Hi all,

I`ve not used my XJR since about November, when I went to start it about a month ago it was obviously dead as a doornail, so took the battery out & charged it. Put it back in the car a couple of weeks ago, but didnt start it (did cycle the locking & it was fine).

Last week I had to move it as a neighbour was getting a building delivery, got in it & it just about had enough power to put the interior lights on, but not enough to operate the central locking. Tried jumping it, wasnt having it, even after 10 minutes with the other car at 2000 revs, so ended up towing it out of the way. "I need a new battery" I thought.

Ordered a new 019 Lucas Premium battery which came today. I fitted it this evening, alarms gone off as I was fitting it as usual, finished off & got in.

Turned the key onto ignition, then off, then started it... It seemed to struggle to start, like either the starter was semi-seized, or maybe something dragging the belt, but did start on that first go after several revolutions.

Straight away "Battery not charging" came up on the dash, & within seconds smoke started coming out from under the bonnet!!! so I switched it off & opened the bonnet. The smoke was just clearing, smelt `electrical` & seemed to be coming out from the front of the engine, but luckily nothing appeared to be on fire, & I couldnt see any melted wired (although I`m pretty sure its melted some somewhere..).

Thats as far as I`ve got, as I live on a narrow busy road & working on it where it is is impossible during the rush hour.

I then got out & cycled the central locking a few times to set it & hopefully turn everything off.

I`ve had the car for about 8 years, & changed & removed batteries 5-8 times, never had anything like this.

The only electrical problem I`ve had before was an alternator overcharging about 2 years ago, this was swapped with a good used one & hadnt caused any problems since.

Anyone else had anything like that?

 

I would certainly be inspecting the serpentine belt area. Maybe an idler or accessory froze up from sitting and locked the belt up. This would cause difficulty starting and certainly a smell from belt slip on the crank pulley. A locked up belt would also not be spinning the alternator and charging the battery like it should be. I would say this is coincidental and has nothing to do with your battery issue.

 

I`d agree apart from the smell, it was a distinct electrical burning smell, as opposed to a `rubbery` seized belt, so I`m assuming whatever load was causing the issue has put pressure on an electrical item, either starter or alternator, or its wiring?

 

As you say the car struggled to start the first place I would look is the starter. Check and clean the connections. Following that, the alternator and associated wiring. Fully charge the battery and have someone check the engine bay while you try to start.

 

I'd be wondering if I put the new battery in backwards.

 

Yeah, I`ll try to jack it up tomorrow if I get time, see what damage has been done & if I can see anything obvious.

I`m fully expecting to see a melted loom somewhere under there, with the amount of smoke that poured out.

I must say, it scared the hell out of me, I`ve never had to deal with a car fire, & for a minute I genuinely thought it was going that way.

 

No, I`m not quite that bad!

 

Well, I just got round to having a look (I`ve been ill, ripped the muscles away from my ribs down my left side, still sore!), I was on my own, I started off by checking the OBD for any errors, none came up... So I opened the bonnet, stood by the door & started it.

Again, it was struggling to turn over, started, smoke started instantaneously, so I turned it off.. Turns out its the water pump pulley thats seized. It has got a good percentage of antifreeze, so it must just be the bearings felt like giving up while its been standing.

Typically its its first failure in 8+ years of ownership, just when I needed an auto..

Now I`ll have to check how complex it is to change & if its feasible to do it at the side of a busy, narrow road..

 

The water pump shouldn't be too bad to do, the most time consuming part will be draining and filling coolant. Make sure you get a replacement pump with a metal impeller. Also, break loose the water pump pulley bolts loose before taking the belt off.

 

Yeah, I looked through the guides, doesnt look hard at all, but with my ribs the way they are working from the side isnt going to be easy, so I`m going to have to take the bonnet (hood) off.

The guides I`ve seen say `non supercharged`, I can only think they are saying that as you have to take the supercharger belt off first?

I hope none of the bolts break either, they only look like 10mm, & havent moved in 18 years..

 

PB Blaster is what I use before removing old bolts. I try to spray the day before I do the work so it can soak in.

 

From what I can tell, the bolts (with washers moulded in) pass all the way through the water pump before you get to the thread (a good inch+), penetrating fluid will have little or no effect on them unfortunately.

 

It's a simple enough job to swap the waterpump and they're a cheap item
OEM https://www.britishparts.co.uk/produ...asket-AJ88912G
Pattern part https://www.britishparts.co.uk/produ...asket-AJ88912G

There's the old 'service position' on the bonnet, unclip the top of the bonnet struts and rope a broom head against the top inner panel of the bonnet, propping the end of the shaft against the bulkhead, miles more access.
Removing the SC belt is best done with the fan assembly removed, which is a couple of bolts, some cable ties and the loom plug. Once that's out the way you can crack on with the job. A 1/2" long bar in the tensioner body swing it and slip the belt off the charger pulley. Similar with the long belt. The pump pulley, to tighten the bolts I've used a spanner across the other two to lock it. The bolts to engine are high tensile and take a lot of torque, once you get it moving, back it up and forward work them out that way.
I'd go with a new accessory belt obviously it will have stretched with friction.

 

I`m still quite restricted with my movement, bending over & reaching from the side is pretty much impossible at the moment, plus I dont want to break any of those capillary pipes (like I did when I refitted the belt after doing the alternator back in 2012). It would be much easier with the bonnet off (the bonnet needs realignment anyway, as it catches when both opening & closing). Good call on the fan removal, it is pretty tight in there.

I hope the bolts are high tensile enough, as a snapped one would turn a simple job into an absolute nightmare!

 

I couldnt do it, it was just too dodgy with my ribs (which still arent heeled properly yet). I`ve just had another look a month on & was able to delve deeper this time.. Although there was stripped/melted rubber on the water pump pulley last time, I saw there was a lot more rubber down on the alternator pulley, so I loosened the tensioner off, forced my hand & as much of my arm as I could between the top rad hose & fan shroud (taking a fair amount of skin off in the process) & after peeling the belt away from the pulley, couldnt turn it, so I`d say thats the culprit...

As I said, I changed it in 2012 & have only done around 10,000 miles since, so I`m not best pleased.

I have still got the old alternator, it was the voltage regulator that had gone in that, so I`m going to have to get this one off the car, swap the reg onto the old one, then put that back, but its not going to be possible to do it where it is, so I`m going to have to tow it somewhere to do it.

The belts obviously too damaged to re-use, so that`ll have to be changed, which will entail taking the supercharger belt off, so I might as well change that too.

I`ve had my Jag for 8 years, & this is the second problem I`ve had, it does feel slightly ironic that its the Japanese part that keeps breaking! Maybe they should have got Lucas to do the alternators...