Hi,

I have a 1995 XJ6 with 136K miles. When in idle, the car sometimes turns off, but it starts back up again without a problem. Idle is very smooth and quiet. It also hesitates or stalls sometimes for a split second while driving, but never turns off when moving, only when in idle. Sometimes the engine light comes on (don't know the code) and if the same condition does not occur again, it goes off in couple days. The car have had this problem for few months now.

The first thing I did was to change the fuel filter, but that was not the problem as everyone who read the other similar threads would've guessed.

Next, I replaced the spark plugs and used the Champion brand. The old ones were Champion as well, but were very old. This fixed the problem for about a month. I couldn't believe that the solution was so simple and low cost, and sure enough a month later the problem returned again. This told me that the problem is not with the spark plugs, but having new ones helped mask the real problem. I did not want to change them again because I wanted to get to the bottom of the issue, but the days went by and I still was not able to figure it out, so I broke down and replaced the plugs again about a week ago, and the problem is fixed again for now.

I am curious to know if others have experienced the same temporary fix behavior after the spark plugs replacement. I have read other threads with similar problems where the spark plugs replacement fixed the problem, but I have not read that it was a temporary fix.

More importantly, I would like to know if someone can diagnose the issue, given the pattern with the temporary fix after the spark plugs replacement. I am personally starting to think that the problem could be from one of the ignition coils, but I am not an expert, so I would like to get some reassurance before I purchase one to test my theory.

Thank in advance for your input.

-mo

 

Read the codes.
Read the codes.
Read the codes.

 

mh, some other things, i haqd a similar thing, sometime when i come to a stop at a lite eng died, so here some of the things i've don, ya new plugs (champions), the front 2 o2 senosrs, the egr valve( real simple) but make sure you clean the 2 holes out real well, they get a build up of carbon, theres a gasket with a screen, i would put that in there, it filters the larger particles of corbons clean your mass air flow sensors, that easy too, ther cleaner for that, and also the throttle body, these things i've changes out and clean,over the last yrs or so,

Geno
1995 xj6 186k miles

 

Thanks for the input. I'll check the o2 sensors and the egr valve, but regardless of the result, I will not know if things are working correctly for another 3 weeks or so, after the new spark plugs have been in for about a month.
BTW, I don't have the equipment to read the code, otherwise, I would've done it.

-mo

 

Just about any parts store will do it for you [for free] ... Autozone, Oreilly, Advance, etc ... just walk in and ask them to scan the codes for you.

 

As I understand it, the Peoples Republic of California forbids the Auto parts from doing that. Or has someone blown smoke up my rear end.

Although I would not recommend a cheapo code reader, it would be money better spent that just buying parts. A good code reader at a few hundred bucks will pay for itseldf pretty quickly.