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Having enjoyed a Great day out in '50 Shades' my Grey XJS, we were on our way home to 'Orange Blossom Towers' where as dusk was closing in, I decided to put on the Headlights and waited for the Orange Warning Light on the 'Dash' to go out
Except of course the 'Gremlins' had decided to come out instead and so the Warning Light just kept on glowing while Paranoia started setting in!
So when it was safe to do so I pulled over and had a quick look round the Car, where at first glance everything seemed to be ok at which point I remembered the same problem that I'd had before on 'Orange Blossom' my Red XJS
Where sure enough one of the two Number Plate Lights had gone out, where unless you're very lucky can be a real 'Nightmare' to Fix, as when you try and replace the Bulb, the Holder can literally fall apart in your hands
With the Warning Light Still Glowing, Paranoia started to set in!
Replacing the Bulb in the Number Plate Light can be a bit of a 'Nightmare' and so I decided to leave it until we got home
I've done this Job before on 'Orange Blossom' which is not exactly a 'Walk in the park!' where as predicted the Number Plate Holder just fell apart in my hands!
The Fragile Bulb Holder just fell apart and wouldn't go back together!
Trying to put a Bulb back in this is a 'Nightmare' as when you try and fit the 'Festoon Bulb' the Spring Arms keep falling off and that's before you even try and put it in that Tiny little hole and connect up the Wires
Been there done that and don't want to do it again, as that little Job can take all day to do and so I decided to 'Mod' the Bulb Holder a bit 'or rather a lot!'
Using a Glue Gun I started by gluing the Spring Connectors onto the Bulb Holder Lens (or whatever its called)
Once the Glue had hardened off, the next Job was to 'Mod' it into a one piece Composite shape
Step One: add more Glue!
Step Two: Once the Glue had Set I used a 'Dremmel' to grind the Glue into a 'Composite' Shape and then added the Bulb, which instead of being the 'Nightmare' Job that it had been before, the next time that one of these Bulbs blow, it will almost just be 'Plug and Play'
Having 'Modded' the Bulb Holder, it only took a few minutes to replace the Bulb and I also made a Spare one to keep in the Glove Box, just in case it ever Blows again!
Maybe its me but I just cannot say that I have ever been a fan of Cars with ABS and that includes my own Car 'Cherry Blossom' and so when the ABS went wrong and the Pedal went down to the floor, I decided that this was the perfect time to fit this Car with a Non ABS Braking System
Where having decided to do so, I removed the Brake Booster from a Scrap XJS Coupe that belonged to some friends of ours and where the hardest part of the job was getting the Brake Booster out of the Scrap Car, which took me Two Days!
But then removing the ABS and replacing it with the Brake Booster was a breeze, which only took about half a day to swap the whole lot over and my Insurance Company were also very cool about this mod, which I have to say came as an unexpected surprise
Though life is never that easy, as when I also checked this out with my friendly MOT Tester, what he said threw something of a 'Spanner in the Works' as although he said he would pass it providing the Brakes worked
He came up with something that I had never thought of and that was that there was a very good chance that because of the Year that my Car had been Manufactured, it may no longer have met type approval and could have been considered a 'grey area'
Where he then added that in the event of an accident, then if it turned out that the Brakes had failed then any Claim could be thrown out, if it transpired this conversion had not been professionally fitted by a Jaguar Trained Mechanic
Reluctantly I decided that what he said made sense, especially as 'Cherry Blossom' was Insured at an agreed Valuation and really didn't want to risk the possibility that all I might end up with is a Market Valuation payout
So there was really only one thing left that I could do and that was remove the Brake Booster and put back the ABS, which was very easy and only took me about half a day to swap it over
Where having now gone right back to square one, I had to fix the Problem of the Pedal going right down to the floor and that included fitting 'Cherry Blossom' with a New Accumulator Ball
Out with the Brake Booster that I had just fitted
ABS Refitted just like it was before and since I've had the practice it didn't take that long
So one of the things I needed to get was a New Accumulator Ball
What is in the Box? A New Accumulator Ball I hope!
Although before I could fit it the old Accumulator Ball first had to be removed and this was a Job that was really making me nervous! as the Pressure in that Ball is about 200 BAR or about 2000 PSI which is the sort of pressure, that you might find in an Argon Gas Welding Bottle
Where I don't need reminding of what happened last time that I took this Brake Ball off, as it virtually exploded in my hands, with Brake Fluid Spraying all over the Car and really scared the daylights out of me, even though I thought I had depressurised the System
So Please Do Not try this at home and leave it to the experts who know what they are doing or you could Harm Yourself in a Big Way, as if that Brake Ball should Break Loose then it could take your head off and so you have been Warned!
