Good!

As a veteran of many coil failures I don't think it's a coil problem, personally.

However, just so you'll know, while presence of a light show at the coil proves it's bad, lack of the light show isn't proof that it's good.

Cheers
DD

 

Doug, what are your thoughts about the crank position sensor as the cause of the problem?

 

Seems plausible. Might account for all six cylinders dropping at once. If it come down to a guess, well, it wouldn't be unreasonable or hatefully expensive.

My CPS went south and it caused an intermittant stalling problem BUT, when the stall occured, the engine became (almost violently) rough running...as opposed to the "clean stall" mentioned here.

But I'm not saying rough-then-stall is the only possible failure mode. The last couple years with my XJR has taught me a few failure modes that I wouldn't have ever thought of before :-)

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks guys for your ideas. Considered the crank position sensor. Replaced about two months ago. No impact noticed.

Another part of the mystery is that the drop out is getting less severe that it was when it started. Now no warning lights. Just hiccups and then keeps running. I am about to come to the conclusion that there is just a connection somewhere that is dropping out. What concerns me is a permanent drop out.

Next I will remove the cover below the ignition switch and drive the car while reaching down and messing with wiring in that area. Maybe get wife to drive car then.

 

EZDriver
I know it's been a number of years since you fought with this problem. I am also now having the same problem with my 95 XJ6. We've had this car for a number of years and this issue pops up and gradually got worse. I had to tow the car home one day because it just wouldn't stay running. Then it didn't fire at all.
I have changed fuel pump relays and I have installed a new fuel pump. The old pump had flow, but it was weak and the problem had all the makings of no fuel pressure. This new pump has great pressure
Installed the new pump and the car ran great for the first half dozen trips. Then the other day, the same problem was back with a vengeance. I was able to limp the car home this time. I opened the fuel connector and had plenty fuel flow.
I have read many suggestions but no one has disclosed what their problem was, with these same symptoms.
Did you ever solve this problem and if you did, what did you discover?
Any help from your experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

@Axle
Darn, that sounds like quite the head scratcher. I hope you find your answer soon!

My car stalls about once per month, only since the weather started to cool down. The first two times it happened, I had no idea it stalled at all because it was so smooth; both those times I was coming slowly to a stop. Just yesterday it happened again while I was already stopped at a light, and I swear I felt the engine idle raise before it sputtered out--this time, not smooth at all. It happened very shortly after I turned the A/C off, so I'm attributing it to a very loose A/C belt which I have now diligently tightened...

I can't imagine what kind of fresh hell must be interfering with your fuel system. Certainly you've tried looking at the fuel filter, right? If not, that could have worn out your older pump and is now even more blocked up. I would also check for leaks in the fuel line.

 

Without me reading through all the responses, this maybe already have been suggested . My 95 6cyl got progressively hard to start, stalled, etc. I played with this for weeks. Behind the right headlight are three relays, try swapping them. One is for the wipers, & one is for a ECU, I don't know what the other is for. I then replaced all three with new ones, $36 ! Starts, runs fine.
Lawrence

 

44lawrence.
Those three relays were the first item I looked at. Previously, I did have a problem with the "air pump" relay. So I figured that it was very possible that the other two relays would have a similar problem. I did check this and replaced them. With this issue, it's difficult to tell if a fix actually works. The problem is not present when the engine is cold and it doesn't always act up. The car will seem to run fine and then totally out of the blue it will stumble and stall. Often the engine will just shut off and then come right back on within half a second. The engine will continue to stumble like this until I allow the RPMs to drop off to idle. Then it dies completely. Just as if it ran out of gas.
I have considered the fuel filter but as I stated I have checked the fuel flow and it is excellent with the new fuel pump. This was tested within moments after I was able to limp into my driveway.
I don't have any issue with the engine loading up. It always restarts and fires fine.
What I really need is an analyzer to see if the ignition is shutting down at the same time. Which gives me an idea. Maybe I can rig up a spark tester where I can see it.
I don't want to just throw money at this problem. That could prove to be endless.

 

@axle
Also behind the RH headlamps are two large connectors, below the relays. They could be rectangular or sort of oval shaped. Take them apart and check for any terminal burning and see that they are clean with no sign of corrosion.

Cheers,

 

For what it's worth I've also had problems with stalling with complete stalls at idle just like the ones described in this thread, even after new fuel filter, fuel pump, plugs, replacing three obviously cracked coils, and wrapping up cracks in the ignition wiring harness. Eventually I went ahead and replaced the three old coils still left in the engine, and now the problem has gone away completely. If push comes to shove this might work, assuming you're experiencing the same problem.

 

I have had separate issues related to the coils. Since then, I have replace all 6 coils.
With those coil issues, I always had a DTC and the new parts corrected the problem.

This problem is not just a misfire on one or two cylinders. That would be way to easy to fix. With this issue the entire engine cuts out as if I turned off the key and then turned it back on. This does lead me to wonder about the ignition switch. I'm not confident that an ignition switch can connect and disconnect like this without seeing the problem when the car is cold. This only occurs when the car is warm.
It is something to check out. One dark alley is as good as another.

 

OK guys I think I post this result recently. What seems to have worked for me after replacing the crank position sensor and cycling the throttle plate now and then a bunch of times was replacing the cam cover and new coils from japthug. Upon removing the cover I found oil in every well. One was completely covering the plug. Cleaning everything up and new plugs and coils and sealing the cover with black silicone. No problem since this was done and that has been a couple of months ago. And it seems to run better, smoother.

 

I wanted to send a special thanks to xjrGuy.
I took his advice and inspected the two large wire harness connectors behind the right head light. One connector is white and the other is black. On the black connector there is a rather large Brown\org trace wire. This wire in the connector had clearly overheated the plug pins. The plastic around that connector had melted. This allowed the pins to move, causing a poor connection. I noticed that this wire was warm to the touch while the car was running. I ended up creating a jumper around the plug with a new connector set. Now the wire no longer heats up with the improved connection.

Now I haven't attempted to drive the car any distance yet. I am waiting for the right opportunity in case it continues to act up. I'm not celebrating yet.

 

A special thanks to xjrguy.
It does appears that a poor connection in one of the harness plugs (behind right headlight) was the culprit.
I have driven the car a number of times now without incident.

I also want to thank all the other member who contributed there experience to my problem. Automobiles are now so sophisticated that any engine issue can be caused for numerous reasons.
Believe me, I never thought I would find this problem to be a burnt connection in the main harness.

Thank you again and keep the black side down.

 

Ya know, even a broken clock is right twice a day.........

Good job, glad you seem to have gotten to the bottom of things.

Cheers,

 

Up date. She is still running great. Now that I've said that????? I still cycle the throttle plate a bunch of times to wipe the TPS and hopefully keep it clean.

I think they will bury me in this car.