I have an all original 1996 that is in stellar condition... 9 out of 10 for sure.
All of a sudden the car began to stall and conk out when it got too hot, granted it is 188 degrees out as well and after a bit it would be fine for a bit.
I brought her into a station and had a new thermostat put in and the mechanic said he could not use the diagnostic equipment he had as it wont work on the car so we need to wait till it does it long enough or it does. 48 days later I picked it up and brought her to another shop, a Mobil... same exact thing, they could not locate it. Then I had her towed to a Jag dealer and they said, LISTEN AT THIS POINT IT'S NOT A FIX, ITS A RESTORATION"... sell it and be done or we have to throw stuff in that it might not be as its a total guessing game.
So now she is on my driveway and I am about to ship her to NY as I am moving from CA.
My idea was maybe since she is so clean I should put a chevy engine in her and begin a new? I dont care whats inside to be honest.

Anybody have any input to what it can be?? I fuel pump? they all doubt it.
Gets hot and stalls...

I was about to sell her for $14k when this occurred and decided to wait to fix her...

msijordan@aol.com

 

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to XJS forum. Members here with the same model will be able to help.

One useful piece of information to add - which engine is it fitted with?

Graham

 

Sorry your car is giving you problems. It seems like your car has been handled by a long line of idiots. The AJ16 engine your car has is one of the most reliable Jaguar ever built.

I have a car with the same engine as yours, and my car was also having a similar problem. Because it's hot outside the car probably gets in/out closed loop faster but the problem is probably not the heat itself. In my case it was the ECU which had suffered from water ingress. Basically water can easily drip down to the connectors, cause corrosion and eventually fry the ECU. I would suggest you start by checking the pins on the ECU closely. It's located on the passanger side footwell

 

Did you see check engine light come on? The car is OBDII compliant, so a code reader would be able to check any codes, active or stored.

 

Need a little more clarification to help figure out what could be causing the stalling issue.

Are you saying it stalls when the outside temp. is getting hot or are you saying the temp. gauge on the car is reading hot and then the car stalls ?

Have you been able to identify if you have spark or fuel pressure when it stalls?

When it stalls does it restart right away and then stall again or does it have to sit for some time before it restarts?

If you could give more info that would be helpful. From reading over your post several times I am getting the impression that the car is running hot and then stalling. If this is the case how hot is the temp. gauge getting before it stalls? Do you know if your cooling fan(s) are working?

Made me laugh to hear that the dealer said " at this point it is a restoration ". From the look of your photos this XJS is far from being a restoration. You would think that the Jaguar dealer is the expert on a 1996 XJS but the truth is they probably do not have any techs left that are even familiar with the mid 90's Jags be it a 4.0L or V12. The '96 XJS has the same engine as the '95 to '97 XJ6 so you would think that the dealer would still be familiar with this set up but often they are focused on the V8 now.

Please give all the info. you can think of leading up to the stalling and after so we can narrow down what is the cause of the stall condition.

 

Thanks all..
Well I am in Palm Springs now so its say 110 degrees outside. I will drive it in say 15 minutes all of a sudden you can feel it trying to stall and then bam it does. Usually I can just start her up and put put home. I replaced the temp control so I at least know the temp of the engine so I dont kill it.
Thats all I know. Its craziness
I literally have her in the garage and don't drive as I have no clue where to bring it as nobody wants to work on it here as they dont know. Jag says their diagnostic machine wont work on this car any longer. The jag dealer btw is HUGE, its by far the number one service dept here, they do Rolls, Jag, Rand Rover and Porsche and want to charge $650.00 just to look BUT the guy said he wont be able to find it.
760-844-0007 if anyone cares to call me before I blow her up

 

Ok, so that's a no on the check engine light?

 

Yes its been on for months along w a yellow light to the left of it by two maybe... the brake light is on a lot too so i assumed it was just a wiring thing...

 

Hi Msi Jordan

Can I take it for granted that you are aware that your XJS is the highly desirable Celebration Convertible that any collector would lust after.

So don't give up on Her just yet.

But first things first, what engine is under the Bonnet/Hood?

V12 or AJ16

 

You can absolutely pull codes for this car. The port is under your left leg when sitting in the drivers seat.

You can do this several ways:
1. Go to AutoZone/Advance Auto/etc and have them pull codes for free
2. Buy your own, on Amazon they are not more than $20
3. Buy the Jaguar specific reader that will pull standard codes, as well as ABS and transmission codes. I believe someone is selling one on this forum in the Classifieds by Owner section.

Then come back here and let us know what the codes say and we can start the help process.

What other lights do you have on?

 

HI ALL..
IT IS A 6 CYLINDER... A STRAIGHT 6 AS THEY SAY.
REGARDING THESE CODES, THE JAG DEALER SAID THEIR EQUIPMENT WONT WORK ON THESE TO PULL THEM UP...
I am going nuts
Should I just sell her for $10K and be done? but in a chevy engine? I just dunno what to do as i am not mechanical and have gone to everyone here. Wonder if I should just ship her to NY and worry about it there?
dunno

 

6 cylinder.

 

6 cylinder

 

wondering in cooler weather will it just stop acting up

 

Hi Msi Jordan

$10K for that Car in the UK would be a gift on a golden platter studded with diamonds.

Maybe your Cats are blocked?

 

Is there an independent mechanic who works on import cars that you could take it too? Certainly don't put a Chev engine it, unless you really want a car nobody will work on! That's because it will be a one off and there will be a huge number of wiring changes, which will make it very difficult to follow. It will also cost more than you could buy another car for.

So to summarize: You start the car from cold, and it's drivable for about 15 min before stalling? As it's starting to stall can you observe the exhaust? Any black smoke? Smell bad?

If so, then it's your coolant temperature sender, and/or coolant is low. First thing is to check that the coolant is up the to proper level in the overflow bottle. Assuming it is, the next step with the engine part warm is to remove the coolant temperature sensor wire. It's #17 here: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...-6cyl-aj16.jpg

And a close up:http://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jagu...4d9f3d8346.jpg

Have a paperclip in hand that you have bent into a U shape, and put the ends into the connector on the wire that you just unplugged. Make sure the paperclip has good electrical contact with the contacts in the plug. Tape it in place if necessary.

What this does is tells the computer how much extra fuel to add if the engine is cold, as all engines need more fuel to start and run when cold compared to when they are up to temperature. The paperclip shorts the sensor wire going to the computer and tells it the engine is fully hot and needs no extra fuel. If that fixes your problem, then replace the sender, they are fairly cheap and easy to do.

Could you also go through your owners manual and tell us exactly which dash lights are on please? That may help us.

 

You guys are awesome and I will tomorrow!!!!

 

Hope you figure it out! Don't give up

 

MsiJordan,

If your dealer says that they can't read engine fault codes on their equipment on a 96 XJS, I suggest you phone Jaguar here in the UK and complain that they should have their franchise taken away! Of course they can read the codes! I can read them using a £1.45 app on my phone!

Don't put a chevy engine in it! You have one of the most desirable XJS there, so it's worth persevering to get to the bottom of this and keep her original.

Good luck

Paul

 

Don't own an XJS, perhaps an owner of such a fine machined could answer the following;


many contemporary vehicles having a couple of Problem lights on dash lit + no power at Scanner plug = blown fuse.


Same with '96 XJS?