Celebration with wet carpets!

Well it is now some months since I last posted regarding the wet footwells and alot has happened, and been spent, since then! A phone call to Clarkes XJS specialists in Sussex put me on the right track. When I bought the car two small bubbles of rust on the scuttle panels up against the lower windscreen chrome surround and two similar ones on the roof up against the chrome were pointed out to me and dismissed as being insignificant. They were not!!! Clarkes told me that these small areas were the tip of the iceberg as beneath the chrome I would find large holes which would not have been noticeable when the screen came out as the screens come out without having to remove the chrome surround. Aparently this is a very common problem with later facelift cars of 93, 94, 95 and 96 vintage, affecting most of them. As I am 300 miles from Sussex I knew of a specialist classic car firm near me who, although more Austin Healey than XJS specialists, decided to take on the job. Their sprayer was fantastic and, after Autoglass were called back to remove the new screen again, removed all the chrome and trim carefully to reveal the most disgusting mess you can imagine! Two big holes on either side of the scuttle panel virtually hidden by trim apart from the tiny little edge which I had seen and dismissed. The whole of the edge of the screen aperture behind the central grill panel had gone and both A pillars were hanging on by a thread. the roof where it meets the chrome was rusted through too. Considering that before I went to the expence, £1800, of having this job started I prematurely had the car MOT'd and fully inspected underneath with absolutely no rust or rot found anywhere, I was more than a little surprised with this awful discovery. However Kevin the sprayer did a fantastic job of preparing for welding and matching the colour so perfectly ( this is Spruce Green and very difficult to match )that you cannot see the join anywhere saving me a great deal more cost in whole panel repaints. The screen was duly replaced and no further water can possibly get in.....but first day out and guess what.... more water and all I had done was wash the car. NOW WHAT. Well it turned out that the windscreen, although the main one, was not the only problem as it was also leaking from the blocked air conditioning drains which stupidly hang down either side of the transmission tunnel. Once unblocked that stopped completely. So bit by bit we are getting there. One last problem (having got rid of the major cause the rest was easy to isolate) were the door rubbers where the upper front edge of the doors meat the front wings and there is a massive gap for rain to fall into giving the rubbers an awful time if they are not virtually air tight. This bit of work is in progress but the car can happily sit outside, uncovered in all weathers now with the smallest amount of water running down the door trim and over the the round speaker covers onto a towel. The towel is not ideal but I am getting there and have every confidence that it will soon be completely leak free. Now if I could only sort out the central locking which won't let me into the boot every now and then it would really be a cause for Celebration!!

Oh that's great! I would love to see the pics of your car.Please do post some here.


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Congratulations Richard
Been up in the islands this week with work so only just back . Have you had a look at the jag-lovers forum from the states ? A lot of knowledgable people over there . Also , if you havnt already , there is a link to Kirbys bible ( one of the forum regulars ) His book ,if printed , will fill 2 A4 lever arm folders with loads of info on the XJS . VERY worthwhile

Hi Scotty. Thanks mate, it's nice to know somebody cares!! Their is a small amount of water coming in from the doors but nothing compared to what is accumulating in the foot wells. I was given a tip by a Jag mechanic to cut a small nick in the hollow door seal and push in a length of rubber/plastic tubing of the appropriate thickness to plump it up a bit. I haven't tried it yet but it is worth a try. I think some water may be coming in from a tiny gap in the o/s rear quarter light between the glass and the sealant so that is due to be sealed, although that would not be able reach the floor pan I don't think. I did think of a cover and will buy a full size one anyway but I want to trace the leak first. Anyway you can't keep them on when you are driving and water will get in if it rains then. No I think the bulk of the water is coming in from behind the dash and with the new screen in that would leave the grill which covers the wiper motor as prime suspect. Is that a common cause do you think? Strangely enough my central locking is playing up. Sometimes it won't lock the boot then it works all the time for a while then I can't lock the drivers door......The boot lock won't work on the key anyway so that needs stripping down. Yawn! What next. Solid as a rock underneith though and really good body and interior. Beautiful finish on the original paint. I wish I could show you a picture or two but not sure how to upload them. Keep up the good work Scotty and thanks for the advice. Oh by the way I was up in Aberdeen last week as my son lives there and he and his missus made me a grandfather for the first time. Cheers Richard

