Hello all, I just bought my first Jaguar today an 1997 XJ6L for $1,000 and I'm very excited about it. She's going to need some work done to her but i know that it will feel great once i get her back to original. The reason Im posting this Today is because something unsuspected happened. I just drove the Jaguar back to Virginia Beach from Washington where I bought it from and everything was great good drive about 200 miles. Once i got back to Virginia I filled the tank back up ( it only used half a tank on the drive down) and drove it on base(Navy) to my house onceI got there parked it and went in for a few hours. I just walked outside about 30 minutes ago and the car will start strong , lose RPM's , and then sputter out to death. If anyone could give me some wisdom here that would be greatly appreciated. I've been following the forums for awhile when I was in the looking stage and found a lot of wisdom here. Also I'll be posting updates on some of my minimal restorations. Thank you all very much. Also some pictures of the car below.

 

As a quick low intrusive starting point listen for your fuel pump as you first turn the key to the on position before starting . You will hear the pump charge the fuel rail for 3 - 4 seconds and then shut off until the ECU senses the engine RPM to turn it back on again . You may have someone stand behind the open trunk to listen for the second fuel pump startup in the engine starting sequence . Look for your engine tachometer to respond and if it does not you may have a bad Crankshaft position sensor located on the front face of the engine block as in most cars . Keep in mine that the AJ16 engine also has a separate Camshaft sensor on the forward right side of the block identified as a 4 inch round object but is only used in the first few starting rotations which it is doing . Please post your observations for others can advise you as you define the issue .

Thanks , Joe

 

Thank you for responding to my question I'll go out now and observe what I can and I'll make sure to post what's going on. Thanks again.

 

So I just got back in, the Jaguar started and stayed on it reversed fine and it drove forward a little and then it just quit and this light came on that was at the top of the left cluster that kind of looks like a spark plug with and X going through it I don't know what it is and unfortunately don't have the owners manual but it starts up now i stopped it and started it about 4 times just seeing if it would stay running.( just found a picture it's the top warning light that stayed on.)

 

That's the transmission malfunction indicator. Relax! Pretty common to get that if you were moving and it stalled. Mismatch between engine and transmission rpm or some such. As to clearing it.....someone will be along shortly....I can't remember if a certain number of starts and/or drive cycles with everything normal will make it go away...or if it can be cleared by disconnecting the battery for a time. Obviously, the best way would be to have it read by the specialized Jaguar software and confirm that it is a code that could be set by an engine stall while moving or if more troubleshooting is necessary. That may not be entirely practical for you. I would imagine the MWR shop on-base has an OBDII scanner, but highly doubt they'll have WDS or equivalent that will read other modules, such as the transmission module.

How far did you drive from when you topped it up with Petrol until you got home? I would be suspicious of water in the fuel.

Welcome to the forum. Keep at it...you'll get it sorted.

 

Thank you so much for that information I was starting to get a little confused about what was going on with the car. I'll definitely go look for a code reader and try leaving the battery disconnected for awhile to see if it restarts it. Thank you again.

 

looks just like mine but your is way nicer

 

Thank you , I think i got a good deal on it as long as nothing major comes up i really only have minor repairs to do like droopy Liner, Paint Job, and other small cosmetic fixes.

 

keep me posted on paint job. i need to learn how yo.do.it as well

 

Your is specifically a X330 subgroup of the X300 series being a longer wheel base Sovereign like Penelope . Yours looks as though very low mileage based on seat wear . Mine is 110,000 miles with original excellent Nautical Mica ( shading blue to green depending on the light ) and I painted the whole wiper blade , arm , and whole trough behind bonnet platinum white to give her a splash of class . She is the prettiest Jaguar on the whole block , literally . If I had given watchit a male name it would be Admiral ( cue the Boatswain's Whistle )

 

Yeah it Only has 130,029 on the dash right now it was owned by 2 people I'm the third clean title no accidents , the first owner had it on lease i believe from 1997 to 2001 and that's when the nice lady I bought it from took possession. She was in the foreign service so never really drove it that much only when she was home from traveling. And yes that is very Beautiful I'm hoping to get mine to that condition soon. I'm doing the paint job next week but having a hard time debating on whether or not i want to keep the original color or go with some darker like black or blue. I really love the original color though especially with the British green pin stripes.

 

thinking the same.these vehicles need good premium petro. I'll wait to see where your at maybe i can help you i basicly took a 1995 and turned it into a lady killer. But did alot myself. So if I can help you let me know. Good luck P.Sif you run into some expensive things, and they tell you It's not worth fixing it. Ask yourself. Not worth it to whom, and they will try to over charge.
get a Manual that shows you how to take that car apart and put it together. I love my jag even though i replaced alot of parts but it just keeps running better and i have no ridiculous payment and no ridiculous insurance every month.

