Friends,
Four questions about my 1995 XJS, 4 ltr. Conv, apx. 148,000 miles.
1. Recently I had my AC fans replaced. All has been working well for the past few months but yesterday while running on "low" AC the speed of the fans increased "on its own" considerably to what must be "medium" fan speed or more, yet the control knob was not touched. Any ideas what is up?

2. When the brakes are applied rather hard the "ABS" brake light on the dash board frequently goes on. There is plenty of brake fluid - any ideas?

3. Next question relates to the engine fan (as apposed to the AC fan). I replaced the electric motor recently. This auxiliary cooling fan motor tests good but is not getting power to the motor even when the engine heats up between normal and hot on the heat guage in the instrument panel. So, considering that it does not automatically go on as the engine gets hot (ideally at a stop light with the AC on) could this be the switch that goes into the radiator? What is involved in getting the aux. cooling fan to work?
4. Recently while getting a flat fixed on the passenger side rear wheel the Firestone service manager said that the "Right rear control arm bushing lower" was defective and needed replaced. When I took it to my local repair shop I was told what was really wrong (perhaps in addition to) was that the bearings were bad, specifically the "rear hub carrier fulcrum bearing". The mechanic said he did not have the extractor tool 18G284AAH and he couldn't see spending $200 (who knows) for a tool to use one time. When the Firestone man showed me the wheel he could grab it and move the wheel some showing me the "play" it had in it. Any ideas? How serious is this? Cost to repair it if I took it to an authorized JAG dealer?

Thank you so much for any and all assistance you might offer - as this car is daily transportation for me and I must keep it up! Cheers, RE Rogers

Submitted by SE98-32482CJ on Fri, 04/26/2013 - 16:11

#4 The tool is available thru the JCNA tool loan program. You DO need to be a JCNA member first. By the way that tool cost a lot more than $200! Good luck and the tools are here!

Submitted by SE98-32482CJ on Fri, 04/26/2013 - 16:11

#4 The tool is available thru the JCNA tool loan program. You DO need to be a JCNA member first. By the way that tool cost a lot more than $200! Good luck and the tools are here!

Submitted by stevejag@sbcgl… on Fri, 04/26/2013 - 15:51

Edited on 2013-04-26 15:53:17

1. Sounds as though one of the fans has had another power transistor failure. It seems to me that rebuilders are prone to using a lower maximum current transistor, which make it less robust than the original parts. Not much you can do but try and go back on the supplier of the part. Not always easy to get satisfaction.

2. I assume your car is an early 1995 with a VIN # [last six digits] that is below 198334. That would have Teves Mk II brakes. What you describe is probably a weak hydraulic accumulator. That's the pressure vessel that stores your reserve brake assist pressure. During a panic stop it doesn't have enough reserve pressure so the ABS lamp comes on to warn. The accumulator is on the RH side of the engine compartment and looks like one of Wile E. Cayote's ACME bombs. :-)

3. The only way the Aux Fan runs is if the radiator temp gets pretty high. Consequently the A/C has a tough time cooling well especially stopped in traffic. I don't know why they did it that way, but they did. I have added circuitry to a couple of friend's XJS cars to make the fan come on with the compressor, that helps a bunch. It's tedious though, wire has to be strung from one side of the engine compartment to the other, and I think a diode added as well. Most people don't want to go to the trouble and expense, but some do.

4. Can't really do much on this one long distance. Really depends on what each and every component looks like once it's disassembled, and how severely they are worn; especially given the mileage.

Hope that helps!