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i used the wrong o ring on the dryer, they are .375 and i had to order them from sng barrett.
now i have cold ac again. I also adjusted the throttle cable. If you have not adjusted your throttle cable in a while, do it! It's like i have a new car.
I just replaced the lower front suspension arm bushings on my '89 convertible without any major disassembly. My car could use an entire suspension refresh but I'm just not in a good place to do that right now. (maybe never!) I've noticed that it's that lower front bushing that looks chewed up the worst. I had put my car up on ramps a few months ago, dropped the steering rack, and abandoned my idea of dropping the inner pivot bolt side of the arms to access the rear bushings. Long story short, that wouldn't work. (Though it can be done on some cars.) The car has sat for months on ramps as I was quite busy with other matters.
Anything has to be better than this!
A partially dissembled car is a dangerous car. It's dangerous because it might just never be put back together again and it's very difficult to sell a car for a decent amount in that condition. This was on my mind as I was trying to fall asleep on Thursday night. Anyhow, somehow I whipped up the Gumption to do something about it on Friday.
I realized that the front lower bushing is not contained by any frame member. Maybe I could just support the arm with a floor jack, or two, remove the pivot nut, drive the pivot bolt back, remove and replace the chewed up bushing, and button everything up. It worked.There was no reason to remove any other components such as steering rack, sway bar links etc.
Not much rubber left here!
The bushing is just a steel tube contained in a rubber tube. Luckily there isn't another steel sleeve surrounding the rubber. Once i had everything lined up properly, you position the pivot bolt in the middle of the opening. The bushing came out easily, there's nothing here to rust in place. ( Well, the pivot bolts could, but luckily not in my case.) The shredded rubber came out easily as well. I dipped the new bushing in dish washing liquid and pushed it in by hand. The first side went in almost all the way in and just needed a little bit of careful driving in. The second took a bit more fiddling. I drove the pivot back forward, I had been careful to keep the bolt centered in the opening. I snugged the nuts down a bit. I waited until I had the weight of the car on the front suspension to do the final tightening.
It just pulled out easily.
It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to replace the right side after doing the left side and improving my technique. Safety is of course paramount. The car had the front wheels supported on the ramps with the rear wheels chocked. I placed a large floor jack under the main cross member and raised it enough to relieve most of the weight on the front wheels. Appropriate jack stands were put in place. I used a good floor jack to position the arm during the procedure.
You can see how the bolt is centered in the opening. Fiddling is called for.
I don't consider this to be an entirely satisfactory repair. There's nothing to be proud of here! But I think that it has to be an improvement.
When I really do start putting miles on Cherry,,, I know the rubber of suspension bits is going to be flying all over the place, smh... Lots and lots in store!
Originally Posted by Rivguy
I just replaced the lower front suspension arm bushings on my '89 convertible without any major disassembly. My car could use an entire suspension refresh but I'm just not in a good place to do that right now. (maybe never!) I've noticed that it's that lower front bushing that looks chewed up the worst. I had put my car up on ramps a few months ago, dropped the steering rack, and abandoned my idea of dropping the inner pivot bolt side of the arms to access the rear bushings. Long story short, that wouldn't work. (Though it can be done on some cars.) The car has sat for months on ramps as I was quite busy with other matters.
Anything has to be better than this!
A partially dissembled car is a dangerous car. It's dangerous because it might just never be put back together again and it's very difficult to sell a car for a decent amount in that condition. This was on my mind as I was trying to fall asleep on Thursday night. Anyhow, somehow I whipped up the Gumption to do something about it on Friday.
I realized that the front lower bushing is not contained by any frame member. Maybe I could just support the arm with a floor jack, or two, remove the pivot nut, drive the pivot bolt back, remove and replace the chewed up bushing, and button everything up. It worked.There was no reason to remove any other components such as steering rack, sway bar links etc.
Not much rubber left here!
The bushing is just a steel tube contained in a rubber tube. Luckily there isn't another steel sleeve surrounding the rubber. Once i had everything lined up properly, you position the pivot bolt in the middle of the opening. The bushing came out easily, there's nothing here to rust in place. ( Well, the pivot bolts could, but luckily not in my case.) The shredded rubber came out easily as well. I dipped the new bushing in dish washing liquid and pushed it in by hand. The first side went in almost all the way in and just needed a little bit of careful driving in. The second took a bit more fiddling. I drove the pivot back forward, I had been careful to keep the bolt centered in the opening. I snugged the nuts down a bit. I waited until I had the weight of the car on the front suspension to do the final tightening.
It just pulled out easily.
It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to replace the right side after doing the left side and improving my technique. Safety is of course paramount. The car had the front wheels supported on the ramps with the rear wheels chocked. I placed a large floor jack under the main cross member and raised it enough to relieve most of the weight on the front wheels. Appropriate jack stands were put in place. I used a good floor jack to position the arm during the procedure.
You can see how the bolt is centered in the opening. Fiddling is called for.
I don't consider this to be an entirely satisfactory repair. There's nothing to be proud of here! But I think that it has to be an improvement.
Bit hard to see but finally had to buy a new Radiator, car is a good 20lb lighter and feels like there is less drag on the engine, I've been battling heat issues for years now the car literally runs 40% cooler, half way to the N and faster overall now that it isn't pushing coolant through a bucket of sand.
Bit hard to see but finally had to buy a new Radiator, car is a good 20lb lighter and feels like there is less drag on the engine, I've been battling heat issues for years now the car literally runs 40% cooler, half way to the N and faster overall now that it isn't pushing coolant through a bucket of sand.
Good for you Vancouver. This post of yours should automatically be sent to all new forum members, together with its equivalent about changing ALL the hoses, belts and thermostats, plugs, HT leads and cleaning earths, on taking charge of an XJS!
