How would I fix a car that wasn&#039;t started for 13 years- version 2!

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How would I fix a car that wasn't started for 13 years- version 2!

Hello,

My grandpa has a bunch of cars that he doesn't feel like fixing in his backyard. I found a 1987 Jaguar XJ6 back there. According to the inspection sticker, it expired in 2003. I wasn't even born in 2003 yet. So, how would I fix it? Here's what I think it would need, and please correct me if I'm wrong.

-battery

-fuel (have to siphon out old gas)

-and a really good washing.

Would it need more than this? Also, how would I go taking it apart?

P.S. This is my first time fixing a car, so please explain it slowly lol

UPDATE:

I went over to his house again today and on Saturday I am going for the entire day to clean up the jag and an el Camino. I got 23(!) pictures of it today and it seems kinda in rough shape. Any advice?

That's a few, don't feel like uploading them all lol

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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@gigabit87898 awesome! Sure it will need some work but other than the fender and the rest which is indicative of deeper issues, the rest is just cosmetics. Evict the rodents and start taking inventory on the damage.

10/15/2017 by oldturkey03

@oldturkey03 I found a creature in the engine bay; it was a mouse and it scared the holy $hit outta me. Almost fell down! :)

10/15/2017 by Gigabit87898

@gigabit87898 that's to funny...;-)

10/15/2017 by oldturkey03

@oldturkey03 @mayer anybody know how much a flywheel is for the jag?

10/19/2017 by Gigabit87898

There seem to be a lot of those, just Google "1987 Jaguar XJ6 & flywheel"

10/19/2017 by mayer

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Tom Chai @tomchai

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Inspect all cables for degradation of jackets, connectors, etc. If it's been in the backyard for more than a decade, the cable jacket may literally come apart when you touch it.

Same is true for all rubber gaskets, tubes, belts, tires.

Drain the transmission fluid, engine oil and coolant and get new fluids.

Some springs may be permanently bent due to being compressed for more than a decade.

The cylinders and pistons may be rusty. A complete rebuild is required and usually only an experienced mechanic with professional tools can do this properly.

Basically you need to tear the car apart and refurbish everything, replace anything that cannot be rebuilt/refurbished. Also check for corrosion on the body. It is not impossible that some frames have rusted all the way through. Expect dead/living animals in the car body and all tubes. Rats may have bitten through all non-metal tubes.

This can easily cost more than the car's worth, however if you want to do this as a hobby project you can try.

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I was going to just get it to start, that was my only goal lol. Also my grandpas dog also sniffs under that car whenever he's near it and my grandpa said that something is living in it. So, what do you think that it would be to fix it, as cheap as possible? With rebuilding everything as possible?

Well you can find some car repair videos on YouTube to have a basic idea on what you are trying to do. "Eric the car guy" is a good start. I do believe this project is considered very difficult even for professionals so maybe you can start on some other smaller stuff.

10/16/2016 by Tom Chai

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@gigabit87898 awesome! Sure it will need some work but other than the fender and the rest which is indicative of deeper issues, the rest is just cosmetics. Evict the rodents and start taking inventory on the damage. — oldturkey03
@oldturkey03 I found a creature in the engine bay; it was a mouse and it scared the holy $hit outta me. Almost fell down! :) — Gigabit87898
@oldturkey03 @mayer anybody know how much a flywheel is for the jag? — Gigabit87898
There seem to be a lot of those, just Google "1987 Jaguar XJ6 & flywheel"