Though since I had done this before and knew what could happen, I felt the fear and did it anyway only this time I cracked the Pipe out of the High Pressure side, in the hope this may release any built up Pressure that may be trapped inside but since there was no sign of Air or Fluid coming out, I have to say I didn't know for sure
Having Pumped the Brake Pedal Multiple times to depressurise the System, I also Cracked this Connection on the High Pressure Side of the Brake Pump but since no Air or Brake Fluid came out, I have to say I didn't know if the System had been depressurised for sure
That Ball was on there really tight and needed some persuasion! This was really scary and my Heart was in my Mouth as I was imagineering as to what might happen if the Ball Broke Free! and though it might punch a great big hole in my Bonnet/Hood and maybe even Injure me in the process
So bearing all of this in mind, I proceeded with the utmost Caution!
Unscrewing the Ball very Slowly and hoping that if any pressure was left, then it might escape through the Threads
After much deliberation I decided to go for the Wabco STC 2784
When compared to the Jaguar OEM the 'Wabco' Ball looks Massive! The only Question now is will it fit or have I made a very Expensive Mistake?
The OEM Ball is 85mm X 120mm X Weight 1.25 lbs
The 'Wabco' Ball is 90mm X 120mm X 2lbs (its only 5mm Wider but that could make the difference as to whether it will fit)
When I offered up the Ball my first thoughts were OMG! its too big to go in, as the 'Sway Bar' was right in the way!
Having undone the 'Sway Bar' and moved it out of the way the Wabco Ball screwed on without a problem
With the 'Sway Bar' back in position the 'Wabco' ball still looked a little bit high or should that be wide but would there be enough room to close the Bonnet/Hood
'Yikes!' that looks a bit too close for Comfort!
Time to use the 'Grease Trick' as suggested by 'Greg'
A 'dollop' of Grease on the 'Wabco' Ball and then very carefully try and close the Bonnet/Hood if the grease sticks to the Bonnet/Hood then that could be very Bad News!
OOPs! That really wasn't what I was hoping to see!
But the 'Jaguar Gods' were with me and the Bonnet/Hood closed as easily at it has always done against the Shutline
The Bonnet/Hood Closed Perfectly with out forcing it in any way
So now lets try and close it but this time without the grease
No sign of the 'Wabco' Ball indenting the Liner of the Bonnet/Hood!
If you follow the line of Sight of the Throttle Control Rod you can see the Wabco Ball is almost a perfect fit and only just touches the Liner when the Bonnet is Closed
This was just a Trial Fit and the Installation Continues for real in Part:3 .............
Last edited by orangeblossom; 07-24-2020 at 06:27 PM.
Did you just follow the manual's procedure to pump the pedal 20 times to depressurize? You mentioned noting came out of the brake line when you cracked it, I assume that was after pumping the pedal?
When I did the 'Ball' on my Car, I had the advantage that the Ignition hadn't been turned on or the Engine started since last September, where any residual pressure in the 'Ball' has hopefully gone down
Although as a precaution, I also pumped the Pedal multiple times and also 'cracked' the fitting on the High Pressure Line, which you can see directly behind the 'Ball' where only a very small amount of Brake Fluid ouzed out, instead of the high pressure Spray of Brake Fluid that I was half expecting
In which case I would have very quickly re-tightened that fitting to stop the Spray of Brake Fluid and I also had a Towel to hand to throw over the 'Ball' just in case the worse decided to happen, at which point I would have taken another Step back in order to reassess the situation before I made my next move
As luck would have it, there was almost no pressure left in the 'Ball' and if you look at the Thread of the Jaguar OEM Ball, they have thoughtfully drilled a hole half way down the thread, as a bit of a fail safe to release any pressure before the 'Ball' strips out of its thread and either tries to kill you or knocks a hole through your Bonnet
Where this handy fail safe seems to be missing from the 'Wabco Ball' making it doubly dangerous to attempt to unscrew it which on the Jaguar OEM they warn you not to do for obvious reasons
Though as you are a seasoned pro, who's done lots of work on their Car the only thing I can add to which I'm sure you will already know, is if you decide to do this then proceed with utmost Caution and most of all be well aware of what can happen in the event that something should go wrong
'Newbies' Don't even go there!
