The XJ6 Jaguar from Bumper to Bumper

Jim Isbell
Copyright September 3, 1996
Austin Texas USA

Revision 1.5 Copyright Sept. 23, 1996
Revision 1.51 Copyright Oct. 3, 1996
Revision 2.0 Copyright Nov. 18, 1996
Revision 3.0 Copyright Sept 11, 1997

"The Small Print"

This book covers the XJ6 Jaguar from 1968 to 1986 (1987 in countries other than the USA).
Even though the later Jaguar sedans are marked on the back with an XJ6 badge they are more
commonly known as the XJ40. This book does not cover the XJ40.

NOTE: A statement followed by ....8-) indicates that the statement is made "tongue in cheek"
and is not meant to be taken seriously.

There are jokes in this book, don't take them seriously.

If I state that something is "expensive" I mean it has been expensive in the area where I live.
By expensive I mean that it costs much more than an equivelent part for a more common
automobile.
Suggestions that something "can be done" are not recommendations that it "should be done."
Any modifications to the original car are made at the owners risk.
This book is not meant to replace a proper repair manual. This book is a supplement to a good
manual. If something in this book does not make sense to you then use your own judgment,
that's what it's there for.
The author has made every reasonable attempt to ensure that the information in this book is
correct, however no liability will be accepted by the author or the publishers for loss, damage or
injury caused by any errors in, or omissions from, the information given.

The XJ6 Jaguar From Bumper to Bumper
Help for the Jaguar XJ6 owner
by Jim Isbell

This book contains things that a Jaguar XJ6 owner should know, but doesn't know who to ask.
This book is directed at the TRUE XJ6 and not at the XJ40 which was made after 1986 but had
an "XJ6" badge on the back. However owners of other Jaguars may also benefit, as much of the
cars are similar. In general, it is written for those who do their own maintenance, although those
who don't can still benefit from it.
Some of the contents of this book was contributed by members of the Jag-Lovers list on the
internet. Where known, their names are noted.
Major sections include maintenance tips, modifications, and sources for parts. The information is
not intended to replace a repair manual, but rather to supplement it.
To receive a printed copy of this book send $20(US) PLUS $3(US) for Canada or $5(US) for
other countries. To receive a Word for Windows or DOS Text file so you can print your own
copies, send $12(US) PLUS $2(US) for Canada, $3(US) for other countries outside the USA. Be
sure to give your name and address, and state what you want: printout vs. diskette, type of
diskette (5.25" or 3.5") (IBM only).
Author: Jim Isbell
601 N. Sandpiper Drive P.O.Box 783
Ingleside OTB, Texas 78362-0783
(512) 776-7884
InterNet: millennium_falcon@excite.com
If you have a question I may be able to help with, you are welcome to call me at the above
number. Please don't call collect, I wont accept the charges.
This book IS copyrighted. You are NOT allowed to make copies for sale. The information in this
book is for the benefit of Jag-Lovers and is not to be used for commercial gain.
My first experience with automobile maintenance was at the age of 12 when I bought a 1929
Model A Ford for $40(US). I had never looked under the hood (bonnet) of an automobile before
and this one needed an overhaul. Needless to say, I had no more money after the purchase.
I pulled it into the back yard to begin my first overhaul. The first thing I did was to dig a hole
three feet deep, three feet wide and 6 feet long. Then I pulled to car over the hole so I would be
able to work under it, I had no jack.
The second thing I did was done out of a realization that I knew nothing about what I was doing. I
got three 12 foot long 1x12 planks out of the woodpile and laid then alongside the car. Then as I
pulled each part, bolt, washer, etc. off the car I laid it, in sequence, along the planks. I knew that
if I put everything back on in the reverse order of removal, leaving nothing out, that I could
reassemble it.
The process worked and my overhaul was a qualified success. I say a qualified success because
there were three things that I learned the hard way during the overhaul. These three things are
general in nature so I will repeat them here so any "new" mechanics may benefit from my
experience.
The first thing I found was that some merchants are not as honorable as you are. I took my
brake shoes to a local parts house and asked for a quote to re-surface them. The quote was $6
(remember, that was a long time ago, I am an old codger) so I left them for the work to be done.
I returned several days later to get the brake shoes to find the price was now $12. My father
burned up the phone lines and the price was reduced to $6. I had just paid the price, though I
couldn't afford it, and left. I learned from that that you have to stick up for yourself and question
everything. This is especially true today with the quality of help that many automotive shops
employ. And it is doubly true with a Jaguar since so few mechanics have any idea what they are
doing when it comes to the Jaguar.
The second thing I found was the rule about tightening bolts on something that has several to
tighten. The thermostat housing and radiator hose mount was a cast iron part with two bolts
holding it to the head with a gasket in between. I merrily tightened one side down firm and then
proceeded to the second side. The result was that the part split right down the center. Even back
in pre-historic times those things were hard to find. Remember, always, when tightening down
pieces with multiple bolts you must tighten each bolt in turn, a little at a time. The usual
sequence is to tighten bolts across from each other in the pattern, but this can vary, such as on a
head. The correct sequence is usually documented in your standard manuals on the automobile
you are working with.
The third thing I learned was scary. After rebuilding the front end I took the car for a drive. The
car had been parked at the curb side for the front-end work so when I got in it was already
pointed straight down the street. I started the car and headed for the corner. When I got there I
found that the steering would not turn! After manhandling the car around the block with almost
super human effort required I finally got it parked in front of the house again and went inside to
my father to seek advice.
I discovered that my mistake was that when the king pins would not fit into the axle ends I
should not have used a hammer to drive them in. There was tool called a reamer that I should
have used to size the new bushings before putting in the king pins. This taught me that what you
buy at the parts house is not always ready to use, and it also taught me that if it doesn't fit, seek
advice, don't force it.
The above three lessons were learned by me on one automobile in one overhaul and they have
stood by me well over the years, heed them.
A fourth lesson, one I use daily, came directly from my fathers mouth, "You can do anything you
want to do. You can put a quart of piss in a pint jar if you want to bad enough." Remember that
the mechanic who charges you $40 an hour puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like you do,
and he isn't any more intelligent than you are.
A few years ago there was a condemned prisoner who willed his body to science to have it cut up
in very thin slices from head to toe so that a computer program could be made of the information
gained. This book will follow that format with the slices starting at the front bumper and moving
back. At each slice I will try to cover all the important information as to what is there and what
maintenance needs to be done and how to do it in general terms. The "how to" will not
necessarily be a step by step so much as an "essential information that may not be in the
manual" sort of thing. It is assumed that you will have some sort of manual to work with,
preferably the factory manual.
I strongly recommend you get Kirby Palms XJ-S book if you have a modern Jaguar. His book is
available from the internet or directly. It is full of general auto repair information. See the
APPENDIX at the end of this book.
The Front Bumper