Hi Richard , I feel for you . Have you had a look at the door seals ? My first XJS was a very early Pre HE (1975 car) and the door seals had perished . It seeded that the water got in due to cappiliary action and defied gravity to breach the sill and into the car that way ! HAve you thought about one of the small covers that just go over the cab area ? they are brilliant cars but know how to drive you to distraction ! Mine is playing silly b*****s with the central locking just now.

Well I am still having problems!! It wasn't the floor bungs. I decided to have a new windscreen fitted. Sure enough the old one wasn't sealed at it's lower edge and some rust had also made a couple of holes in the aperture. All done and the end of all my problems?!!! No.....first time it rains there's water in the beeping footwells AGAIN!! Next try will be the heater box area. I love this car but water getting in is the worst thing because of the damage it can cause and the now dry carpets and sound proofing have to stay out of the car till it's fixed. Most other problems can be done in priority as long as the thing is running ok. This is getting depressing!!

Sounds like you might be in luck , keep your eye on it and dry if it gets wet and you will be ok .

Hi Scotty. I think I have found the main problem. I took all the carpets and sound proofing out, could hardly lift the sound proofing for water!! I dried all the floors and surrounding carpets etc and washed the stuff I had taken out, sqeezed it for hours and it is all drying out nicely by the radiators. I had a good look round the floors and they are all rust free and factory painted but some of the thin metal bungs are rotten and one had come out leaving a hole the size of a 50 pence piece straight through the floor panel. A couple of the others were so bad and porous a screw driver went straight through them. It looks as if the water may have been kicked up and run along the underside, found these holes and got where there was a big fat sponge waiting to suck it all up.I plan to leave the carpets out until the surrounding carpets, such as the ones that cover the inner sill etc are all dry. I will get some some new bungs and in the meantime check there is no water coming from other directions. At first glance there doesn't seem to be because it has been pouring down today and the floor pans are still dry. The water would only get in through the bungs when the car is being driven. Watch this space!!

I think as with most things you get what you pay for . Only prob with covers is they can wear the paint on body edges so get a good cover with soft lining .

Thanks Scotty that is all very good advice. I am going to take out, wash and dry all the carpets tomorrow. I have booked it in for a diagnostic next week for the CC and the AC. Can you recommend a good cover manufacturer. Love the Celebration convertable by the way but couldn't afford one. Cheers Richard

Hi Richard .
Very common XJS problem . It could be the door seal , the windscreen seal , even the A/C heater unit sometimes fills with water & deposits the water in the car . You MUST keep on top of it and remove the carpets to dry when wet and also remove the foam sound deadening under the carpet. This stuff is like a sponge and retains water like nothing else . If you let the damp stay , it will end up rotting your floors / sill etc and is major grief to repair properly - time consuming if you can do it yourself - expensive if you let a garage do it. The leaks are difficult to trace . I keep my car in the garage ( dehumidified/ heated) all the time , if this is not possible I would suggest a quality car cover. For your cruise , its likely to be a bad connection somewhere , track down with a meter . IMHO though the cruise is not very good on these cars . I had it on my last celebration convertible and found that it was not very smooth with regards to maintaining the speed , I didnt use it much . My new celebration convertible doesnt have it and I dont miss it. A/C is another usual XJS fault - I would suggest its a job for a pro but again can cost a fortune . I am lucky in that up here in Jockland its rarely warm enough to need it and if the sun does come out the roof comes down.

Hi. I have just bought a 95 Celebration in metalic BRG with cream leather. It is in really good condition. I have just had it serviced and apart from the inclusive items it only needed front pads and a nail removing from a front tyre. There are three problems which I would really like to sort. The worst is the carpets are all wet. Next the cruis control doesn't work properly and finally the AC has a leek somewhere but this can wait. I really want the wet carpet problem sorting so if anyone can help I would be really grateful. Thanks Richard