 

I appreciate it , I actually had a friend today tell me that i should consider flipping the car for profit and the only thing i could think was that I love this car too much already to ever let it go. It's definitely going to be some work though and yeah your right I'm trying to read up on all these repairs now so I can do them myself. But I do have an update on my earlier situation So the car is starting fine and will reverse and drive for awhile but once I give it gas now instead of the Transmission Malfunction Light its the Battery and Oil light which is odd because I just put a new battery in this morning and the oil levels are fine. Any insight for me? And yeah ill integrate premium into the tank after i run this fuel out i asked the last owner if she used it and she said no so I didn't want to mess it up by doing something different but if I can then I will.

 

Oil pressure light is relatively common.....a search here will yield the solution; basically, you replace the oil pressure transducer with an oil pressure switch and a resistor. Don't know about now, but the kit used to run about $50. Of course, this is assuming you have checked that the engine oil is at the proper level and listened for the tell-tale knocking of an actual loss-of-oil pressure.....

Batt light could be a host of things. but for starters, what is your voltmeter showing while running? BTW, it looks a little shy in your pic of the dash, above. I'm assuming you snapped that one during the light BIT at key-on? You'll be hard-pressed to find a Jag of any flavor that is happy with 10 volts!

FWIW, the icons, top-to-bottom are Xmsn Malfunction/WIndscreen Washer Reservoir low/Exterior Bulb Malfunction/Fuel Level Low (I leave you on your own for the word-ones)

 

JT, you can download the Driver's Manual, the Service Manual, and the wiring diagram from the stickies: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...k-links-20088/

 

Thank you for those Manuals I've been searching for a few hours and yeah i snapped that picture yesterday before i put the battery into the car this morning. Right now the battery voltmeter is showing almost full and the oil is at half i checked the dip stick as well and it has oil in it. I'm just finding it weird that it decided to do this after I've been driving it all day I guess I'm lucky that i didn't get stuck on the highway though haha. It's been a fun first day as a new Jaguar owner though

 

More information on the transmission connector . You don't need to jack up the car but on the left side of the ZF4HP24 transmission by laying down you can reach under on the back face a round connector than points aft . You can get the connector off by twisting the top to you . Or it may be the rotary switch under the metal plate in the lower left center . I have not experienced this myself and others need to correct my understanding . You can clean the pins and sockets on both halves with a cheap acid brush or and a spray of alcohol based solvent . In a pinch a body spray will work and leave your work smelling marvelous . Take a toothpick and wiggle / spin in the sockets and with the brush wiping the pins . Then get one of the small packets of light bulb grease at the counter of the auto parts store ( it's a dielectric like we use on aircraft ) and push it into the sockets with the toothpick . Slather the pin side with lots of dielectric and reconnect . As to the transmission light it might take care of itself . Drive it around the block a couple of times before heading away to ensure it doesn't stall out . The transmission ECU and the engine ECU are separate but they do cross-talk so some transmission codes can be read as " P " codes and not " T " depending on the quality of their generic reader . You may have to try more then one part store ( from my experience with other codes ) . An auto parts store can read for free the OBD codes but you have to ask them to clear the latched codes . This may clear the light without going to the dealer and save you some big bucks . More on the paint later for there is something serious to consider .

As located above in the grateful " HOW TO links " see figure 5.1 page 60

http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Auto.../jagxj1997.pdf

Thanks , Joe

 

From what I understand the Jaguar acts up below 11.5 volts and a very important note it is easy to install the battery backwards ( even a shop will do it ) and it's a bad thing . Take your time and keep in mind the positive post goes in the positive direction ( forward ) . Done it myself but fixed the resulting issues myself with help from this forum . One thing to consider is that new off the shelf batteries are more and more bad out of stock . I my field I chased alot of problems induced by bad parts out of stock and always keep that in mind in troubleshooting . As to your decision as to wither she is a keeper consider stickily from a monetary point of veiw you are starting off with 1000 for a Jaguar and about anything other car running is 5000 and you have lots of life left on a very reliable engine / transmission in the X300 . The 1998 - 99 V8 X308 had serous different engine / transmission issues that ruined the resell values . The X300 that was made for 34 months is a sweet spot . And you have one of these :

 

Thank you for all that information , Update: I went to move it about a mile down the road to my house and it started up fine and drove fine too, when I left it parked last night i unplugged the battery and re-plugged it this morning I don't know if that did anything to help but I'm for sure going to do that cleaning today. Also You are very right about having that sweet spot I love this car so much already that I'm pretty much willing to do anything to make sure it stays running well and maintained. Also I was reading something In another thread about vapor Lock does my situation sound like Vapor lock to anyone? I don't know but it was a nice 90 degree day in Virginia Beach. Thanks for all the help!

 

Went and bought an OBD reader today and these codes showed up.
P1775
P1187
P0152
P0452(x2)
P0446(x2)
P0116
P0118
P0727