To answer your question Greg, I just replaced both front lower bushes. The other ones were not as chewed up as the front lowers. They were all basically intact. Besides I could replace these without disassembling the front subframe or any other components. It seems to me that those bushings bare the brunt of absorbing sharp impacts with pavement cracks and ridges. The other positions probably rotate as the arm moves up, not just being hammered back. As you could see, there wasn't much rubber left bonded to the bushing sleeve. The new bushing will obviously help restore some of the proper front end geometry.
Really, the best thing about this repair is that it something that can be pretty easily done. I am not currently in the position to deal with a totally disassembled XJS in my garage. I've just got too many other things going on in my life right now. If I can do repairs that allow me to drive the car occasionally for the next couple of years than I'm achieving my goal. Just holding onto the car and preserving it for the next few years will be an accomplishment in itself.
I'm sure that there are some forum members that think that my attitude and approach are not in keeping with the higher standards that they prefer. I wouldn't argue about that. I would also like to repair my cars properly and completely and maybe in the future I can.
When I get the chance to drive it I'll give an update. The car hadn't been started in months and I decided to prime it before I tried to start it. I turned the key on and counted to five. I did that three times and when I started it it ran really rough and smoke was pouring out the pipes. Usually I would just hold the throttle open until it clears itself out. I was trying to back it out of the garage and let the revs drop and the engine died. I managed to get it running enough to get it into the driveway. I tried to start it several times by holding the throttle wide open but I fear that I've really fouled the plugs. I'm going to pull a few to verify and I think a plug change is in my future. Two steps forward one step back!
Rivguy
No complaints from me for just changing the front ones! I did the same a few years back when I had stupidly fitted rubbish aftermarket ones which fell apart in a few miles. Good luck getting her running, in your place I would just go steadily through the basics and all will be well, no forgetting to change the fuel if it is old.
Good for you Vancouver. This post of yours should automatically be sent to all new forum members, together with its equivalent about changing ALL the hoses, belts and thermostats, plugs, HT leads and cleaning earths, on taking charge of an XJS!
Done all of the above over the years, but while doing a repair on the waterpump housing the shop decided to take the old rad out, couldn't even get the crud out from the fins let alone the sand in the lower 1/3rd, its stunning how well the cooling system works (and how crippled it can be if one key part is out of place) I can slam the car into the red line to 90mph in 40c temps and the gauge barely moves. I can even pop the hood after a highway run and not melt my face anymore from heatsoak.
Believe me I've done more rad flushes then I can count, its well worth the 800cad for a proper recore.
Hmm. How much would humidity affect the system's cooling ability? Because I've replaced everything in my system (hoses, fan, 88-degree thermostats, brand-new aluminium radiator, regularly check coolant levels) and it can still creep over the midway mark in summer city driving (a/c on), and opening the bonnet is a bit like gazing into the core of Chernobyl No. 4 reactor. Well, perhaps not quite that bad, but there's a lot of heat coming off it.
I'm not too worried about it creeping over the halfway mark, as it's still in the Normal zone, but all these people who say "I've sorted my cooling and now I can use my engine bay to store ice cream!" make me wonder if something still isn't right....
but all these people who say "I've sorted my cooling and now I can use my engine bay to store ice cream!" make me wonder if something still isn't right....
Never heard anyone say that!
My present V12, and previous as well, develops quite a bit of engine bay heat even with normal coolant temps. The longer the drive, the more heat. I dunno any way around it. I think a lot radiates up from the cat converters but no matter how you slice it you've got 10 pounds of sh*t in a 5 pound bag . There isn't anywhere for the heat to go
Good for you Vancouver. This post of yours should automatically be sent to all new forum members, together with its equivalent about changing ALL the hoses, belts and thermostats, plugs, HT leads and cleaning earths, on taking charge of an XJS!
Yup!
I've been saying "remove radiator for professional cleaning" for years and years.
These cars are decades old. Not many have rec'd proper care. I'll go out on a limb and say that's there's no way that original radiators are NOT clogged to one degree or another.
Cheers
DD
PS
We're having our annual heat wave up here in Oregon, 95ºF/36ºC days.The V12 is staying well composed, temp never goes higher than one needle-width past the center of the gauge, city traffic or highway, with no cooling system mods. I'm OK with that
And, yes, the radiator was recored!
Last edited by Doug; 08-05-2019 at 12:59 AM.
Reason: sp
Hmm. How much would humidity affect the system's cooling ability? Because I've replaced everything in my system (hoses, fan, 88-degree thermostats, brand-new aluminium radiator, regularly check coolant levels) and it can still creep over the midway mark in summer city driving (a/c on), and opening the bonnet is a bit like gazing into the core of Chernobyl No. 4 reactor. Well, perhaps not quite that bad, but there's a lot of heat coming off it.
I'm not too worried about it creeping over the halfway mark, as it's still in the Normal zone, but all these people who say "I've sorted my cooling and now I can use my engine bay to store ice cream!" make me wonder if something still isn't right....
Your cooling is perfect SDSD. Stop worrying. You are a model owner!
High praise!
I suppose being a model XJS owner (as opposed to the owner of an XJS model) means I get concerned about things I shouldn't. I do think things like "Is that just a bad road surface, or is my suspension about to collapse?" But then I'll get on a smooth bit of road, and she'll glide like she was on ice, with just the perfect amount of waft, and I'll remember why I keep maintaining her....
Under the heading of "preventative maintenance" I have amassed all the parts (I think) I'll need to build a new injector harness. I'll wait until the weather goes to crap though as I'll need to remove the old for a pattern..
07-28-2019, 01:33 PM
. There isn't anywhere for the heat to go
