1985 Xj6 random no start HELP
#1
11-07-2018, 09:34 PM
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1985 Xj6 random no start HELP
So.
Once again the craigslist search led me to looking for Jaguars...
I found one 3.5 hours away in Topeka Kansas that I had to have.
as usual I made the mistake of driving her home.. it is a 1985 XJ6
she made it 60 miles into the 250 mile trip then after a stop for fuel... crank but no start... we ate lunch shifted it into neutral and it fired rite up after about an hour of cooling off.. thought it was strange but was running great so kept on going...
about 150 miles later while running 65 down the highway it instantly shut off. Coasted to a stop. About 25 miles from home ....
had fuel
no spark
had to have her towed home the rest of the way... was very sad
so heres my problem.
Have fuel but no spark.
replaced Ignition coil. Have voltage with key on to the positive side of the coil. Also have voltage to the negative side.
After replacing the coil the car fired rite up for about 30 seconds ... the died and wouldn’t re start,
so i replaced the ignition module inside inside the black box on the starboard side of the motor, ac delco part
after replacing the module the car fired rite up immediately and ran great... awesome I thought that’s it.. turned the car off to get all my tools away so I could take a drive,,, guess what after turning it off.. cranks but no start and once again no spark.
Still have voltage to the positive side of the new coil with key on.
do not have an open ground on the distributor pick up coil
Need some advice on where to look next.
Is there some kind of control in the shift assembly that would kill spark to the coil?
the problem is intermittent sometimes it starts up.
I hate to throw more money at it. Please advise.
my next step is to buy a new aftermarket distributor deleting the amplifier
car runs and idles perfect when it starts just won’t re start
Help..
thanks in advance
levi
Once again the craigslist search led me to looking for Jaguars...
I found one 3.5 hours away in Topeka Kansas that I had to have.
as usual I made the mistake of driving her home.. it is a 1985 XJ6
she made it 60 miles into the 250 mile trip then after a stop for fuel... crank but no start... we ate lunch shifted it into neutral and it fired rite up after about an hour of cooling off.. thought it was strange but was running great so kept on going...
about 150 miles later while running 65 down the highway it instantly shut off. Coasted to a stop. About 25 miles from home ....
had fuel
no spark
had to have her towed home the rest of the way... was very sad
so heres my problem.
Have fuel but no spark.
replaced Ignition coil. Have voltage with key on to the positive side of the coil. Also have voltage to the negative side.
After replacing the coil the car fired rite up for about 30 seconds ... the died and wouldn’t re start,
so i replaced the ignition module inside inside the black box on the starboard side of the motor, ac delco part
after replacing the module the car fired rite up immediately and ran great... awesome I thought that’s it.. turned the car off to get all my tools away so I could take a drive,,, guess what after turning it off.. cranks but no start and once again no spark.
Still have voltage to the positive side of the new coil with key on.
do not have an open ground on the distributor pick up coil
Need some advice on where to look next.
Is there some kind of control in the shift assembly that would kill spark to the coil?
the problem is intermittent sometimes it starts up.
I hate to throw more money at it. Please advise.
my next step is to buy a new aftermarket distributor deleting the amplifier
car runs and idles perfect when it starts just won’t re start
Help..
thanks in advance
levi
#2
11-08-2018, 01:51 PM
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So.
Once again the craigslist search led me to looking for Jaguars...
I found one 3.5 hours away in Topeka Kansas that I had to have.
as usual I made the mistake of driving her home.. it is a 1985 XJ6
she made it 60 miles into the 250 mile trip then after a stop for fuel... crank but no start... we ate lunch shifted it into neutral and it fired rite up after about an hour of cooling off.. thought it was strange but was running great so kept on going...
about 150 miles later while running 65 down the highway it instantly shut off. Coasted to a stop. About 25 miles from home ....
had fuel
no spark
had to have her towed home the rest of the way... was very sad
so heres my problem.
Have fuel but no spark.
replaced Ignition coil. Have voltage with key on to the positive side of the coil. Also have voltage to the negative side.
