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I am trying to revive a 37K mile car that was parked with transmission problems in 1992. The original owner kept it in a heated garage with a pile of blankets on top for his cat to sleep on, he even kept the stock optional pirelli p5 tires inflated the entire time! Not surprisingly but sadly I believe it has at least one stuck or sticking valve.
I had the Transmission rebuilt and went through a pretty standard make run procedure; flushed out old fluids, cleaned and remounted the injectors,Bleed brakes, cooling system, power steering. Clean gas, replaced all fuel lines in engine compartment. The installed plugs are champion n10yc which is cooler than the recommended n9.
So the moment of truth arrived last week I ran the fuel pump a few times and gave it a try. It lit right up but when I put it in gear and drove around...gutless, something was wrong. I assumed bad gas or air pocket in fuel rail maybe a clogged injector. The exhaust was cold on the A Bank and blowing puffs of white smoke from the B Bank. I parked the car for the night and the next morning I turned the car over and heard a loud click. I pulled off the HT lead so it would not start and spun the motor over slowly Click! really loud . I traced it back to A5 pulled the intake and valve covers nothing visibly wrong checked lash on both heads All close to spec none under .010 none over .013.
There was plenty of fresh oil under the valve covers, I have high oil pressure showing at the gauge so it wasn't a dry starting problem, however the inside of the intake runners were sticky with nasty varnish. I soaked the top end in a cocktail of Sea foam and AT fluid overnight then tried bumping the motor over again, Yay no click. I put it all back together fired it up...Still gutless. Parked it overnight and the next morning...bumped over slowly and Click it's back.
Aaaargh. Does it sound like a sticky valve he said hopefully?
The car is such a creampuff.It still has 40 year old factory paper tags connected to the wiring harness.
If I were you, the next thing I'd do is pull all the plugs and perform a compression test. When you fire it up, did you warm up the engine to full operating temp before take it around the block??
When you rebuilt the transmission, did you actually find any failure points?? The reason I ask is that after 25 years of being laid up, people could have lost the real reason years ago. Maybe instead of a trans issue they meant to tell you that the engine overheated and dropped a valve seat... Just sayin. You can try your cocktail again and let it sit for a few more days. It's entirely possible that a valve is sticking. Good luck
Ideas. Agree, A 5 is sticking. Swamping the varnish out of the intakes is a plus. But, more of that goop exists. At the throttle butterfly valves. And worse, in the cylinders.
One worse than the others.
In the old days, we would run the engine and drip in a choice of stuff from water to Casite, a light oil. tons of smoke with most. Today, if we did that it would mean the
hoosegow or a hefty lightening of the pocket book.
With cam cover off the A bank, apply some "brew" directly to the A5 valves and crank. Objective: Clean the stems of those valves.
Thanks for the tips and the encouragement. I pulled the plugs today and did a compression test dry then with a few Tbsp of MM oil in the cyls. What a difference! The cyl walls and rings must be covered with sticky goo. I'm soaking the cyls tonight and will post readings tomorrow. I don't really think pressures will be truly representative, I suspect they will change dramatically if I can put some miles on the car.
Did I mention the loud click went away again? I'm hoping the best case scenario is in play and the valve came unstuck.
Any other tips or tricks before I try and drive it? It's disconcerting that it's been sitting so long. I'm pretty sure I remembered all the lube points!
Stuck rings seem to be the conclusion. Testing the rings during the compression test saw an 85 psi increase in the compression of A4 to 150 psi.
Fingers crossed I did not crack any rings.
The Transmission only worked in reverse gears, I tried adjusting the bands with no effect. My re builder charged me for $300 in new parts including bands so something was not right.
Cheers!
Last edited by bishopthirteen; 01-16-2017 at 12:55 PM.
...also I found this when I dropped the transmission pan. But point taken I've found many issues that must have driven the PO insane It's forensic, tracing issues back to mechanic; oversights, incompetence and lack of research.
Crimes against Cats!
Thanks for asking to see more. caveat I wiped off the dust and washed the glass, any more, in my experience would be hubris and ensure I'll never get it running!
Hello Handsome. I could see the exhaust pipes and bumper peeking out from under a layer of blankets only when my neighbors garage door was open. I became a bit of a car stalker on my daily walks. I haven't even wiped the interior down yet. Creampuff! Super easy to R&R transmission. whew. These little paper tags are attached all over the wiring. Even under the hood. Creampuff!
Finally we get to see this Lovely example of a Rare and Endangered Species!!
Caution is probably a good idea; only a light dusting for show; wouldn't want to tempt "fate."
Any time you find one of those paper tags you've got a Bonus!
(';')
In the old days, we would run the engine and drip in a choice of stuff from water to Casite, a light oil. tons of smoke with most. Today, if we did that it would mean the
hoosegow or a hefty lightening of the pocket book.
You could just run some DOT4 brake fluid through the carbs / injection while the engine is idling. Everything is sqeaky clean after that....works wonders on valves....
WARNING: If you live near an American Indian reservation, you might be visited by Native Americans, because of the smoke signal your car will make when using this method.
Brake fluid. Hmmm, Seafoam and ATF seemed pretty hardcore but wow that is the next level up. I'll file that info away for emergencies.
Due to snow I only opened my garage door just high enough for the exhaust to poke outside... everyone knows whats coming... Total white out, I thought there was an electrical fire under the hood at first then I looked outside Woah!! I'll likely never have mosquitoes again.
what a nice find. i worked on mine for 5 years. sold it to another jag man. some xjs parts, crane flamethrower, lincoln elec. fan, a/b bank temp. senders, 4 spd with laycock OD
bought the car out of s dakota USA with the lower air effect kit already on. got VERY lucky and found the deck spoiler on eBay and payed $$$. being period pieces i would think the parts are much rarer than the car itself. i know that you have a great coupe community there in oz (mostly in sydney though). every time i see these pics i get serious seller's remorse. so now i'm getting what i consider to be one of jags sweetest cars ever, an s type r.
Not my thread, but you have my forgiveness. Value? About the same as the sleeves of a vest.
Gotta laugh though. Three local examples of "getting forgiven trumps getting permission"!!!
1. Large art academy acquired many buildings and rushed internal changes. permits, naah take too long. True. Got nailed. Settled up.
2. A rent a lyft company. Ran driverless cars sans DMV blessing. Run out of town.
Welcomed in a nearby state. shipped out. Then made peace with the DMV and are back, in a modified fashion.
3. Rent a bike company. City feared bikes dumped anywhere. A Chinese company did that in China. Permit delay by political scuffle. Popular I nearby city. Bike company needed the $'s. Proceeded. Worked a deal, in business.
On topic:
That is a great engine bay. It is too bad that "modern" cars hide the artistry. I like those air cleaners. And the blue electrics. Outstanding.
01-13-2017, 09:29 PM
Garage Find 1976 XJ12C says Ping!?
