The instrument cluster on my 1995XJ6 is flashing off and on. At the same time this happens the engine stutters. After enough time the engine stalls completely if I am at idle speed. At first it was an occasional problem, but it has become consistent.

I start up the car and about the same time the coolant temp reaches 170 the cluster gauges begin dropping to zero, the dash lights come on and then the gauges go back up to normal.

I have replaced the battery and checked the alternator.

Today the car began reporting a P1777 code through the OBD2 reader. When I initially took this to my mechanic it was not reporting any codes and he wasn't able to figure out what was wrong.

I'm still at a loss. I have looked over all the connectors under the dash, checked relays and fuses and I cannot find a problem.

Please help. This is my primary car and I'd like to have it back.

Peace!
Jack

 

You will get many suggestions, so here is mine.

Under the bonnet (hood, whatever) in the RH fuse cluster is a "blue relay". This is the ignition relay and is prone to dirty contacts, hence no ignition, symtoms like you got sound reasonable????.

Pull the relay, prise the cover off, carefully clean the contacts with "super fine" wet and dry paper, and spray with some contact cleaner and give it a try, will cost NOTHING, and may just work.

 

Thank you sir for the first suggestion. I took the relay apart and thoroughly cleaned the contacts. It was very shiny copper with what looks to be gold or ss contacts on the copper works. It appeared to be newly replaced. The previous owner was a mechanic who kept it pristine. He passed away.

Even after the contact cleaning I still have the same problem.....

What next???

Thank you
Jack

 

OK, so re-reading the original scribing, it sounds to me that you are loosing ignition supply. That would stall the car, drop the instruments and anything else reliant on ignition volts.

There is a fuse plate arrangement on the +ve terminal of the battery that may be causing issues. I say this due to a mate today showing me that item on his X308, and he had intermitant difficult starting??. Cleaned it all up, tightened the screws TIGHT, and all sorted so far.

There will be other items in the "ignition" scheme of things, and I will look in my books tmorrow when I go to the shed, and IF I find something startling I will post back here.

Systematic following of the ignition supply track is the way this will be found. I reckon it will be something simple if the car has been maintained as you say.

Just had a thought, old age again, bugga, try resetting the "enertia switch", no idea where it is, but someone on the XJ40 section had something odd going on, and he simply reset it, all good.

Also, is the car fitted with an "aftermarket" alarm??, they create havoc for no apparent reason. My XJ-S did some weird stuff, and it all went away when the alarm went out the door.

 

I found a Jag TB 08.1-01 which describes the need for replacement of the TCM in cases where a P1777 is showing and communication with the TCM is intermittent or non-existent.

My TCM is the old 1995 original. What needs to be done in order to replace the TCM??

Thanks

 

Grant,

I disassembled, polished, reassembled and tightened the fuse assembly on the positive terminal. It didn't appear to be loose in any way and it was bright penny to begin with.

Still, ipac is flashing and the car is stuttering. However it is below freezing outside today and taking longer for the car to get warm. As a result it is running longer than usual, though it is still stuttering.

1: Is it a ground issue and the car has to get to a certain temp to cause the charge to feedback and switch something off? If so, what??? 2: Could it be the generator? If so, wouldn't that display itself in other ways?

Thanks again for the suggestions.

 

Also, keep in mind that the only OBD2 code this thing is throwing is a P1777 and it only happens when the car finally stalls out.

It's pretty bad when all my local mechanics don't even want to get into it. Even my friend who takes care of everything else on this girl is scratching his head.

 

OK, as stated I would look in my books for anything interesting.

Fuses:
Engine bay, RH fuse box, fuse F6= 5amp= engine management system.
Engine bay, RH fuse box, fuse F11= 20amp= ECM relay supply.
WITH FUSES, I doubt they are an issue, but I never test them, just replace them, as they sometimes (rare) can go intermitant under load, but test OK with a meter??.

Relays:
Behind RH headlamp = black relay= Engine management.
Inside rear RH heelboard = blue relay = ignition.
Inside rear LH heelboard = blue relay = ignition.

Thats about it.

I read somewhere of an owner that had terminal issues with his engine module, RH kick panel, where he had terminals in the plug, and the ECU itself that had corroded and were intermitant, then went total fail.

Not sure about that code you are getting, hopefully someone more smarter than me will sort that one.

Since it seems to be temp related, so maybe the temp sensor, or it wiring/plug is failing. This is in the thermostat housing and has an injector style plug on it. Not sure why it would effect instruments etc, but it is a temp sensing resistor, and they do go off the boil regularly.

 

Grant,

Let me bring something else into the equation that perhaps I should have before. Hindsight is 20/20.

Before all of these problems began, ALL OF THEM, I had my steering column replaced with one that supposedly had a working tilt and telescope function. My mechanic put the new one in only to find that it didn't work either. The problems began to start little by little until it is full blown consistent at this point.