https://www.ebay.com/b/Flywheels-Flexpla... — mayer
@gigabit87898 that would be one good source, the other one is your local (recycling) wrecking yard. Make a couple of calls and see what you can come up with. What's wrong with your flywheel? — oldturkey03
@mayer @oldturkey03 it works, but grandpa said when he used to drive it there was a 1/4 chance it would make a grinding noise while starting because he thinks a few teeth from it are missing. — Gigabit87898
@gigabit87898 that makes perfect sense! Bit of a PITA to change it but if you are going to work on it anyway, might as well get it fixed. — oldturkey03
@oldturkey03 could that be teeth on the starter instead? I would think the starter would fail before the flywheel. — mayer
Possibly but I've had a couple of bad flywheels on some older Chevy trucks. so it is easily possible. — oldturkey03
@mayer @oldturkey03 going over there tomorrow at lunchtime and I am bringing peppermint oil to try to get rid of the mice, apparently they don’t like that and it will drive them away from the car. (Get it? Drive? Car? Heh... ) — Gigabit87898
@gigabit87898 sounds like quit the project . Something you might want to do before turning over the motor is to put about 3-4 oz of diesel fuel in each cylinder and let it sit for a few days .this will free up the rings before you crank it over for the first time and may actually save the rings from tearing themselves apart from any ring rust that may have formed between the rings and the piston walls The diesel also helps lubricate the cylinder wall so that you can basically hone the cylinder with the rings without destroying them . You may also want to remove the valve covers and pour your new oil in over the valve train to lubricate them . its been a long time since they've seen oil and it will take some time before they get oil pumped up that far. drain all the old fuel from the system including the fuel lines and defiantly run some injector cleaner through the system — Jimfixer
@jimfixer @oldturkey03 @mayer the motor turns over, not started but it turns over. Going over there next weekend too to see if we can get it to start. Have to clean everything out first, tho. — Gigabit87898
@gigabit87898 awesome! Keep us in the know and take plenty of pictures. — oldturkey03
@oldturkey03 making a tiny vacuum to get out the mouse houses inside it right now :) — Gigabit87898
@gigabit87898 ahhhh poor critters. Must be getting cool already in your neck of the woods. They are looking for a place to hang out for the winter :-) — oldturkey03
@oldturkey03 right now its a crappy day outside but its still pretty warm outside. — Gigabit87898
@gigabit87898 What else your Grandpa got? Any VW's/Porsches? — George A.
@pccheese nope, he has 2 1994 ford f150s, a random 02truck with a bad frame, a big blue truck that I can’t remember what it was but it was ford, a Chevy truck, the jaguar, an 04 mustang gt and an el Camino. Only 1 is road worthy right now and it’s one of the 94 ford trucks. — Gigabit87898
drain, flush and replace all fluids (engine and transmission oil especially) BEFORE you try and start it. That stuff turns to tar-like goop over time. Starting the motor with siginficant internal resistance WILL break something expensive. — Neil
I was going to just get it to start, that was my only goal lol. Also my grandpas dog also sniffs under that car whenever he's near it and my grandpa said that something is living in it. So, what do you think that it would be to fix it, as cheap as possible? With rebuilding everything as possible? — Gigabit87898
Well you can find some car repair videos on YouTube to have a basic idea on what you are trying to do. "Eric the car guy" is a good start. I do believe this project is considered very difficult even for professionals so maybe you can start on some other smaller stuff. — Tom Chai

L Pfaff @lpfaff1 Rep: 79.6k 8 44 294 · Answer 1 · 2016-10-16T11:58:46-07:00

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L Pfaff @lpfaff1

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Gigabit, Just a thought! Does your school have auto shop class, if it does or you will be entering school soon that will offer this, consider saving the car as a project for you and your buddies. Some trade schools will also use persons/private vehicles for training of there students/apprentices, with no cost diagnosing and will go over necessary repairs with the owner in detail(normally no cost until parts needed which you do not have to do) since you may want to replace yourself. Libraries can also be a good source for some repair manuals for auto's. Good luck.

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Thank you, but my school doesn't have shops until high school, and I'm still in middle school. I will go to library and see if I can find any books for this car.

Gigabit, good for you, hope you locate a good repair manual as it can be very informative and a good teaching aide in diagnosing and making repairs.

10/16/2016 by L Pfaff

@lpfaff1 now if you were @oldturkey03 (with his resources and search capabilities and experience) you would have given him a link to those manuals ;-)

I've already searched and can't find a repair manual online.

http://www.jag-lovers.org/xj-s/book/XJS_...

mayer, I did try search for free manual, (always ran into a glitch, when trying to get it for free), libraries are free and some are well equipped. I and I am sure Gigabit would appreciate oldturkey, yourself, or anyone else that could post a link for a good free 1987 Jaguar XJ6 repair manual. Thanks in advance.

