Today I replaced the seized wiper motor and it's assemby. It was not too bad, as everything came apart easily and swapped over from the donor Lucas motor I got from Ebay for 75 bucks (Cheap! ) My question is this: Do the arms park to the right (Passenger) side, or to the left (driver) side when off? I have a model with left side drivers position for North America. I see pictures both ways...which is correct?

 

They park on the USA passenger side for USA cars. You don't want them parked in your face.

 

That's what I figured...thanks!

 

My US spec 86 parks in your face.

 

which is correct? The factory could not have made them different sides for the same model year.

 

Extensive research by the really knowledgeable guys in the JEC came to the conclusion that there is NO repeat NO discernible pattern to the XJS pre facelift wiper parking side! There is no consistency in year, model, market, or anything else.
My own belief is that in the factory they just fitted whatever turned up on the line without any thought to driver convenience. Just a matter of using available stocks.
However, it is extremely straightforward to undo and re-seat the arms on the drive spindle splines to get them as low as possible, and then to bend the arm sideways to get the blade flat on the bottom of the windscreen.

 

That makes complete sense! Talk about poor quality control and inconsistency on the factory line....

 

I know a guy who worked at the factory during the E Type and early XJS days and we had this conversation, his answer was Jaguar used whatever was next on the shelf, he told me they put a S1 E Type dash in a S3 V12 roadster in the last month of production just to get rid of the old stock, would be interesting to see this turn up in a concourse it would fail.

 

I guess that when Ford owned Jaguar that they put an end to this sort of crap. Assembly lines are designed to be uniform...not whatever you feel like building. I blame bad supervision.

 

My 95 4.0 coupe parks in my face...I am looking for right side park arms to convert my park position. Right side park arms are DAC 11036 & DAC 11038.

 

I was under the impression that they parked on the drivers side (US cars) up until about '91'ish and then switched to the passenger side.

If there is a way to adjust the motor to set them to park on the passenger side I'm all for it.

 

Did you read the entire thread? Apparently a good source of knowledge stated that the assembly line did whatever they wanted. They were assembled both left and right sides in park position. I believe all you have to do is unbolt the arms and reposition.

 

I like the look on your car much better. Once I get some other issues sorted out I'm going to look at tinkering with this project. I wasn't clear. It was just my impression that the wipers parked to the drivers side until about '91. I wasn't trying to state it as fact. I had not seen enough cars to notice that there was no rhyme or reason so it and the factory just stuck in whatever was on the shelf. Crazy way to run a business....right into the ground.

 

I agree with you 100 percent. Talk about **** poor quality control! I questioned the proper side because my wiper motor crapped out (Chronic to XJS) and when I replaced it myself I Googled 86 Jaguar images and saw them both ways. Apparently there is no proper way....just be glad they still work.

 

Also, the wiper motors had 3 different configurations. The connections differ and are not interchangeable. My 86 takes a Lucas motor, some later use an Electrolux. And I'm told the very early models used something different as well.

 

More specifically, poor management of parts procurement/inventory on the assembly line.

Jaguar lists specific part numbers for right and left sides for both LHD and RHD cars. If their system didn't keep the assembly line properly stocked with (of all things) wiper arms, that's pretty sad. A temporary supply problem is understandable but if the problem occurred over a range of years, as it apparently did, you gotta wonder.

But.....that's Jaguar for ya.

I mark it down to the human touch. It's all part of the character of the cars.....like woodwork with the craftsman's name on the back. Sometimes you love something as much for its imperfections as anything else.

Cheers
DD

 

This is one of those stories that, on one hand, sounds as though it has benefitted from some 'embellishment' over the years. After all, the last E-types were built in, what? 1974? 1975? The idea that the assembly line would still have S1 instrument panels on hand....last used in 1967....seems absurd even by Jaguar standards.

On the other hand, we're talking about Jaguar.

Cheers
DD

 

If you move the wiper arms to park on the other side you need to modify the motor linkage 180 degrees first. There is a procedure on this site that has pictures on how to do that. I believe it was the Electrolux motor assembly that they changed.

 

Look up Benj628 post on the wiper blade modification. He has pictures to show how he did it.