Removing that 'Ball' is So Dangerous, that you should go and get a 'Shop' to do it
I've removed half a dozen of the *****, but the last one on my car I pumped the pedal about 30 times and I still had a spray of high pressure fluid. It tears out the O ring before the pressure is relieved by the hole, so that's why I was inquiring if cracking the brake line made a difference.
I always do wrap the connection to contain any brake fluid, but it's hard on the threads to try an undo them under pressure, so I was wondering if you had come across a foolproof way to bleed off the pressure
Unfortunately not, as exactly the same thing happened to me the first time that I tried to remove the Accumulator Ball, where the Pressure just tore through the 'O' Ring and then filled the whole Garage with a Mist of Brake Fluid, that came down on the Car
Where luckily I had the Garden Hose as well as a bucket of Water standing by to Wash everything down, although the sudden release of all that pressure combined with the Brake Fluid, really scared the hell right out of me
Although the Second time I tried this, there was hardly any release of pressure at all and so I guess you have to expect the unexpected, especially with the Range Rover Ball that doesn't seem to have that pressure relief hole
Though as you say its always a good idea to pump the Pedal multiple times (At least 20) to try and remove any pressure in the Braking System although that didn't seem to do a good job in releasing any residual pressure that had built up in the 'Ball'
Last edited by orangeblossom; 08-12-2020 at 02:06 PM.
'50 Shades' My Grey XJS just wasn't running right, as when accelerating in position (2) on The Shifter at somewhere around 4000rpm The Engine would momentarily Cut Out, which had never happened before in that Rev Range and neither did it happen with The Shifter in (D)
(Very Strange!) so Time To Consult 'The Wizard' who's forgotten more about XJS's than I will ever know, so based on the fact that he's Clever like that, I found myself kneeling in front of the 'Shrine' that I had built in his honour, lit a Stick of Incense and awaited his reply
Which came back like a Boomerang on 'Acid' Where the 'Wise One' decreed that I needed to Change the Fuel Filter and so I promptly ordered one on Ebay which then turned up on Friday being today 'How Cool Is That!'
Since the Weather was 'Sketchy' in the extreme, where Blue Skies And Sunshine suddenly turned into Torrential Rail, I decided to do this job in my Shop, with all the doors Wide Open, as you can't be too Careful when Petrol Fumes are involved, although I've done this job before and think I know what I'm doing
So what could possibly go wrong!
The Answer to that being nothing and I completed the job in about half an hour and even had time for a nice cup of Tea provided by the GF which included a packet of 'Jammy Dodgers'
Anyway lest I digress, the very first thing to do is to find the Fuel Filter
The Fuel Filter is hidden behind the Spare Wheel
'Thar She Blows' I wonder how long that's been in there?
OMG! 19th March 1995! When South Africa Won 'The Rugby World Cup'
Maybe 'The Wizard' was right it's time it was changed!
As the Fuel Pump and Filter are Gravity Fed, the first thing I did was to Clamp the Feed Pipe that goes into the Fuel Pump and then once having done so depressurise the Fuel System, Starting with the Battery OFF as Petrol Fumes and Sparks are not a good combo
There are various ways of doing this, as I could have pulled the Fuel Pump Relay (with the Red Stripe)
Another way and the one I preferred was disconnecting the Positive Wire from the Fuel Pump
Clamping the Gravity Feed Pipe that goes to the Fuel Pump
Removing The Positive Wire from the Fuel Pump
Then Battery reconnected-Start the Car and wait for the Engine to Stop and though there may be other ways this was the way I chose
What happened Next?
Well for Starters the Engine wouldn't even Start! so maybe that Fuel Filter was blocked up worse than I thought!
So now with the System now depressurised, it was time to disconnect the Battery once again
With the Next Job being to release the Fuel Filter from its Clamp, as in Slacken off its Holding Bracket enough to Slide it out
Undoing The Fuel Filter Clamp: Easy Job just a couple of Screws at the Back
Next I had the New Fuel Filter Standing By and already to take the place of the Old One
Since it is so easy to lose your place and put the Filter on 'The Wrong Way Round' in which case it definitely won't work, I like to do this one Pipe at a time from the Old Filter to the New One but be prepared for some Petrol to Start Leaking out
So don't forget to Clamp the Gravity Feed to the Fuel Pump or you will have Petrol Pouring Out Everywhere!