After replacing the coil the car fired rite up for about 30 seconds ... the died and wouldn’t re start,
so i replaced the ignition module inside inside the black box on the starboard side of the motor, ac delco part
after replacing the module the car fired rite up immediately and ran great... awesome I thought that’s it.. turned the car off to get all my tools away so I could take a drive,,, guess what after turning it off.. cranks but no start and once again no spark.
Still have voltage to the positive side of the new coil with key on.
do not have an open ground on the distributor pick up coil
Need some advice on where to look next.
Is there some kind of control in the shift assembly that would kill spark to the coil?
the problem is intermittent sometimes it starts up.
I hate to throw more money at it. Please advise.
my next step is to buy a new aftermarket distributor deleting the amplifier
car runs and idles perfect when it starts just won’t re start
Help..
thanks in advance
levi
Once again the craigslist search led me to looking for Jaguars...
I found one 3.5 hours away in Topeka Kansas that I had to have.
as usual I made the mistake of driving her home.. it is a 1985 XJ6
she made it 60 miles into the 250 mile trip then after a stop for fuel... crank but no start... we ate lunch shifted it into neutral and it fired rite up after about an hour of cooling off.. thought it was strange but was running great so kept on going...
about 150 miles later while running 65 down the highway it instantly shut off. Coasted to a stop. About 25 miles from home ....
had fuel
no spark
had to have her towed home the rest of the way... was very sad
so heres my problem.
Have fuel but no spark.
replaced Ignition coil. Have voltage with key on to the positive side of the coil. Also have voltage to the negative side.
After replacing the coil the car fired rite up for about 30 seconds ... the died and wouldn’t re start,
so i replaced the ignition module inside inside the black box on the starboard side of the motor, ac delco part
after replacing the module the car fired rite up immediately and ran great... awesome I thought that’s it.. turned the car off to get all my tools away so I could take a drive,,, guess what after turning it off.. cranks but no start and once again no spark.
Still have voltage to the positive side of the new coil with key on.
do not have an open ground on the distributor pick up coil
Need some advice on where to look next.
Is there some kind of control in the shift assembly that would kill spark to the coil?
the problem is intermittent sometimes it starts up.
I hate to throw more money at it. Please advise.
my next step is to buy a new aftermarket distributor deleting the amplifier
car runs and idles perfect when it starts just won’t re start
Help..
thanks in advance
levi
With an intermittent problem like this a couple other things that come to mind to check would included the wiring from the ignition switch, the main lead between the coil and the distributor being possibly, or the thin wires connecting the distributor and the ignition amplifier. There could be an intermittent connection/break within those wires or at either end like at the pick-up in the distributor or the connection to the amplifier.
Larry
#3
11-08-2018, 09:22 PM
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Nope.
Previous advice about carefully checking wiring and connectors is spot-on.
One trick to eliminate the ignition switch (a common fault) is to run a jumper wire from the battery "+" post to the coil "+" post. Any change? Since you have an intermittent problem you my need to try this several times before concluding anything
If you have an ohm meter you can check the pick-up coil in the distributor by simply unplugging it and checking resistance across the terminals in the plug. Should be 2.2 to 4.8 ohms. Of course you'll need to make this test when the system is in failure mode.
Cheers
DD
Last edited by Doug; 11-08-2018 at 09:26 PM.
#4
11-08-2018, 09:26 PM
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CEI Test
Here's a diag tree for the CEI system.
The test assumes a fully charged battery
1) Measure voltage at coil "+" terminal with key "on". It should be within
one volt of battery voltage. If not suspect a problem with the wiring to the
ignition switch, or the switch itself.
2) Measure voltage at the coil "-" terminal. Result should be the same as at
the "+" terminal. If Ok, go to step 3. If not....
Disconnect the wire from the amplifier from the "-" post of the coil and
measure voltage again. Less than 2 volts means the coil is faulty. More than
2 volts means the amplifier is faulty.
