I have the Ducellier style ignition on my 1987 XJ6. Right now it is not running. I replaced the coil, but not the ballast. From what I have read, the ballast is one of the weak points in the system. Is is possible to buy the ballast as a separate unit?

Also, is there a trouble shooting routine for the ignition system? I need to determine if the problems lie with the ballast, the ECU or something else.

Thanks for any help or advice.

Neal Lewis

P.S. The 1987 model year seems to be a bit of an odd production run. Some people consider the 1987 XJ6 to not be a Series III. Some of the 1987 cars seem to have one style of ignition, and others another. How much will the VIN answer? Thanks, WNL

 

Throw the ballast over the hedge and never look back. You don't need it. Take the wires and put them directly on the "+" post of the coil.

The ECU won't have anything to do with the igntion system. I assume you have no spark? I'll post some troubleshooting for the CEI ignition system.

Yeah, a lot of people don't recognize the '87 Ser III XJ6. The last one, built April '87, was kept by Jaguar. The next-to-last one was sent to Los Angeles May 1st. I often wonder if the owner new what he had.

Not 100% certain but I think most or all of the '87s were sent to North America only. The rest of the world was busy selling XJ40s starting in about October '86.

Cheers
DD

 

Ok, here it is....the CEI checklist right out of the service manual.

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.

 

Many thanks! I will start doing the diagnostics on Thursday.

Neal

 

Finally had the time to check.

Failed on the first test. Battery voltage is 11.92 volts. Voltage at the + terminal of the coil with the switch in the run (on) position is 0.37 volts.

Is there some way to hot wire around the switch to see if the switch is the problem? If the switch is the problem, I will need to take it out and get a new one.

Thanks,

Neal Lewis