1994 XJS 4L guidance sought

[vegas602]

Hi, Ive recently sold my Mark 2 and looking to buy an XJS Celebration (4L model). the car is good mechanically and bodywork wise but it seems to have a few gremlins. The front seats have been nicely recovered, but whilst the electrics work fine to move both of the seat bases back and forth, neither of the seat backs will respond to the switches to make them recline/ more upright. Being new to XJS's,and not being the owner of the car , is it a fairly straight forward job to get to the seat connections or do I have to remove the seats etc...?
The second gremlin is the blower/heater unit. One of the problems with the Mark2 was the asthmatic heater /blower. I was quite surprised when I tried the XJS that although you could hear some airflow when the blower fan was turned on, it was still very weak (hot and cold air) and no amount adjusting the controls could get a decent amount of air onto the windscreen. The owner hjas bills to show that the air con condenser has been replaced in the last year. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

[davidr]

The seat control module and connections are all under a metal plate just in front of the seat. This is where the connections are. There's no need to remove the seat to check them. Even so, removing the seat is only a matter of 4 bolts so not that hard.

Lift the carpet and remove the 2 screws at the front of the cover and this is what you have.

There are 2 blower motors - one each side. It sounds to me like one of them isn't working. The answer could be as simple as a blown fuse but then again it could be more!

[vegas602]

Thanks davidr, one of the bugbears with my Mark2 was its poor demisting/heater output as It was a pain for steaming up in wet weather, I really didn't fancy changing to another car that had similar problems and didn't know if the XJS's blower/heater was pretty asthmatic or whether it should be quite a strong output ( I had a drive of a 1986 Merc 300sl earlier in the week and the fan/blower was better than a lot of modern cars ive been in).
Thanks for the info re the seats- I assumed it might be something electrical as both seat bases work fine, but both seat backs don't (no noises from the motors, nothing) but obviously cant go pulling the sellers car about.
Many thanks, Phil

[davidr]

Phil - the heater motors are fine when working. Certainly would knock spots off a MK 2! I have no issue with the power of mine.
I hadn't clued in that both front seats were behaving the same way. They are independent so I can't think there would be a common fault that could affect both at the same time. Usually the fault lies in the control units. I've not heard of the actual seat motors packing up.The heater motor is not too hard to replace.
The Celebration cars are the culmination of 21 years of development. They are by far the best built and most reliable of the breed and values have reflected that recently.
I hope to welcome you into the XJS fold soon!

[vegas602]

Thanks David, I may well get an inspection done of the car as the owner is more than happy to allow it and I cant get a look underneath the car. Its in the Nottingham area , is there anyone that the club recommends for buyer inspections?

[ptjs1]

Hi Phil,

Give our own Ken Jenkins a call, a nice local one for him!

Good luck

Paul