OB,

Don't worry about the ABS light at the moment. It's likely that it's seeing a problem that doesn't really exist once the car is moving. One way to confirm is to get the car to move at more than 8mph and see if the light then goes out and stays out. Many of the ABS systems work like this.

I'd suggest you do all the work, drive the car and see if the problem just goes away and doesn't come back!

PAul

 

Hi Paul

I am so glad you chipped in on this, as I was scared of even moving the Car with the ABS light on.

As I thought that I might damage the System.

 

OB,

Many older ABS systems usually have lights thrown because the sensors have thrown a spurious or unexpected signal of rotation rates of the wheels.

I had my old XJ8 up on axle stands last week whilst I ran the engine and transmission to knock off the surface rust on the discs etc. With the wheels getting confused by spinning at different rates, I had ABS lights, traction control lights etc flashing like a Christmas tree!

There MAY be a problem, but it really is easier to check all the sensors are tight in their housings, check the wiring connectors are intact, then move the car when you've done all the work and I reckon there's a good chance it will go out!

Paul

 

Phew! Thanks Paul, that is a relief!

 

From your description it doesn't sound like it was running long enough for the ABS light to go out.

On the early ABS system XJS, if the car has sat long enough, it takes quite awhile for the ABS system to build up pressure.

On my '90 Conv. I can back out of the garage and onto the street and start to head out before the light goes out.

 

I had a problem with my 91 Suburban yanking real hard to the right when I hit the brakes.
Turned to be the lefthand brake hose going to the calipers. Visual inspection didn't show anything until the engine was running and someone hit the brakes while I was examining
the lefthand brake calipers. The brake hose ballooned out through a crack in the hose.
A few more times and the hose would have burst.
The point is that the lefthand caliper was not engaging and all of the brake fluid pressure
was going to the right hand brake caliper.
I replaced all of the brake hoses and I inspect them visually and by having someone hit the brakes while I look for any bulging/ballooning of the hoses. The Suburban was 14 years old at that point and the hoses looked to be the original hoses. Too old !

P O R (Press On Regardless)

 

Hi Mac

On my Grey XJS the ABS light goes out in an instant but up until Paul put me wise, I would never have taken the Car out until this had happened.

I had 'The Ice Maiden' running for about 20 minutes and was getting really worried about the ABS light not going out.

But Paul has now put my mind to rest about that.

She probably needs a good old run around to sort that out.

 

Hi When the problem started, I renewed everything!

Calipers/hoses and even brand new brake pads, in an attempt to cure the problem of the Car suddenly diving to the right.

Its 100% the ABS Actuator, so a major strip down and rebuild is what I am planning to do.

 

Help Please Guys!

I cannot unlatch the Soft Top.

Having spent the morning clearing out the Garage, so I can work on 'The Ice Princess' (formally known as 'The Ice Maiden) in all weathers while I remove and then repair the ABS Actuator.

I wanted to reverse her in, so I could get round her better and thought it would be easier to see where I was going with the Top down.

But 12 years of Standing has taken its toll and the Button on one of the latches refuses to budge, as it has probably got a bit corroded.

I've soaked it in 'The Mixture' 50% Acetone/ATF perfected by 'Greg in France' and also a good spray over with WD40.

But it's just stuck rock solid and won't move.

It looks like it needs a bit of a Tap with a hammer to free it off but I don't know what its made off and I certainly don't want to damage it in any way at all.

Even though I got her in the Garage without any problems, there will come a time, when hopefully soon, I will want the Top down anyway.

Has anyone had this problem and how did you fix it?

 

OB,

See if you can get to the adjuster / locknut that tensions the hook which fastens the hood, at the other end of the handle and slacken it off.

If not, undo the handle on the other side, adjust the locknut to put a little bit more tension on the hook on that side and refasten that side. That can then help to release a bit of tension on the jammed side, which may help.

I'll have a look at mine tomorrow and see if I can think of any other solutions.

Paul

 

Hi Paul

Thanks but I'm not sure that's going to do it, that little catch on the end of the handle doesn't rock at all.

I think it needs a bit of a Tap with something like a rubber mallet but I don't want to do that, unless I really have to.

I think the pin that it rocks on has corroded itself to the catch, so I will keep soaking it in stuff, while I work on the ABS.

If you come up with a solution, please let me know.

The Catch looks like it is made of plastic but its probably manganese hence the corrosion.

 

Good one OB.

You must have FAITHJ, its a Jaguar, and a V12, and so simple, why would it not run, got me buggered.

The ABS is "possibly" just a flat "bomb". Of course it could be any number of things, and ABS module failures are getting rather common on this year Jag now. So much so that many have simply bitten the bullet and backward fitted the Non ABS under bonnet system.

A good, and I mean a GOOD, brake fluid flush may be all it needs as far as caliper issues are concerned. I know you are in the UK (rust central), but that looks and sounds like a "dry storage" Jag.

Post up the issues one to a thread, and we will sort it.

I will get a 1.25ltr JD tomorrow in readiness for the onslaught.

 

That is Great News 'Your Excellency' (aka 'The Wizard of OZ')

The 'Princess' is now in the Garage, so that I can get all the way round her as in the UK (rust central) its Sunshine and Showers every day.

Having got the wiring loom out of the way (I've got a set of Star Keys) but not one to fit the Star Bolt near the Windscreen! (seems a strange size)

No matter as it was quite easy to push out of the way and last night I undid a Caliper nipple so that the old fluid could drain away and loosened off the Plastic reservoir thingy.

Spraying all and sundry with WD40 to protect against any Brake Fluid spills and put a load of the GF's best bath towels underneath the Actuator to catch any brake fluid drips.

And soaked and keep on soaking the 4 bolts that clamp the Pedal Box assembly to the Car in the Special Mixture!

