Jaguar XJ-S. Service manual — part 1

iv

I live in the US. This book has been distributed worldwide, and upon rereading and editing I constantly notice
comments I have made that have a distinctly US bias, like how such-and-such part can be found at the local Wal-Mart.
I have made the decision that I will leave the book this way, rather than trying to qualify each of these instances for all
the people in various parts of the globe. Those in other countries will know better than I how the advice given will
apply in their area.

The XJ-S is sold in countries where they drive on the wrong side of the road, so there are left hand drive (LHD) and
right hand drive (RHD) models. To minimize confusion, in this book the location of an item will nearly always be
described as being on the left side or right side of the car -- meaning left or right as viewed sitting in the car facing
forward. The terms “driver’s side” or “passenger’s side” will only be used to describe the location of items that switch
sides between LHD and RHD models, such as steering column, pedals, glovebox, fuseboxes, etc.

Please note that I have made the decision not to cover the six-cylinder AJ6/AJ16 engines in this book in any detail
(there are a few minor exceptions). Since it is the same engine that is in the XJ40/X300, it shouldn’t be too much
trouble to find information on this engine elsewhere. The parts of this book covering non-engine items should still be
of some value to owners of AJ6/AJ16-powered XJ-S’s.

I also make no effort to cover features unique to the XJ12. Owners of such cars would probably be well advised to
acquire both this book and Jim Isbell’s book on the XJ6 (see

http://www.jag-lovers.org

) and use the parts of each that

apply. There will still be some shortcomings -- neither will properly cover the carburetor setup on the early XJ12, for
example -- but the owner is still likely to benefit greatly from both books.

One final note: I only charge a small fee for printed or diskette copies of this booklet to cover costs of copying and
postage; those who download it from the Internet get it for free, as do people who obtain copies from others or from
their clubs. However, all this doesn’t mean that I am adverse to donations! If you feel the book has been of some help,
you are more than welcome to send whatever you feel is appropriate. If you send a donation, please clarify that it is a
donation and not an order for a printed copy or a diskette or something.

DISCLAIMER

My own car is a 1983 XJ-S H.E.. Understandably, this book is likely to be more complete and accurate for similar
vintage cars than for the early (B-W tranny, non-H.E.) cars or the newer (ABS, revised bodywork, 6.0 liter) cars. It
also cannot be expected to accurately cover the differences of cars sold in countries other than the US.

While most of the information (both from my own experience and that sent in from others) has been verified on my car,
obviously I cannot be responsible for the applicability to other XJ-S’s. I am not associated with Jaguar, and have no
means for verifying configurations of other cars. Therefore, the XJ-S owner should take advice accordingly and
determine for himself if it applies to his car and will serve his purposes.

It should also be understood that an owner performing even minor work on his own car can affect his warranty. If there
is any doubt whether or not the item in question is covered under warranty, the owner is advised to take it to his dealer
prior to doing any work himself. If the owner is told by the dealer that the item is not covered, then the owner can
make his own informed decision how to proceed.

Finally, an owner making changes to his car is responsible for making sure he is not violating emissions laws or safety
or other regulations applicable where he lives and drives. There have been a few comments made in this book about
regulations in various areas, but they are to be taken as general info, not legal advice.

v

IS THIS A REFERENCE BOOK?

Many XJ-S owners may consider this book reference material, and don’t bother to look at it until they need to work on
something or spend some money on the car. Unfortunately, sometimes the money spent could have been saved if they
had read about how to avoid problems in the first place! And, yes, sometimes the money saved can amount to
thousands of dollars; both the Lucas and later Marelli ignition systems have faults that can cost you an engine or even
the entire car in very short order.

Hey, it’s up to you; it’s your car, your time, and your money. However, I highly recommend you read this book!
Jaguars are not drive-it-and-forget-it cars; they demand a certain amount of awareness on the part of the owner, and
reading this book cover-to-cover will go a long way toward making the owner aware of his car -- and possibly save him
loads of $$$ in the future, as well as making Jaguar ownership a more pleasant experience.

If you cannot be convinced, at a minimum please read about the following topics:

• Ordering manuals and catalogs starting on page 16.
• Hot shutdowns on page 33.
• Centrifugal advance mechanism seizure (pre-Marelli ignition) beginning on page 137.
• Reread the discussion of centrifugal advance mechanism seizure beginning on page 137.
• If you still haven’t overhauled the distributor by this point, reread the discussion of centrifugal advance mechanism

seizure again. In fact, keep rereading it until that distributor has been overhauled. Am I getting through yet?

• Relocation of ignition amp (pre-1983 models), page 147.
• Catalytic convertor meltdowns on page (Marelli ignition cars; if you have a car with Marelli ignition, do not

fail to read this section!).

• Shortcomings of the cooling system, recommendations, and “How hot is too hot?”, starting on page 172.
• Advice on using cooling system sealers on page 189.
• Fan cracking on page 214.
• Engine fires on page 231.
• Fuel sump pickup problems on page 249.
• Fuel pump power supply concerns on page 254.
• Soft shifts on page 336.
• Replacing the steering rack bushings on page 374.
• ABS brake testing (on cars so equipped) on page 456.
• Radius arm mount rust problems on page 461.
• Brake fluid level switch problems on page 594.
• Saving the stereo from water damage on page 662.