3) Disconnect distributor pickup coil from the amplifier (this is the
harness from the distributor that plugs into the amp). Measure resistance
across the terminals. It should be 2.2k to 4.8k ohms. If Ok, go to step 4.
If not, replace the pickup.
4) Reconnect the pickup to the amplifier. Measure voltage at coil "-" post
while cranking engine. The voltage should drop. If OK, go to step 5. If
not, the amplifier is faulty.
5) Check distributor cap and wires, distributor rotor arm, spark plugs, coil
wire
Cheers
DD
The test assumes a fully charged battery
1) Measure voltage at coil "+" terminal with key "on". It should be within
one volt of battery voltage. If not suspect a problem with the wiring to the
ignition switch, or the switch itself.
2) Measure voltage at the coil "-" terminal. Result should be the same as at
the "+" terminal. If Ok, go to step 3. If not....
Disconnect the wire from the amplifier from the "-" post of the coil and
measure voltage again. Less than 2 volts means the coil is faulty. More than
2 volts means the amplifier is faulty.
3) Disconnect distributor pickup coil from the amplifier (this is the
harness from the distributor that plugs into the amp). Measure resistance
across the terminals. It should be 2.2k to 4.8k ohms. If Ok, go to step 4.
If not, replace the pickup.
4) Reconnect the pickup to the amplifier. Measure voltage at coil "-" post
while cranking engine. The voltage should drop. If OK, go to step 5. If
not, the amplifier is faulty.
5) Check distributor cap and wires, distributor rotor arm, spark plugs, coil
wire
Cheers
DD
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#5
11-09-2018, 03:53 PM
Join Date: Nov 2018
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Here's a diag tree for the CEI system.
The test assumes a fully charged battery
1) Measure voltage at coil "+" terminal with key "on". It should be within
one volt of battery voltage. If not suspect a problem with the wiring to the
ignition switch, or the switch itself.
2) Measure voltage at the coil "-" terminal. Result should be the same as at
the "+" terminal. If Ok, go to step 3. If not....
Disconnect the wire from the amplifier from the "-" post of the coil and
measure voltage again. Less than 2 volts means the coil is faulty. More than
2 volts means the amplifier is faulty.
3) Disconnect distributor pickup coil from the amplifier (this is the
harness from the distributor that plugs into the amp). Measure resistance
across the terminals. It should be 2.2k to 4.8k ohms. If Ok, go to step 4.
If not, replace the pickup.
4) Reconnect the pickup to the amplifier. Measure voltage at coil "-" post
while cranking engine. The voltage should drop. If OK, go to step 5. If
not, the amplifier is faulty.
5) Check distributor cap and wires, distributor rotor arm, spark plugs, coil
wire
Cheers
DD
The test assumes a fully charged battery
1) Measure voltage at coil "+" terminal with key "on". It should be within
one volt of battery voltage. If not suspect a problem with the wiring to the
ignition switch, or the switch itself.
2) Measure voltage at the coil "-" terminal. Result should be the same as at
the "+" terminal. If Ok, go to step 3. If not....
Disconnect the wire from the amplifier from the "-" post of the coil and
measure voltage again. Less than 2 volts means the coil is faulty. More than
2 volts means the amplifier is faulty.
3) Disconnect distributor pickup coil from the amplifier (this is the
harness from the distributor that plugs into the amp). Measure resistance
across the terminals. It should be 2.2k to 4.8k ohms. If Ok, go to step 4.
If not, replace the pickup.
4) Reconnect the pickup to the amplifier. Measure voltage at coil "-" post
while cranking engine. The voltage should drop. If OK, go to step 5. If
not, the amplifier is faulty.
5) Check distributor cap and wires, distributor rotor arm, spark plugs, coil
wire
Cheers
DD
Thanks all for the response
Everything so far check out well, I replaced the ignition module last night and while I was at oriellys they tested the old one and it tested good.
the only thing I haven't tried is having some turn the key and crank while I take voltage
(Step 4)
will get the wife out tonight and give that a shot
becoming frustrated ...
will update
Thanks all for the responses
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