Isn't She Lovely: My Brand New 'Borg and Beck' Fuel Filter 'Preventive Maintenance' or What!
You might need to Clamp the Springy Steel Bracket with a Wrench to get the Screws back in
After that a Final Check to make sure that the Fuel Pipes that go onto the Fuel Filter are properly Secured and then I reconnected the Positive Wire to the Fuel Pump and Reconnected the Battery having first un-clamped the Gravity Feed Petrol Pipe to the Fuel Pump
Apart from a Couple of pieces of Trim, She was now already to go and Started right up!
Although unfortunately because of the Rain, it wasn't the day for a Test Drive and Certainly not with the Shifter in Position (2) at 4000 Revs or the Wheels might Spin!
If you and Greg hadn't shown me the way of doing all this stuff, that old filter would still be on there now!
Where just as a matter of Interest or not as the Case may be, The Lucas Filter I took off was made in Spain!
The Borg and Beck Filter was 'Peanuts' £6-97 delivered to the door
And just so you know, in the UK we drink Tea!
As you've got to keep a clear head for doing all this Stuff where biccies are essential as a drinks too wet without them!
Alex,
I accept the blame, why not.
Glad we were able to expand your knowledge and sense of adventure. Look at the work on that Merc, amazing stuff.
Every year is a bit of too much, 5 years is what I use, and earlier if I suspect a load of crap fuel. Move that filter to the engine bay, and be done with all that mess in the boot.
I am actually having a cup of tea (large mug actually) right now. Aussie Afternnoon, and a KitKat instead of biscuits, LUV the KitKat's.
Just think of the boredom in your life Greg and I have saved you from, PRICELESS.
Fuel Filter Fixed The Problem With The Engine Cutting Out!
Well what can I say 'Grant' but Love you guys!
If it hadn't been for you and 'Greg' I'd be scratching my head and wondering what to do!
As for those who may not have been following this '50 Shades' my Grey XJS was playing up something shocking when hard accelerating in (2) on the Shifter, where without any warning the engine would cut out!
Although this never happened in (D) for Drive
Where with a list as long as your Arm of all the things it could be 'The Wizard' nailed it first time round, when he told me to change the Fuel Filter, which when looking I found out had been on this Car since 1995!
OMG Sacre Bleu! or what, although hidden away behind the Spare Wheel, you don't tend to notice these things or at least I did not, Yeah! Shame on me I know!
That's the kind of preventative maintenance that could get you killed, as having the engine cut out like that when you're overtaking is like writing out your very own Suicide note!
And so straight onto ebay to order a New Fuel Filter, which was very easy to put on
As it was chucking it down with rain, it wasn't the day for a Test drive and although the following day didn't look any better, suddenly the Sun came out of nowhere and with the ground now all dried out, there'd never be a better time to Test the Car than now, unless I wanted to wait till next Summer!
So with the Key in the Ignition and having changed the Filter, I really wondered if She'd even Start
The Answer being Yes! She did and fired up like a light switch with Zero hesitation and even idled just a little bit faster than before, so backing her out of the driveway at 'Orange Blossom Towers' I drove her down to a private runway I know, where guys take their Hot Hatches to try out
The difference was nothing short of Astonishing! as with the Shifter now in (2) I Floored her! where She took me by surprise and took off like a Missile down the Runway and then She turned into a Wild Thing that just didn't want to stop, as this time the Engine showed no signs of cutting out at any speed
So I guess you could say this Test was pretty conclusive, as that New Filter took this Car up to another level of performance, so having left the Runway it was then back to being a 'Sunday driver'
Why is there never an Autobahn when you need one!
And you were absolutely right, as You and 'Greg' did an excellent job of Colouring up my very dull life and giving me a real sense of Adventure!
It wasn't exactly what you would call a great day but unusually for this time of the year tomorrow was predicted to be Sunny, so as it wasn't raining I thought I'd call into the Garage and fill her up just in case!
As with all the Lock down Stuff, that kind of spoilt the Summer we hadn't really been out very much but have been spending all out time on a very different sort of project
'Nice Car!'
Oh yeah, Cheers!
'How long have you had her?'
Can't remember off the bat but probably hundreds of years
'I love those Cars but never knew that they made a diesel'
What! what do you mean a Diesel!
