In my 1979 XJS I had a lot of ignition system issues with the original opus system etc. but then switched to the SNG Barratt ignition system and have had no problems since. That was almost 10 years ago? This is slightly unrelated but in a 1990 XJS my mother owned years ago I was driving when it just died. Under the hood parts were glowing red hot on the lowers part of the engine on the driver side. The Marelli ignition failed inside the distributor and the one bank kept dumping fuel in the engine/exhaust and then it ignited. It toasted that whole bank internals of the engine. Damn shame those Marelli ignitions need to have distributor cap/rotor replaced regularly. I found out the hard way. It was a beautiful red convertible in excellent condition. With about 70,000 km on it. I learned the distributor cap/rotor wasn’t changed at roughly 50,000 like it should’ve. The owner she bought it from claimed it was done at 50,000. It wasn’t and not checking it to confirm led to this outcome. :-( I know you’re gonna hate this but we put a brand new Chevy high performance crate engine 350 in.³ in it. We still have it in the family and it is one hell of an awesome car. The Chevy 350 is so simple. We went this route because it was quite affordable and now is lighter and has lots of power. My 79 still has the original V 12. We called the 1990 with the Chevy engine the hybrid lol
It's Mr Murphy that hit you and your Jag...on the last video before this you were explaining no issues over 10 years of ownerhip... 😂❤ I'm sure you will find the root cause and it will serve you the next 10 years without issues 😎
Well, cars from other countries having that age are not that different. And this XJ12 is not restored in whole, but well maintained. That's what happens with old cars, they have parts that wear.
It’s a shame you don’t get to enjoy the car the way it was intended. If I wanted a Chevy engine, I’d buy a Chevy. Nothing wrong with a sbc, and I’d love one in a C3 Corvette 😊 Also it’s not uncommon for any engine to have the distributor jump time. Things can happen with a 50 year old car
@@LivingWithAClassic o I no my jag had the engine swap when it was brand new its got a 83 sbc 350 in it.its still has the original xj6 engine harness in it
You think it would be backfiring if the timing was that far out? The rev counter did not move when you were trying to crank it, weak spark? I see it fixed now looking forward to the result TCM
Happened, to me on a Austin 1300. The vacuum Auto advance spring to the contact plate failed. Timing went out, loss of power, Bang (back fire) and then stop. So yes distributor drive pin sheared. To throw out the timing would be my bet.
Remember to never talk about the car where it can hear you. Luck to you!
Thank you
From a fellow XJ12 series II owner: it might be the distributor, however check your ballast resistor and coil before you tear down the distributor.
Doesn’t matter how well you look after and maintain an old car - it will bite you at some stage. It is why we love them!!
Keep the faith!!
Can't wait to find out what went wrong, fingers crossed that it's an easy fix.
It ended up being a weird issue that is a bit hard to explain. Next video on it will be up soon
Positive waves man ! I have no doubt it doesn't require any major work .......fingers crossed !
In my 1979 XJS I had a lot of ignition system issues with the original opus system etc. but then switched to the SNG Barratt ignition system and have had no problems since. That was almost 10 years ago? This is slightly unrelated but in a 1990 XJS my mother owned years ago I was driving when it just died. Under the hood parts were glowing red hot on the lowers part of the engine on the driver side. The Marelli ignition failed inside the distributor and the one bank kept dumping fuel in the engine/exhaust and then it ignited. It toasted that whole bank internals of the engine. Damn shame those Marelli ignitions need to have distributor cap/rotor replaced regularly. I found out the hard way. It was a beautiful red convertible in excellent condition. With about 70,000 km on it. I learned the distributor cap/rotor wasn’t changed at roughly 50,000 like it should’ve. The owner she bought it from claimed it was done at 50,000. It wasn’t and not checking it to confirm led to this outcome. :-( I know you’re gonna hate this but we put a brand new Chevy high performance crate engine 350 in.³ in it. We still have it in the family and it is one hell of an awesome car. The Chevy 350 is so simple. We went this route because it was quite affordable and now is lighter and has lots of power. My 79 still has the original V 12. We called the 1990 with the Chevy engine the hybrid lol
It's Mr Murphy that hit you and your Jag...on the last video before this you were explaining no issues over 10 years of ownerhip... 😂❤ I'm sure you will find the root cause and it will serve you the next 10 years without issues 😎
The joys of Old British Car ownership. You are never bored.
