Hi all.

Just joined this forum in order to get help and advice on fixing and caring for my beautiful XJ6 Sport. Here's my forum intro post:

After owning my car for just over a year and not giving it the love and care it deserves, and recently needing a new catalytic converter and developing a misfire, I have now decided to set aside some time and money to start looking after it.

My first simple question is this: What kind of a code reader do I need for my car? The local garage said that this car is pre-OBDII, but from a cursory read through a few posts here, that is not the case. Can someone clarify? Are there better/worse readers and if so are the better ones worth the extra cost?

Thanks in advance!

PS: The misfire is probably to do with the injector, as I have eliminated the possibility of a faulty plug or coil, and compression check came out positive. I will probably ask for more advice on this matter soon!

 

buy a elm327 from amazon for $10 and it connects to your phone. The car IS OBD-II because it is after '96

 

From the Amazon page:
'Works On All OBD II Vehicles (1996+ in USA) and EOBD vehicles (Petrol cars from 2001+ and diesel cars from 2003/2004 in Europe).'

My car is a UK vehicle so I assume this means it won't work on mine?

 

+1 to ELM

The low cost solution for reading Powertrain (Pxxxx) codes. If you want to go for more sophisticated scantool/diagnostics options, see the thread in General Tech Help forum:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/g...-%2A%2A-33347/

Troubleshooting the misfire without first reading the codes could prove an expensive route.

Graham

 

+1 on cheap Elm327 clone. I've had great luck with several of them ....for about 1-2 years each. Tried a much more expensive scantool adapter and it freezes after 20 seconds or so on all 3 X300's, but works a treat on the X202's and Fords.

 

The auto parts stores in the USA will read the codes for free in order to get customers . Easy verification that it is OBD - II see if there are stores that do that in England . OBD - II was not mandated in Europe until 2001 but in 1996 in the USA . Jaguar may ( ? ) have just made all cars in 1996 OBD - II . If not you can follow the OBD - 1 or 1.5 if it has that which is a series of check engine light short and long flashes to give you code numbers like a moris code . Not all cars have the same test configuration setup ( jumper pins A to B on the car test receptical and cycle the key 3 times on GM's ) so you'll specifically have to find the right one for jaguar . If you have OBD - II I recommend ELM - 327 on EBAY . Notice a difference between hand held code scanner tools and the ELM - 327 which give you the codes and the code reset option , the ELM - 327 gives you that plus live data values of each device your ECU is seeing as you drive around and able to play it back at home as a saved file . See Youtube video " OBD2 Automotive PC Scan Tool Demo " to get a sense of what it does . You can notice if something is out of range that are fickle in latching on a code like O2 sensors . Notice the hardware is either USB laptop or Bluetooth ( but not both ) I recommend USB Laptop as is more versatile . It has an easier to read screen and you may not be able to playback the screen video . I went through the learning curve in getting it to work through the issues and can break it down into 3 columns . First column would be Windows 8 /10 compatible . Second column is the device driver or firmware . And Third column operating software . In the second column most of the ELM - 327's are counterfeit and have problems here , there is a v1.1 v1.3 v1.5 and a v2.1 . In the Third column the free software downlaods are a gimmick that only gives you their display window but does not function , you have to buy the licence key to see anything . . What I use is ScanXL Professional which is much better then the brand used in the video . Private mail me for I have more information for you .

Thanks , Joe

 

Thanks for all the replies! I'll borrow an OBD-II scanner at work tomorrow and just see if it works. If it does I'll follow the consensus advice and get the ELM-327, otherwise I'll need to look for ODB-I options

 

Hi GGG

I borrowed a code reader from a colleague, and it reads P1621. This is apparently means 'Control Module Long Term Memory Performance/ Immobilizer Code Words Do Not Match', but I have also read that it is a code that is not used on this vehicle so doesn't mean anything. Can I simply ignore this code?

I'll open a new thread this evening to troubleshoot the misfire, in which I'll include more vehicle details and diagnostic checks I've done so far.