1

THE JAGUAR XJ-S

WHAT’S IN A NAME?: First and foremost, it’s high time to quit abusing the name “Jaguar”. It does not rhyme with
“quagmire”! According to Jim Isbell: “At a recent Jag Club meeting they showed a video of the history of Jaguar from
the Swallow to the present. I was most interested to see how the owners and perpetrators of the Jaguar company
pronounced it. There were several old voice interviews and I listened very carefully every time one of them spoke.
The pronunciation I got from those interviews was: Jag-u-wer. I think the people who invented it must know how to
pronounce it.”

The name of the car that this book addresses is the “XJ-S” -- or, at least that was the name. Up until 1982 the dash
actually had its own part number, since the four characters on the back end of the car were four separate pieces; through
the rest of the 80’s, the four characters on the back of the car were a single badge, but the hyphen was still apparent.
Since the badge on the car itself has to be considered the ultimate authority, up until 1991 anyone referring to the car as
an “XJS” was in error. This was a very common error, since XJ6 and XJ12 do not have dashes in the names and it was
commonly assumed that this was normal Jaguar naming convention. Unfortunately for anyone trying to keep such
things straight, even the folks at Jaguar were guilty of this error, as evidenced in several of their brochures and manuals.

According to Paul Skilleter’s book “Jaguar XJS: A Collector’s Guide”, when the bodywork was revised for the 1991
model year the name of the car was officially changed to “XJS” to emphasize the change.

I will also mention what a “Daimler” is. Daimler was a distinct British automobile company that was bought out by
Jaguar in 1960. However, Mr. Daimler also had a relationship with Mr. Benz at one time, leading to the German
company Daimler-Benz, renamed DaimlerChrysler after merging with the US automaker in 1998. The Mercedes
manufacturer registered the name Daimler in the US, so Jaguar cannot use the name in the US even though the former
company by that name belongs to them. Daimler-Benz always called its cars Mercedes (after somebody’s girlfriend
many decades ago), so there are no cars known as Daimlers sold in the US.

While the British Daimlers were originally a distinct line of automobiles, eventually they became variations on Jaguars.
Regarding the cars covered by this book, the Jaguar XJ12 was also sold as the Daimler Double Six in some countries,
with detail differences including a distinctive fluted grille.

S TYPE: From “Great Marques - Jaguar” by Chris Harvey:

The S type saloon

There was a considerable demand for a more luxurious version of the compact saloon, and
Lyons decided to combine the major improvements of the Mark X with the established
features of the Mark 2, once the Daimler had been launched. The result was the Jaguar S
type saloon introduced in 3.4-litre and 3.8 litre forms in September 1963. These cars were
similar to the Mark 2 in most dimensions and running gear, except that they had the new
independent rear suspension.

The S type (no hyphen) and most other lines of Jaguar saloon were discontinued when the XJ6 was introduced in 1968.

In a shameless attempt to capitalize on William Lyons’ glory of years past, Ford/Jaguar introduced a new S-type (with
hyphen) in 1998. David Berman says, “The S-TYPE is related to the Lincoln LS6/8. This is known as the DEW98
platform.”

So why is all this discussion in a book on the XJ-S? Because some people insist on referring to the XJ-S as an “S-
type”. Makes sense; the rolling phallic symbol known as the E-type in Europe and elsewhere was marketed as the XKE
or XK-E in the US, so it naturally follows that Jaguar’s marketing department must be similarly misguided regarding
the XJ-S. Connoisseurs of the E-type sometimes get huffy if you are so base as to refer to their cars as XKE’s, so
people may actually think they are using the more proper term for the XJ-S when they call it an S-type.

2

So, how common is this error? Believe it or not, it spread to the marketing department at Jaguar again! The 1981 XJ-S
sales brochure said:

Jaguars have always been distinguished by a special grace of form and a rare poise in
motion. Yet even among the legendary Jaguars of the past, this new S-type stands out.
The XJ-S does what Jaguars have always done -- only better. It is quick and responsive,
stable at speed, silent in motion and notably luxurious.

Despite the disinformation tactics of those goobers, it’s really not proper to refer to an XJ-S as an S-type; the mid-60’s
car was an upscale compact saloon, and even the 1998 knockoff appears to follow along that same theme. The XJ-S is
clearly in an entirely different class.

VIN NUMBER DECODING: There are two different VIN numbering schemes for the Jaguar XJ-S. All cars have a
VIN number stamped into the sheet metal dead center in front of the hood seal, and this VIN corresponds to the scheme
described below, based on input from Richard Mansell, William Noorloos, and Paul Skilleter’s book.

Position 1-3 denotes manufacturer

SAJ = Jaguar

Position 4 denotes marque

J=Jaguar
D=Daimler

5th is model

N=XJ-S
S=XJR-S
T=Special edition

6th is class

A=baseline
J=Japan
K=Japan with airbag
L=Canada
M=Canada with airbag
V=USA spec with manual belts
W=USA spec with driver airbag
Y=USA spec with passive belts.

7th is body type

C=Cabriolet
D=Convertible
E=Coupe
F=2+2 Convertible