlight that but I'll happily admit my error in order to express my positive experience with Master Injector UK.

Basically I ordered the Pre-HE injector rebuild kit. I emailed them at 8am yesterday to ask if I'd screwed up upon noticing my injectors were beige rather than green like the website. A very helpful response cleared things up for me. The set I have is going back for a refund and I ordered the correct set about lunchtime yesterday. It arrived with me this morning. "So what?" I hear you ask... I live north of Aberdeen. Most postal companies think there's some sort of unbridged channel diagonally through Scotland navigable by supertankers and icebergs. When I hear "next day delivery" I expect it in 3 days time.

Whilst Royal Mail has undoubtedly been very efficient with this too, Master Injector UK has evidently dispatched the replacement injector rebuild kit at lightning speed. Since people are generally far more likely to whinge, moan and report what they perceive as bad service, I thought this small UK business deserved praise.

Now I write this, Bettercarlighting.co.uk deserves likewise. Even though my car was at the garage having new sleeves welded to the exhausts to sort them properly, the LED stop,tail and reverse lights were dispatched really fast and sent next day delivery for no extra charge.

[StescoG66]

I am going to send this thread over to a work colleague who has not long purchased one too.

He is in Airdrie

[williamp]

Excellent service. Can I ask how useable are the rear seats? Have you managed to have anyone in the back yet?

Oh, and have you...and this is very personal i get it...but its what I would do..... ran you hands along the flying buttress' ?? Such an iconic styling feature. Asking for a friend, etc...

[HeWhoDaresRoy]

williamp said:

Can I ask how useable are the rear seats? Have you managed to have anyone in the back yet?.

We've just stopped being able to fit the children in the back of ours. I'm 6'2 and could just about squeeze my daughter in the back seat behind me until she was 12.

I think the rear seats are bigger than the later XKs

[robemcdonald]

Great. Now I want an XJS... thanks.

[craigjm]

HeWhoDaresRoy said:

williamp said:

Can I ask how useable are the rear seats? Have you managed to have anyone in the back yet?.

We've just stopped being able to fit the children in the back of ours. I'm 6'2 and could just about squeeze my daughter in the back seat behind me until she was 12.

I think the rear seats are bigger than the later XKs

The rear seats always surprised me how small they are compared to the ones in my XJ coupe where a six footer can sit behind another six footer no bother.

[HeWhoDaresRoy]

It's very much a 2+2, rather than a 4-seater, but better than xk/db9/cerbera in terms of rear seat space.

[craigjm]

HeWhoDaresRoy said:

It's very much a 2+2, rather than a 4-seater, but better than xk/db9/cerbera in terms of rear seat space.

Yes. My point was that it’s built on the same platform and yet it’s so dramatically different with interior space. The price to pay for the fuel tank being where it is