Hello Forum,
My '86 xj6 has a smoking ballast resistor.
I thought it was the old leaking coil, So I replaced that with a new 12v High-Performance coil (I know the original is supposed to be a 6v).
The ballast still smokes.
My questions are:
1. Are there dangers in putting a 12v coil?
2. Is there a way to accommodate a 12v coil if there are indeed dangers to other components?
3. Can I do away with the ballast entirely?

Cheers,
AC

p.s. the car starts and runs very well, just a smokey ballast with accompanying foul odour.

 

Very common




No the originals were 12v coils





Nope. Any 12v coil with approx 1.0 ohm primary resistance should be OK



Yup. Guys have been throwing the resistors over the hedge for years :-).

Cheers
DD

 

remove the ballast, the Jaguar factory did too. Pack it well and ship it to the Jaguar-Daimler Heritage Museum with a note: "from monqc with love".

 

Ha! Okay, that's Great guys, Thank you.

Just to be sure, do I put the newly free wires on the positive terminal of the coil?

 

Yes.

Assuming nothing has been tampered with over the years the resistor should have two white wires. Both go to the "+" post of the coil, as you say.

Cheers
DD

 

Just to clarify, we ARE talking about a Ser III XJ6 with the 4.2 engine, right?

On the (very unlikely) chance that you have a Ser III with the 3.4 engine all of the above doesn't apply.

Cheers
DD

 

Yes, It is a sIII 4.2.
I just did it, went for a ride and it worked. Non-smoking zone. Its magic.