It’s always fun!
Well, cars from other countries having that age are not that different. And this XJ12 is not restored in whole, but well maintained. That's what happens with old cars, they have parts that wear.
@workshop_deluxe2493 exactly 😊 Anything can happen to a 50 year old car
@@LivingWithAClassic Absolutely, tell me about it. Still loving them. 🙂
Thanks for bringing us along for the troubleshooting, interesting teaser at the end!
Looking forward to the fix.
It’s really puzzling what happened
Check the ballast and amplifier.
This is why my 1983 series 3 xj6 jag is sbc 350 swapped never have a problem like the jag engines
It’s a shame you don’t get to enjoy the car the way it was intended. If I wanted a Chevy engine, I’d buy a Chevy. Nothing wrong with a sbc, and I’d love one in a C3 Corvette 😊
Also it’s not uncommon for any engine to have the distributor jump time. Things can happen with a 50 year old car
@@LivingWithAClassic o I no my jag had the engine swap when it was brand new its got a 83 sbc 350 in it.its still has the original xj6 engine harness in it
Sorry to see this, I think you’re on the right track with the drive to the distributor.
You think it would be backfiring if the timing was that far out? The rev counter did not move when you were trying to crank it, weak spark? I see it fixed now looking forward to the result TCM
Happened, to me on a Austin 1300. The vacuum Auto advance spring to the contact plate failed. Timing went out, loss of power, Bang (back fire) and then stop. So yes distributor drive pin sheared. To throw out the timing would be my bet.
Hi Adam, hopefully it turns out to be something "easy" to repair. I'm sure your good luck will hold.
It was an easy repair but a puzzling one
Check the base of dizzy looks like timing has jumped
Re-bush or replace the distributor.
You should have been driving an XJS!
Can’t wait to start working on my freshly painted pre-HE XJ-S
Exciting !@@LivingWithAClassic
Did you try shifting all 12 sparkplu wires 60 degr offset? If there is spark that should make it run, right?
The wires aren’t long enough to do that. However in the next video distributor comes out
I thought yours was running on 2 carburators....
When i had my jags i fid keep an electric scooter 🛴 in my trunk..only had to use it ones !? Great cars 1974 xJ6L . 1990 and 1994 XJ6 😊😊
It won't need a new engine.
I'm not a fan of those retrofit electronic ignition systems.
They seem to fail without warning
Wait for part 2 😊
Re-OPUS is 100 times more reliable than the original OPUS though.
There is no better looking car in white than this.
I have to agree since I have to white ones however a close second is the Citroen SM in white
It's either a superstition or a curse, but i never say my V12 is running great to anyone. Seems to invite trouble.
Good luck! Hope it's simple.
Might be a curse but it does run now again. More in the next video
you did say in your last vlog "it;s never let me down" you cursed it!
I must of!
always "touch wood" there's plenty of that on the dash
@@LivingWithAClassic
Never tempt fait with an old Jag, we are all driving on a prayer 🙏
Oh no... Time for AJ6 swap! Just kidding, hoping Adam will find the issue.
Wait... I'm watching a video where you are extolling the virtues of this car... did you jinx yourself?
Maybe I did…
I think she's mad for making her sound like such a "normal" car in your last video.
Might be 😂
Like # 117... a bit of bad luck
You must know by now you need a jump pack, remember it's for your business and tax deductible :) ahem Timing issue something broke ?
It was on charge. I had used it for a customer car earlier that morning which had a flooded carbureted V12
Time for a timing chain.
Wouldn’t turn over that well if it had jumped that much
Frustrating!