Body drainage rituals? Save the Jags Campaign....

[bmurphy7369]

Hello to all,

I recently posted about the rust problems I ran into on an '85 XJ6 that at first glance looked like a very solid car, and appeared to have been well maintained. I won't rehash that sad saga, but it crossed my mind that this is the second failed Jaguar venture I have endured due to moisture pooling in all the wrong places. The first was a 1988 XJ40 that had a very clogged drain hole at the fuel filler, I didn't know at the time that this was a problem. I drove the car home from Indy and it must have ingested too much water and not enough gas in just 60 miles and was nearly DOA at my driveway.
I am committed to ensuring that this doesn't happen again to me, especially to the coupe, and have begun to check the Service and Repair manuals for the body drain tubes and opening locations. Does anyone have any advice or a particular yearly ritual to keep the water rolling off the car instead of into the crevices? I know that this is a common issue with Jaguars, but I hadn't given it much thought until I agreed last week to take $1000 loss on the '85 I thought was going to be my great daily driver... This probably also applies to most British cars as well. Any hints as to problem areas to watch for, how to prevent the rusty areas, how to clean the drainage system or repair/upgrade it would be appreciated. I'm sick of seeing these beautiful cars being parted out.... I know there's a need for spares, but I think the suppliers such as Moss and Terry's et al. have us pretty well covered!
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[vettedog72]

bmurphy
You sent a reminder that's good for all cars and certainly not only British cars. I keep my cars in a garage now, but, that has not all ways been the case. I think trees and tall shrubs are mostly the culprit involved with the blocked drain holes. British cars, unfortunately, do lend themselves to this kind of problem because they are not road worthy with some frequency; hence they stand under a tree where the leaves, twigs etc work their way to the drain holes (while we wait on parts, money, time and luck and....and....).

Know where the drains are and insure they are open.

 

[Rick]

Hi,

As an owner of an '89 XJ, that fortunately doesn't have the rust problems, I've found the maintenace of the drains to be relatively easy and part of my car washing routine. For older XJ's there's a good resource on Jag Lovers website in this document:
https://www.jag-lovers.org/xjlovers/info/jagcare3.pdf

 

[John S Farrington]

Brian, Forgive my insight, but I remember that your car was purchased in Illinois? I am a native of that great farmers state but it should also be included in the rust belt if it is north, They use ample salt on their roads and I would be very suspect of any car from Chicago, etc. Now to answer your main question, clean with high pressure air, or a used speedometer cable, the fuel filler drain caps (not a source of rust in the body but in the gas tank).Do the same with the four drain holes from the sunroof that exit on ports in front of the front doors on the body floor and in front of the rear wheel arches on the body floor. Other drains to keep clear are the air conditioning drain ports on each side of the transmission tunnel and directly below the AC box (evaporator exchanger). These AC drains when plugged will probably not cause body rust but will do a good job of washing your shoes (feet, it is the Easter season) since the condensate will eventually come through the lower heater vents. Other bad sources of body rust on the series 1, 2, and 3 sedans is on the bottom of the front and rear windshields. If the rubber seals of the glass become hard from ultraviolet, they turn to carbon and allow water to pocket between (betwixt) the seal and the body opening causing very bad rust. The rest of a Jaguar is very conventional as far as vulnerability to rust. Jaguars are very agile and have longevity on the highways but survive much better in a protected place like a garage when not in use. Best regards,