Gigabit, try this link pretty informative

10/16/2016 by L Pfaff

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mayer @mayer Rep: 528.7k MacHale Enterprises 1.3k 696 2k · Answer 2 · 2016-10-16T09:12:23-07:00

mayer @mayer

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@gigabit87898

What a find! But if I remember correctly you're in the 7th grade. This would probably be your first car. Most first cars do not last long as your are just learning to drive. This car is a classic and you might want to save it for your second car and plan on taking this one to college. https://classiccars.com/listings/find/19...

I would explain this to grand dad and ask if he has a car more fit for a first car and not as expensive to repair and find parts for. Preferably one that you can get parts for at your local auto zone. Maybe a cheaper Ford or Chevy that can take the inevitable dings that you will get while learning.

I made this mistake and gave a 1993 Dodge Stealth https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...

to Oswaldo as a first car who impressed me when I met him at 14 https://www.ifixit.com/User/243784/osval...

Well he didn't need a car that would do 155 mph. He still does work for me and is now doing phone repair as his main money making endeavor and sure wishes he hadn't torn that car up now that he's 24.

And yes, he did take it up to 155 MPH except he did it on old tires not built to take that speed and is very lucky to be alive.

BTW - just three days ago I wrote a letter to the local municipal judge ( a friend of mine), to try to help him get his drivers license back after he lost it for to many speeding tickets

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155MPH!?! Oh my god, I think the fastest I will ever go is 60mph on the highway. Also yes I am in 7th grade. This was just something to tinker with.

As you are probably aware I do have a lot of respect for you and the work you are doing here. You are a thoughtful intelligent young man, mature beyond your years. But this is not a good beginners project. I don't know where you live, but if in the USA, finding parts and knowledgable mechanics could be very difficult. I would save it for my second project. My grandfather also gave me my first couple of cars. Thankfully they were built like tanks.

Thank you, I do live in the USA, and usually if I need help for anything engine or mechanical related I ask my grandpa, lol. I think he qualifies as a mechanic, he's been fixing things for over 40 years.

So repair is in your genes ;-) Ask his opinion about what I suggested.

@mayer I need help there's a bunch of Indian spammers saying Isis and racist things. I have a list of them on meta.

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oldturkey03 @oldturkey03 Rep: 494.2k OTS 610 462 1.6k · Answer 3 · 2016-10-16T11:23:33-07:00

oldturkey03 @oldturkey03

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@gigabit87898 I think this is a great opportunity. I'd give it a go. Start by draining all the fluids and replacing all fluids and filters. This includes the radiator fluid. After that, pull the plugs and see if the engine will crank over. You do not want to start it yet. Just have it crank over to see if it does so. Once it does and builds up some oil pressure you can think about replacing the plugs and seeing if it fires. Expect lots of smoke.....Right now just invest minimal. Filters fluids and a new battery for sure. After that talk to your grandpa and see what he thinks. One piece at a time. Jags that series have had some rust issues. Check on that for sure. Also. remember that you must consider the brakes as non-functioning so do not think about driving of somewhere. :-)

@gigabit87898 try something like this first Jag-XJ6.pdf or if you prefer the Jag version Jag-XJ6_XJ12.pdf

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How much do you think it will cost to get it to start? 100? Or like 1000?

@gigabit87898 that'll be a depend. Depends what shape it was when it got parked. If it was running well, costs for all fluids, filters etc. might run you you a bit more than $100 but less than $1000. I'd invest the minimum just to determine what shape it is in.

If it wasn't running well, that cost could sky rocket. You may not know yet but a 350 Chevy engine was a popular transplant to those Jag's. Your Grandpa may know more about that.

10/16/2016 by oldturkey03

Your local animal shelter may provide you with a trap for a couple of days to help get the creature out.

Oh yea, I haven't thought of that. Next time we go to the vet i will ask.