This may be irrelevant but I have twice had the experience of drastically reduced performance - almost no forward motion (leaving me at the side of a busy highway) accompanied by that very alarming hot electrical smell. In both instances it was caused by the distributor rotor having sheered its locating peg. This clearly is different from your main concern which is the fuel smell but you might want to examine the distributor rotor carefully.

 

Prof Gregory ~ there was a batch of really shocking rotors around that fell apart or arced as you describe.
Mostly due to poor design according to the MG folk.

 

This is a little out of left base, but I am wondering if Huey Hoolihan has a correct thermostat as the temperatures, he is quoting are way above normal operating temps for an early XK engine.
I know he is operating in very hot climatic conditions but if the coolant system is in reasonable shape, he should not be seeing these temperatures.

I have run into a couple of cases where incorrect thermostats suitable for later Series 3 XJ6 cars have been fitted to earlier cars.
The result is very high running temperatures and very little "reserve capacity" to cope with sudden increased temperature loads such as climbing steep mountains etc.

Very basically the S3XJ6 uses a 90C thermostat whereas the earlier MK1/2 and S types used a 70C.
The S3XJ6 used higher temperatures and coolant system pressures and fuel injection to achieve better economy and meet emission requirements.

I have gone to proprietary aftermarket stores and again and again have been offered S3XJ6 thermostats as correct for MK1/2 jags according to their computer systems.

As I have said it is worth a thought

 

I'd seriously discourage a lot of work on a car without a fire extinguisher close to hand, preferably two extinguishers and preferably CO2.

​​​​​​Another possibility for checking an overflowing hisser is to disconnect the otter switch. With the ambient temperatures that you are seeing, you don't need the hisser for cold starts. And plug the air inlets on the top of the device with small rubber bungs. If it's been overflowing, that will block it. Note this is a suggestion for testing, not a permanent fix.
The temperatures you are seeing on your gauge are extraordinary for a Mk2. I never saw 100 Celsius, and that includes crawling up Alpine passes, Italian autostrada at 100 F, flat out on the German Autobahn, and crawling through London on a Saturday afternoon. I'd check gauge and thermostat. If they are OK, the next points are water and air circulation.

There were a lot of those spurious rotor arms around and many came in Bosch and Lucas boxes from respected suppliers. I briefly had one in my DD6. It caused a slight misfire at around 60 mph. Fortunately, David Marks swiftly identified the cause. I doubt I'd have ever worked it out.
​​​​​​

 

Glyn:

thanks for this very clear explanation of rotor failure points. In the case of the two failures on rotors in my Mk 2, examination of them when removed showed that in both cases the locating peg had sheared, permitting the rotor to move more or less freely. And the rotors seemed to be of the “good” type, not with an improperly placed rivet. But perhaps these photos might help. The longer one is a failed rotor. It is difficult to see but the locating peg is partially sheared off. The shorter one also seems to be of the failure-prone type described in your response above:




Anyway, I think this is a hijacking of the thread to some extent. Apologies.

 

That is a cause of worry as it shows a QC problem.

This is what is in my car. Ultrasonic welded variety well forward of centre. I was assured it was a good rotor & not subject to failure according to Barratts from their huge exposure to selling the things.





.

 

Agree, 100 is very hot. The engine bay on these cars gets hot to begin with, so running hot isn't helping. As a temporary measure, I'd block off the bypass hose and see if that brings the running temperatures down. If it does, then the thermostat is the problem.

I wouldn't be surprised if the fuel is boiling in the carbs and the vapour is what you're smelling.

 

We've had a long and tortuous discussion. I'd suggest the first step is to resolve the problem of overheating. The other difficulties may reduce along the way. If not, there are some things to look at such as the float chamber vent, fuel level ... . But first solve the overheating. Start as Jagboi and Bill have said with the thermostat.

 

i had the opportunity to take the car out today, i made many stops along the way (5-8) with five to ten minutes before restarting and the engine temps never exceeded 80C. which is satisfactory. the gasoline smell occurred a couple of times, but now that i have a general understanding of how the AED works and that there is gasoline in it at all times and that there is a vent hole that that gasoline can be sloshed out of on acceleration, i'm okay with the occasional smell. (i think i might address it, as previously mentioned, by reducing the floatbowl gasoline level in the parent carb and maybe installing some kind of manual on/off toggle involving the otter switch) although i can't say i'm comfortable WRT raw gasoline in the engine compartment with a set of points sparking at all times!!!!!!

it's not surprising that things were working out well in that ambient temps were in the high 70's and low 80's Fahrenheit and NOT in the 110 range!

thank you all for your interest in my problems, i'm very appreciative, believe you me.

 

Huey, that's not well; it's only less bad. The engine shouldn't be that hot and Mk2s don't smell of fuel. There's still some work to get this car right.

 

On a well calibrated gauge the car should run at spot on 70 deg C. Mine runs marginally & very marginally below that (the gauge is calibrated). I did put a lot of effort into the cooling system from a new tropical cored radiator to correct pump & shrouded thermostat to close the bypass port, to a proper fan shroud. (I'm not accustomed to cars that run this cold). I have excess cooling capacity & temperature is controlled by the thermostat. I also fitted a new temperature sensor prior to callibration.

