I was reseating one of the relay plugs on the firewall next to the diode pack, and discovered that the brown wire leading to it was exposed (with a spark)

I currently have no power anywhere in the car when trying the ignition (nothing happens, no dashlights or cranking), but haven't performed a voltage test. Is there a likely fuse hidden somewhere I tripped? The Haynes guide I have is a bit cryptic on this circuit.

 

I should add, this is not the fuel pump relay

 

Any solid brown wire is "constant"/direct battery voltage. There are lots of 'em on your Jag.

As for the "no power anywhere" I'd begin by checking the two "+" junection posts on the firewall. They are connected directly to the battery and are "square one" for all electrical distribution. Perhaps your mystery brown wire belongs on one of them. Does it have a ring connector at the end, or a spade connector...or no connector?

Dump the Haynes manual. Here's a decent wiring guide.

http://www.captainjaguarscathouse.co...ec%20Guide.pdf

Section 3.1 would be a good place for you to start

If you scroll down too far you'll end up in the XJS section, though, so be careful


Cheers
DD

 

dumb question but, is the battery charged and correctly connected?

when was the last time you had power and what did you do after that? Retrace your steps...

 

Not long after I acquired my XJ6 I spotted Haynes on the bookshelf at a local parts store. Yahoo, exactly what i need to learn about my new steed. Well, the more I read, the more confused I got. Especialy page after page of indecipherable schematics, even if I could idntify what car the depicted!! Tis an S! and S2 book with an S3 supplement just shoved in.

Somewhat later, a fellow enthusiast shared the S57 publication with me. Oh, so much better. In turn, I've shared pages of it by scan for others.

And, Captainjaguarscathousehas these drawings, in living color. OK!!!

With this material and the 94 Cadillac factory manual, I can make sense of my cars electrickery.

And, that is something, my electric knowledge is very basic. + and - for cars. Black, white, red and green for the shop and house.

Jaguar electric mantra. Clean, lube and tighten.

Not long after I got my car, I noted the left outboard lamp was dark. Inany other car, I've owned, simple, the bulb is burnt out. Got a new seal beam, installed it. Still dark? Fooled around a bit and found a bum ground and loose connector. Fixed and the light came shinning forth. The new one stayed in place and rthe original went to the bit shelves as a spare.

And, then the lights ecam random as to which would light up!!! Applied the jaguar mantra at the fuse box. All right, they respod corectly to command. Then outbords dark again on one side!!! Roll the fuses in situ. Prince Lucas bnished, lights on.

Tis kinda fun, sorta???

Carl

 

@Jose -- yep It's charged. Once I'm back in the shop and away from cold turkey and stuffing, I'll walk through the basics again, though.
@Carl -- I think my purchasing a Haynes every car I buy is, at this point, a Pavlovian response. The only one worth a darn is the one for MG -- mainly because (I suspect) the car design was essentially static.

So: this particular brown wire fed the starter relay (my guess, at least, as it is one of the 3 on those metal hooks that sit on the series iii firewall). The connector seat for the relay is designed to slide onto the hooks, and this one has been cracked. When I attempted to seat it better, it split to the point the brown wire made contact briefly with the metal and sparked.

If I read right, though -- the brown wire is unfused +12 all the time?

 

I guess that should be called 'the Main Relay' -- I'm surprised (if this proves to be the case) that a short upstream would affect the relay, but I'll take a harder look at it.

 

The starter relay is the largest of the three relays and is closest to the center of the firewall

The "main" relay is part of the fuel injection system and is one of the two smaller relays, the other being the fuel pump relay.

If yours are original, or have been replaced with original types, they'll all have metal cases.

The red plastic unit isn't a relay at all but, rather, a "diode pack"

Cheers
DD

 

Right !


Cheers
DD

 

Definitely the 'main' relay, then -- It was in the triplet that included the diode and fuel pump relay (which I just replaced last week).