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Eight tips for running your classic Jaguar XJS in the winter

Winter can be a difficult time for any car owner, as the cold weather and icy conditions puts an extra strain on the vehicle. To help ensure your classic Jaguar runs smoothly during the winter months, we’ve put together a list of our top tips:

1. Fit winter tyres

The XJS is not best suited to snowy winter weather, due to its relative heaviness and rear wheel drive. Fitting winter tyres, however, will dramatically improve your ability to drive in snow and ice. An example is Avon Ice Touring, typically £85 per tyre plus fitting. As an alternative, try reducing the tyre pressure by about 10%, creating a greater surface area to grip on the roads.

 

2. Avoid salty roads

Easier said than done at this time of year. If you do drive on salty roads, quickly wash off any salt/mud residue in the wheel arches and sill ends as soon as possible. For further advice, read our post on how to keep rust at bay.

 

3. Check your antifreeze

Regularly check your coolant additive (antifreeze) concentration using an antifreeze tester, which can be purchased from retailers such as Halfords. In the winter, the concentration should be at least 30%, rising to 50% in the north of England and Scotland where it’s colder. It is important to change the coolant every two years for conventional types, or every five years for OAT (red) additives. At KWE, we only use OAT additives on XJS and XJ saloons.

 

4. Upgrade your headlamps

Upgrading your headlamps will give you greater visibility during the dark winter months. We’d recommend Xenon HID electronic lamps, and can fit a pair for £456. These lamps are powerful enough to punch through dirty headlamp lenses, making sure that road signs and cyclists are well illuminated.

 

5. Look after the battery

A V12 engine can build up more friction when cold, contributing to the malfunction of many car batteries over the winter months. To counter this, keep the battery on trickle charge, or disconnect it entirely when not in use. We can fit a simple battery switch for just £15. As a precaution, it’s always a good idea to keep a spare battery and jump leads just in case.

 

6. Washer fluid concentration

In winter you must ensure a 30:70 concentration of antifreeze to water, otherwise the washer jets will freeze solid.

 

7. Prevent locks from freezing

To do this, try and avoid water from getting into your car’s locks. However, if you do find yourself in this situation, use a hairdryer to carefully and gently melt the frozen locks.

 

8. Keep your car covered

To stop the winter weather from causing damage to your XJS’s exterior, keep things covered up on those particularly frosty days and nights. A good quality protective cover (like this one) will ensure that the weather does not penetrate your door seals and age your screen seals or convertible hood, while also keeping your windscreen clear of frost and ice.

 

Speak to the experts

To improve your car’s vision at night and keep rust at bay, we offer a special winter package for the Jaguar XJS, which also includes a winter service. For more details visit our website or call 01635 30030.

Winter weather at KWE

 

4 Comments

  • colin| 3rd November 2019 at 5:12 pm Reply

    Hi I’ve got a 1995 v12 xjs 6.0L. It is kept in an underground carpark. I thought I would drive it up and down once a month in the carpark forward and reverse 25 / 30 yards. Would this be a good idea..keeps the oil circulating and moves the coolant about a bit ? What do you reckon please, Colin

    • kwecars| 4th November 2019 at 12:16 pm Reply

      Hi Colin, We would agree that this is a good idea, not only by running your XJS to keep the oil and coolant circulating the system but driving the car, even a short distance will help prevent other moving parts from seizing. In addition we’d also advise turning the AC on and switching fan speeds as they can often stick when not used for extended periods. Thanks for your comment. All the best, Ryan

  • E.Howell| 11th January 2017 at 4:37 pm Reply

    I am looking for a quotation for the supply
    of two wings for my XJ6 4.2 Series 2 please.

    • Chris Knowles| 11th January 2017 at 5:05 pm Reply

      I am sorry – we do not supply spare parts.

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