Is there something between the column and instrumentation that could contribute to this? Some kind of wire harness that might be crushed?

I'm going to check everything you have mentioned but then I think I am going to remove the column next and check and sort.

What say ye?

 

I'd hunt down all the grounds you can find in the engine compartment, on the engine, on the firewall, and especially the ground strap from the trans bolt to the body. Take 'em apart, clean and re-secure them properly. It sounds as though your trouble usually begins when you get warm enough to enter closed-loop fueling.

I wouldn't worry about the TCM TSB, if that hasn't been an issue by now, I'd say it's probably not an issue this time.

Good luck.

 

Jack,

With the added information from your PM, I think you are quite right to go after wiring/grounds in the area of the steering column. Attached is a little info to help the cause!

Good luck!

 

Thank you, I am having a little battery issue which may or may not be relevant to the issue at hand. We shall see, and I will report back.

Meanwhile I am using a steel brush to clean ground leads.

Thanks

 

Jack,

Mmmmm that column work sounds liike the starting point of the issues, and yes, there are looms, wires etc in that area that could get messed up, as well as others have stated, earth (ground) wires also.

Knowing that now, i would go back to the column area and have a real good look/poke, whatever you like and I reckon the evil will be located. It may only be a small wire partially pinched, or a terminal that is strained due to being pulled tooooooo far to get at something, follow me, good, I am getting lost, bugga.

i just had the column out of our '66 S Type, and there are numerous wires etc there that can easily get caught, so in 40+ yerars there has to be more stuff in that area to get messed with, progress does that???.

 

Grant,

Whatchya know about removing that steering column in the X300?

Thanks

 

Squat, never looked at it.

Mine is a base model car, NO powere tilt etc, so less things to go bugga up, or think about.

Having said that, the thing was put together with bolts/nuts/screws, by humans (debatable at times I know), so it should NOT be that difficult to get at, time consuming, you bet, vocabulary enhancing, HAHAHAHA, of course. Disarming the airbag would be mandatory, battery dis-connected also mandatory ( I say that coz of the number of people I come across who mess with "Brown" wires which are battey live on a Jag, with the battery connected, duh) and basically follow ones nose in the best system you know, one step at a time.

Have look at the Parts site "Classic Jag Spares" or something like that, it will show an exploded PARTS view of the area, and that is usually a good guide of how it all fits.

 

I've been thru just about everything and I can't find any good printed procedure for the column in an X300. It's not really that hard to remove. After removing the driver underscuttle it is basically a coupling bolt [10mm head] at the firewall to disconnect from the lower shaft. [By the way, I leave the steering wheel on, I just center and lock it by removing the key. That way you won't damage the spiral cassette to the wheel] Then disconnect the electrical connectors to any wiring that stays on the column. there are two fasteners near the base of the column about four inches behind the coupling bolt above. Then two nuts to remove at the base of the Instrument Cluster. They are on studs pointing toward the front of the car. Lay the column forward to clear the studs and lower it out of the fascia structure. I usually let the wheel rest on the seat and get out of the car to grab the column and remove it. There is a little contortion involved, but it's not too bad a job.

Be sure and scrutinize all the wiring while you are there. You may just find the problem along the way.

Good luck.

 

Charged the battery back up. I need to borrow some equipment to measure the i/o.

1. What does it mean when the car continues to run for 10 seconds or so after the key has been removed from the ignition??????

I can't wait until it is warm enough to take this steering column out and search for wire trouble.

2. Is there a way to start the car with the column completely extracted?

Thanks again from the chilly city of Eddyville where it is currently 3degrees.

 

1. It just proves my theory that all Jags are female, think about it??. Something is holding the ignition circuit LIVE. This may be the suspect pinched wires or whatever in the column area??. The electrical section of the ignition switch WAS an issue with the earlier Jags, maybe you got one going bad in an X300??. It has to happen sometime I suppose.

2. NO IDEA.

 

JackJ,

If you still need it, I just ran across a steering column procedure!! Strange how things show up when you are not looking!

Cheers,

 

Today I removed the steering column per the directions. Just a side note, the directions did not say anything about needing a contortionist to do this job.

Once the column was completely free I only hooked up the ignition switch, which was from the original column (not this used one that I thought might be the culprit.)

All of the wires appeared to be intact and were certainly free of impingement with the column gone.

At approximately 169 degrees for the coolant per the OBD2 reader the speedo cluster flashed. AGAIN. It happened several times before I just decided to remove the key. When I did the engine continued to run just a bit longer. Nothing else was plugged into the steering column array.

As a test I turned the car back on and then simply unplugged the ignition harness to see how the car would respond. Again, it continued to run just a bit longer before it died.

What do you think I should look for now? I have gone over those major ground straps and so far they are all absolutely clean.

Interestingly enough the car didn't sputter as much, but I didn't let it run as long as I usually do. I just waited until the cluster flashed until I turned it off and gave up.