From my endless reading on the compact Jaguars it is stated that in July 1960, two changes were also made to counter complaints about petrol smells in the car: a breather pipe was fitted to the filler neck, together with a non-vented filler cap. It might pay you to ensure that these are in good order. All manner of critters like building nests in breather pipes and do you have the correct non vented cap?

I know that all the discussion has been aimed at gasoline smell from the engine compartment but the source of gasoline smells can be hard to trace to a specific area of the car.

 

My Mk2 is post 1960. It has a short, small diameter steel tube attached at right-angle to the filler pipe. There's a very small hole connecting the inside of the tube to the inside of the filler pipe. I'd guess that some flexible hose should be pushed onto the small tube and carry any vapour under the car. If it was ever there, it had long disappeared. In spite of that, I don't recall ever having fuel smells in the car. If there were any, I'm sure my then girlfriend and now wife would have detected them as she has a very sensitive nose.

I think we've already covered where rust holes usually develop in the tank.

 

Yes. By the time your car was built the issue was solved. A pipe did indeed extend to under the car into the airstream like the Twin S Type breathers do. The non vented caps had much to do with it.

 

i'm planning on a round trip from here in california to ohio and back (about 5000 miles) starting next week. i've just joined AAA to ease my mind when traveling and plan on spending the first few days on interstate 80 until i get over the sierras, after that, depending on my confidence level i may take federal route 50 all the way to ohio. i'll be traveling at 55 to 60 mph all the way. she's running very smoothly at about 20-40 psi oil pressure depending on the circumstances, at least at normal outside temps at this time of year, 70-90F.

 

Just don't let the coolant boil. As long as you don't let it boil you are at least in the safety zone. Your car is still running too hot vs, Jaguar specs.

I'm used to the Mercedes 4 way thermostat that is controlled by the ECU over the CAN Network.

 

update...

third day out on trip from california to ohio and back. i'm in grand junction, co.

engine still running very hot and throwing raw gas into engine compartment after a 300-400 miles on the road at 60mph.
ambient temps at 80F and engine temps, by end of day, at 90C. at every fillup or any stoppage for five or ten minutes i get nasty heat soak and rough running and raw gas in engine compartment. for about a minute it will gladly stall unless i pump the gas pedal and rev it to keep it running. the hoods so hot by day's end i can't touch it with my bare hand. it's almost as if there is no cooling being done by the radiator. i had to buy a pair of gloves yesterday just to get the dipstick out!


i'm wondering if i've got a stuck thermostat.

 

More likely the wrong thermostat. Without the proper sleeve type thermostat, the coolant simply recirculates through the block and never goes to the radiator. The original temperature rating of the thermostat was 74°C.

 

that sounds about right...

the temp gauge sits almost halfway between the 70C and 110C marks all day. everything that's rubber or plastic in the engine compartment is now suffering from the massive heat cycles. and the raw gasoline being spewed from the AED by the end of the day, when i'm driving around the town after checking into a motel on this trip is concerning. even the transmission (manual) becomes balky from the heat. maybe i'll stop into a garage along the way and have the thermostat pulled. is it as accessible as it looks? or, heck, i've got my toolbox with me, could it be done along side the road, assuming i've got enough coolant to replace what's lost? sound like a reasonable plan? i'm ready to take desperate measures if necessary...

the massive heat would also explain the lack of power. i'd compare the power to a 1961 VW beetle's power. especially so by the end of a long day's journey.

BTW, anyone have any contacts WRT jaguar maintenance in grand junction or denver colorado that can deal with an emergency cooling problem? i fear i will be needing one soon, thanks. ...i'm not kidding.

 

If you find a mechanic, he may well suggest removing the thermostat and running without one. If you follow that path, which is better than overheating in your climate, it is essential that the bypass is blocked.

 

and just to reiterate... i'm in grand junction co, on my way to ohio and could use a mechanic. it is now 2:00 a.m. on sunday, i can stay here or travel to denver tomorrow. so can be anywhere in between grand junction and denver by monday and could use a mechanic to pull the thermostat and plug the bypass. anyone with contacts that could help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

i'm not familiar with the bypass, but did some research (source: Thermostat & Bypass | Jaguar Forum).

so i guess...the bypass is designed to, under some circumstances, send coolant directly back into the engine and bypass the radiator, sooooo...unless the bypass is closed off somehow (apparently, the proper jag thermostat does this, but not off-the-shelf-replacements) a significant amount of coolant will not be cooled by the radiator, but rather be sent directly back into the engine, making removal of the thermostat less effective than it might otherwise be.

this entire sequence of events is sounding more and more like what is happening. the days start out well enough, but a significant amount of cooling is not taking place. as a consequence, as the day progresses, the engine and surrounding engine compartment and transmission and even the firewall and interior become progressively hotter and hotter, until by the end of the day the entire car is subject to massive heat saturation.

BTW, the interior is ALWAYS subjected to hot air flow once the engine is warmed up and no matter what i do with the controls nothing seems to change that. is it possible that the heater core for the interior heat (i don't know where it resides) is the ONLY radiator that is cooling the engine, and that its heat is being funneled into the interior? it feels like it.