At that moment in time I wanted to die and go and end it all, had I just grabbed the wrong pump and Filled her up with Diesel by mistake?
Enveloped in a Cloud of Shame I was almost in tears as that is the kind of humiliation that you can never get over
I really didn't know where to look but instead just started to curse myself for being so blinking stupid as well as resigning myself to the fact that I would never ever be able to live this down
But just hang on a minute! I was holding the Green Filler Gun and since the Diesel one was Black, I started to wonder what the heck had happened!
What do you mean diesel? they only made a petrol one as far as I know so She's not diesel
Cue: Passive Aggressive Laughter coming from my 'New Friend'
'No,No,No, I didn't mean that, it's just that She sounds like a diesel with that blowing exhaust you've got there
Oh Yeah, I know but the Weather has been too bad to fix it and that is something I'm going to do myself. as I'd never let a Garage anywhere near Her
This Guy was just so full of bad vibes, that I had better things to do than spend the whole day talking to someone like him, so flashing the Cash just as fast as I could and having once paid for the Petrol, I was out of there
Although I really felt hacked off, I knew that Guy was right as the Exhaust had been blowing much too loud for far too long and knew I should and no doubt could have fixed it long ago, even though I had tried to but also abysmally failed
And so as soon as I got back to 'Orange Blossom Towers' I got out the Spanners and then crawled underneath to take a look, where I could see that some Idiot had tried to fill the hole by the join in the Exhaust Pipe down pipe, up with body filler
Ok so I'll 'Fess Up' now, that Idiot was me!
Except that this was not the time for recriminations, as I had work to do!
So trying to block that out of my mind, I undid the join to see what was wrong, at which point I remembered why I decided to bodge it up in the first place as the hole in the Exhaust Pipe was in an almost impossible position to try and Weld up
What I really needed was one of those Clamp Together joiners
Except of course it was Sunday and the Car Accessory Shop was closed and even then I doubted if they'd have one and even if they did, buying anything from them is horrendously expensive and I always come away feeling that I have been ripped off
As the last time I was in there, they were charging One Pound each! for just a Tiny little Copper Washer to go on the Fuel Pump of the Merc
Even Dick Turpin would have worn a Mask! or at least he would have done these days to avoid a Fine!
And though I could have got one of those joiner things off ebay, that would have taken quite a few days and I couldn't wait that long and so I decided that I would try and make one, I mean how hard can it be!
Which was something that I was now about to find out, but since I didn't have any Tube, decided to try and make myself an internal joiner instead
OMG! what a Bodge Up! but the hole was on the far side making it very difficult to Weld
It was looking pretty Sketchy all around that Trumpet rim on the right but then I had an idea!
Get a great big Stilson Wrench and half a gallon of WD and then spend what felt like forever trying to get the connector off this old Water Pipe
By some incredible Miracle the Donut was a 'tap on' fit over that Connector
Oh Yeah Baby! That's what we're talking about, an obvious talent going to waste or what!
Having Inserted my Home made Internal Joiner, it may not look very pretty but the end result was perfect with no sign of any leaks
She doesn't sound like a Diesel now! what a blinking Cheek!
And so now with the ride back on and unusually lovely Weather for this time of the year, we had a really great day out in Supurr....Silent '50 Shades' My Grey XJS
Last edited by orangeblossom; 10-20-2020 at 04:49 AM.
Where there is a will there is a way! You never lose until you stop trying. Nice job, looks like a fine repair. Exhaust can be one of the most aggravating things to work on. Especially after it's several years old, and a little / or a lot rusty. Then it becomes a real challenge. LOL!
Cheers for that but giving up is really not an option
Though what I forgot to mention was that I also took Grants advice and bedded that homemade connector in with some of that RTV High Temp Silicone, which completely sealed the deal so that it wouldn't leak
Although maybe the biggest surprise was that the end of the down pipe didn't get as hot as I expected at only 160o/c and would run even cooker when on the road with air rushing past it
Restoring 'Cherry Blossom' to her former glory, was such good fun that looking back I wondered where all the time went and came across my Video diary in the Archives where none of this would have been possible without the help and advice from Greg and Grant as well as contributions from everyone else along the way
Where watching it back is making me feel extremely Sentimental as before I joined the Forum I knew nothing and so I am feeling very surprised that I managed to get this far and only wish I could do it all over again but when you buy an XJS its really never over, as you know
06-28-2020, 11:18 AM