The first thing you come to when you start at the front of the car is the license plate. If the law in
your locality allows it, you can remove it. The license plate on the front of an XJ6 seems to have
been an afterthought. As the design was conceived the car had an adequate cooling system and
perhaps in England where the summer temperatures rarely reach 80F degrees, let alone 105F
degrees, the addition of a license plate meant nothing. But in warm climates where you need
every bit of help you can get, the license plate can rob you of 10 degrees (C) of cooling capacity.
My 1982 XJ6 ran at 85C to 90C on the highway at 70 mph. When I got to the track I would
remove the front license plate and the car would run at 75C even though I was running at
120MPH on the straight and averaging over 85MPH for the entire road course.
In order to get sufficient air flow through the radiator you need a smooth flow under the car to
draw it through the engine compartment. The license plate destroys that smooth flow and the air
tends to pile up somewhat in the engine compartment so get rid of it if you can or at least you
can bend it under against the bottom of the bumper.

Next back are the horns which are fastened in the center just below the front bumper. The horns
are not anything spectacular. They are just a standard vibrating diaphragm powered by an
electromagnet that switches on and off when the horn button is depressed. These are repairable
and are not complicated. Anyone can open one up, clean it out, clean the contacts, replace the
gasket and put them back in operation. Their location near the road makes them susceptible to
getting full of all sorts of junk that gets pushed back to the diaphragm and jamming up the
works. The gaskets are paper and tend to deteriorate quickly allowing water into the inner
workings of the horn. You should use one of the liquid silicone gasket materials when you put it
back together as they will last longer than a paper gasket. BUT.... new horns made of plastic are
so cheap that repairs are hardly worth the time unless you are just into the pure satisfaction of
being able to say "I did it". I recommend doing it once if you are new to auto repair, it will give
you a project that you can do and feel proud of.
If the electromagnet is badly rusted or the coil is burned, I don't recommend trying to repair it
but it can be done.
Also, I might mention that as Kirby says, "12 volts is 12 volts" so any 12 volt horn from a
"chevy" or any other car will work just as well.
Continuing back, to the headlight wipers. Not all XJ6s have this feature. If you have it you may
not be happy with it as it seems they do not always function. If you don't have it and want it, it
can be added by acquiring the parts from the dealer or from a junk yard (breaker) in a country
where the feature was available. In this case, I know only that England and Australia had this
feature. There are probably others.
From the advice I got when I sought to add this feature to my XJ6 the consensus was that you
don't want to add it. More thought on the subject revealed to me that I could not remember when
the last time was that I had to wipe the headlights on my car, so the feature may not be really
needed unless you go off-road with your XJ6.

Moving further back we come to the headlights themselves. In Europe, England and Australia at
least the outer set of headlights are 7" diameter and the inner set is 5" diameter. Because of the
wonderful foresight of our glorious leaders here in the US the XJ6 was supplied to the US with
an adapter that allows 5" headlights in all four positions. The air intake for the cockpit comes
through a screen in this adapter. A change in the law since then would now allow the 7"
headlights again.
On the models with the 7" headlights there were two types of trim, one with the air intake screen
and one without the air intake screen. This depended upon whether the car used the headlights
for an air intake or not. In converting a US model to the 7" headlights, a step I highly
recommend, you should try to get the trim with the air intake screen.
Converting a US model to 7" headlights does two things. First it looks great. The designers
knew what they were doing when they put 7" headlights on the outside. Second, you can now use
the H4 Halogen 7" headlights with the replaceable elements made by Hella in Germany. I don't
have the part number on these, but some numbers from the front of the lens may help. Mine are
marked "1R7/R20" just below the center of the lens. Around the perimeter are the markings
"111 603" and " MADE IN GERMANY- SAE MP 76". These bulbs have a very sharp, flat, top
that allow you to use them on the highway without blinding oncoming traffic. The top of the beam
is so flat and defined that the first time I drove down a country road at night, where there were
trees where the beam could be defined, I ducked as it looked like I was running under a low
bridge. But you will get used to it.