So now with just those 4 bolts to undo, I should be able to Carefully lift the Pedal box assembly together with the Actuator out.

But there is one thing stopping me! and that is the bolt that is right underneath one of the bonnet/hood catches.

What the hell were they thinking! why on earth did they put that bolt there!

Do you think I should take the bonnet catch off? which looks a real 'Bar Steward' of a job, as those Phillips screws or whatever they are look like they're on there real tight!

Or will/should the bolt still come out without doing that?

After what you've been saying, if/when I get the ABS Actuator out! I am really tempted to 'Retro Fit' non ABS, which is in one of my other XJS's that won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Is it an easy swop over, or would I have to make up different brake pipes, or move the existing ones to a different place?

Also where does the VAC Hose go? would I have to drill and tap another hole somewhere?

That could be a 'five spanner job' for a non mechanic like me!

Though if its not too difficult, then I am willing to give it a go.

Do you reckon Non ABS is a better set up altogether?

'The Ice Princess' in the Garage which I totally emptied out and even put a Carpet on the floor.



What's the best way to get this bolt out, should there be room to undo it, or does the Bonnet/Hood Catch need to come off?



Draining out the old brake fluid under 'The Ice Princess'



Brake ABS Actuator drained and nearly ready to be unbolted from the Bulkhead.

 

Try a 1/4 drive socket. It might be small enough. Then use an adapter to 3/8 for touque. I have all those parts in a box I was going to sell to a member. Once I removed the parts I never heard from him again. Sounds like he was just messing with me and wasting my time.

 

OB
Undoing the huge pozis that hold the catch is not at all easy, moreso with the brake actuator in the way. When I rebuilt I changed them for hex headed bolts that you can get hold of at least. Those pozis round over VERY easily and then you are really in trouble

HOWEVER there is a very much easier solution! Inside the car is the bonnet release lever, leaving the bonnet open, pull it closed as if you were closng the bonnet. The piece of steel blocking you will miraculously move!

It is the lever to which the release/close cable is attached!

pip pip
Greg

 

Hi Greg

Amazing! Doh! Why did I not think of that!

'Greg in France' to the rescue once again!

Yeah! As soon as I saw those Pozis, rounding them off was the only thing I could think of.

But then its not unusual to have to take the Car to bits, just to get to the part you need to take off.

 

Greg solved that mystery real easy. It took me days to think outside the box enough to do that back in '94. Something in the water in France, for sure.

The Retro is a time consuming efort, and a donor car with all the bits is mandatory.

From memory, and I was the "drinks guy" when my mate did it a looooooong time ago to his'88 Conv.

The vac is from the RH inlet manifold end plate, and his had a plug in the hole, so simple to fit a hose spigot. The end plate off the donor car is plan B.

The brake pipes simply reshaped to fit, again that is memory.

The distribution block down on the RH inner wing created havoc with bleeding, so was replaced with a simple brake spec "T" block purchased from a brake specialist. The wire was tucked out the way.

Thats about it.

It took us a good 10 hours, coz the donor car was 20kms away, and the number of "little bits" we forgot, got us both a tad testy near the end, but it worked out fine, and the car stops just fine.

ABS is now a good trouble free system, but these early systems were/are a MONGREL, and you have nailed it earlier in the thread with the brake fluid back flow mistake that ALL these cars have suffered from prior to our ownership.

That fluid looks pretty clean in that container, so is a good sign to me, but 12 years is 12 years.

 

OB,

Without wishing to put you off, you might want to do a bit of research before you fit a non-ABS system.

I don't know how your MoT station is going to view it. Your car is supposed to have ABS with a system that lights up on ignition then extinguishes any warning lights once its pressurised and tested. You're going to have to remove all the electrical circuits then PROVE to the tester that you don't have ABS. That should be fairly easy, but if an awkward tester sees anything such as the sensors in the ABS rings on the hubs etc, he might decide to be deliberately awkward. And a young tester who doesn't know what he's looking at might just refuse to believe you!

I'm sure it's been done before, but just do a bit of talking to MoT stations etc before you dive in. Just a thought....

Paul

 

I AGREE 100%.

Just the fact it is possible does not mean it is viable.

We have NO such testing anywhere down here, so as long it is using what another model of the same car used, no issues.

In my state, the "lumping" is a nightmare, to be polite, when attempting to get it thru that particular testing area, but other states are more liberal.

Even wheel spacers are NOT allowed where I live. A lot of guys have them, and are on the edge with the law.

 

OB
PJTS and Grant quite correct. A light that does not work on the dash is soon to become a fail, just in itself. So a quiet talk with your old style MoT guy a good plan before any conversion work, if you need to do it.

The good news is that when your car was built, being a pre-facelift, ABS was was not mandatory in the UK. So if necessary you can fix the 'missinglight' problem by removing it entirely from the cluster.

As far as the actual conversion goes, dead simple. You just need the master cylinder, the brake servo, the vac reservoir, and the associated vac reservoir/servo/manifold piping (some is hard, some flexible) the non-return valve in the manifold line, the fluid reservoir, and some brake piping and fittings. Making up piping is dead easy DIY and/or cheap for any garage to do for you. The takeoff from the manifold for the servo is part of the A bank endplate, and you can easily enough get that, the vac servo, vac reservoir and associated piping, and any other hardware bits you need from a breaker or a parts car. If ever the time comes, I could easily write you a step by step, as could many others I am sure. The actual piping to the calipers is the same, it is just a matter of connecting the master cylinder to it via some T pieces etc. Genuinely not hard to do; a day at most when you are raedy to go with all the bits in place.

FWIW, I have never found it a problem over 100,000 mile with the XJS having a non ABS model.

greg
Greg