www.jec.org.uk

HI all you XJS owners, I have only had the infection 2 months.

I am very lucky to own a near concorse condition XJS convertable 1995 20500. miles. I have been waiting a long time to get it, so before I get to old I took the plunge, How glad I am, What a great Motor. Its a change from an MGB roadster, my last fun car??

I would like advice on presure washing the engine. (What precations to take) with or without the engine runing ETC. This has been done by the first owner, as it looked like new. I live in Spain so no rain ( well not a lot ) but we do Have lots of DUST,
It gets every were??
Pete Rushen

I have a tale of woe using a water pressure washer on my Jag engine... I was concerned about getting water on the HT electrics stopping it from restarting so i made sure the engine was hot before washing.

I used cold water from the jet-washer on the hot engine block and head which is probably not the best thing to do, because of thermal shock, but where my problem started is when I tried to restart, it ran on only a few cylinders, so I stopped it and left it to dry for 1/2 hour. I restarted and was still running on 4 cylinders, so I stupidly took the the road with it like that to try and clear the water out with a good thrashing.

Ooops! the head gasket went, the cylinder head warped under the uneven heat. Doh!

Since that day I've kept the pressure washer away from the top of the engine!

Steam cleaning instead is really the best way I think.

HI Mark

Thanks for the warning, good advice. I will get it cleaned properly when its serviced.
Peter.

As it's in a good condition from your description, I doubt if a pressure washer or steam clean is necessary.
Take it gently, doing one bit at a time using Gunk / Jenolite or similar degreaser on any oily bits or just detergent on the dusty / dirty bits, rinsing off with either a watering can or low-pressure hose avoiding anything electrical or delicate parts. I would guess that in Spain at this time of year, things would dry natually very well on their own in a couple of hours
After a few weeks of repeating this, you may need to get underneath and waxoyl/dinitrol unprotected suspension and subframe parts.
Pop

HI POP Rivet,
Thanks for your reply, Iam being fussy, The engine on my car was emaculate, when I buoght it ( Almost like new ) It must have been cleened
prior to me buying it, although it only has 20500.miles on the clock.

I will wait till its next service.

I see you know a bit about XJSss, I have read many of your posts. I am in need of help with the right hand door mirror, the passanger side on my car. It seams stuck it only moves a small amount in any direction. How do you get behind the glass, to get at the motors!!

-----------------------------------
1995 XJS conv
1969 Seat 600 , Little and large

I dont know to be quite honest! I adjusted my mirrors ten years ago when I bought the car, but as I'm the only one to have driven it since there hasn't been a need for any further adjustment
I'm sure someone else will suggest a solution.
Pop

Peter - Might at first seem unhelpful but. These mirrors are put together in such a way as to make it rather difficult to service them. Even getting the glass off can be interesting. It's rather delicate. It may pay you to try and source a good second hand unit of which there are plenty arround.

Nick

Peter,

Hi, it makes a change to be conversing with you via Forum rather than phone!

As you've seen from other posts, you need to tread carefully in cleaning the engine. Knowing your car as I do, you'll suffer more from dust than oil muck. I use a detergent cum mild degreaser such as Muc-Off (traditionally sold as motorcycle cleaner) and put it in a spray bottle. Mask off the relays on the inner wing engine with cling film. Also worth putting some cling film over the ignition pick-up module (front right of engine block, where the distributor would be on earlier cars). I also cover the airflow meter and electrical connections for good measure. After spraying the Muc-off, I leave it for 10 mins then use a hosepipe and low-pressure spray nozzle. After cleaning, whip off the coil and plug cover and check that water hasn't got into the plug recesses. You shouldn't have to spray too much water over the top of the engine and my own car never leaks here, but I have heard of others with AJ16 engines suffering from water ingress through this cover. Then a quick rub of metal polish over the exhaust manifold cover and a dash of silicone spray / Back to Black etc over the plastic parts and you're ready for another sangria!


Re the wing mirror, you'll also have seen the reponse to your other post on removal of the glass. It is perfectly feasible to do it, but go really carefully. You might be really lucky and be able to spray some WD40 behind the glass using a thin straw and hope that cures it. If not, I'd try and remove the glass next. Like facelift headlights, facelift mirrors aren't available and nearly all the used ones available are pre-facelift which have different wiring connectors. Good facelift mirrors are making good money at present. If you don't mind cutting the wiring, you can adapt a facelift mirror. Remember that you've got the heated mirrors with memory settings so I believe that you would need a facelift mirror with the two separate wiring connectors. It's a bit of a long shot, but I have also seen mirrors where the glass has been inadvertently pushed by hand in one direction. This then give the illusion of restricted movement. If you've got restricted movement in all directions, it doesn't sound as if this is the problem but it might be worth having a look.

Good luck

Paul

Paul - Might be of little use here but. I recently purchased a facelift (heated mirror glass) from SNG. About £40 in total I think.

Nick