Jag lover just returning to the USA after serving 2 years in the Army in the Middle East, I'm new to the forum...
My 1989 straight six XJ starts and drives but will not turn off. I can remove the key, only way has been to reengage the starter to shutt off the engine.
Any thoughts?

 

Mike,

We're grateful for your service, and we're thankful you're back home and safe. THANK YOU!!!

Regarding your car, the first suspect that comes to mind is the ignition switch, the electrical component mounted on the left end of the ignition key cylinder. It's not too difficult to access and you can test its electrical behavior with an ohmmeter. The photos at the link below show how I replaced the switch on our '93, which should be fairly similar to your '89:

Welcome to Jag-lovers - Members Photo Viewing Page


The second suspect might be the ignition ON relay, which could be sticking in the ON position. On your '89, however, it should be mounted on a component panel located behind the right (passenger side) dash underpanel or knee bolster. The Electrical Guide doesn't give any other description of the relay (it's probably a standard cube-shaped relay). The wires connected to the relay are White/Pink, White/Blue, and Brown. The relay has an internal resistor and diode, but some members have been able to use a standard relay as a replacement by soldering a resistor and diode across the coil terminals externally. If it comes to that, we can help with details. If you remove the knee bolster, the next time the car won't shut off, try tapping on the relay with the handle of a screwdriver or such. The photos below show how to remove the knee bolsters on our '93. Your car will be reasonably similar:

Welcome to Jag-lovers - Members Photo Viewing Page
Welcome to Jag-lovers - Members Photo Viewing Page


Please keep us informed.

Cheers,

Don

 

I will give these great options a try and let you know how it goes -Mike