Hi everyone
I had been having a persistent stalling/choking problem on my 96 XJS convertible that started up a few months ago. The car would be running fine at idle, parked - but when I drove it relatively soon after I got going - sometimes in the first 100 yards, sometimes after a mile or so - the car would suddenly completely choke and stall out. Sometimes I could get it restarted right away - sometimes not. It was mystifying and highly problematic. I left it parked for the last couple of months as I didn't have time to deal with the issue or get it towed to my garage so I was mostly just poking around the forum looking for clues.

The best thing I came across here is the attached page that came from the "Engine Management System S91.pdf" which is available via this link https://www.mediafire.com/file/6qsqj...m_S91.pdf/file
This graphic helped me locate what the heck all these different things are under the hood. Long story short - I noticed that the connection to the Mass Air Flow Sensor was - to put it in a word - wonky. The wiring to that sensor - easily found on the top of the air intake - has a clip with two little "ears" that must have somehow worn out with age - so the clip was connected to the MAF but you could literally pull it on and off without little resistance - the only thing holding it on was gravity and friction.

I noticed in my test drives that when I hit bumps or went over some railroad tracks - it triggered the stall. I put two and two together and used some zip ties to secure the MAF connector - and voila - no more stalling. The connector was "bouncing" when I hit any bumps and making the MAF connection temporarily fail causing an immediate stall.

Just FYI - this was a basic fix but I'm putting it here in case it helps anyone else. You can see my fancy ziptie solution in this photo!



from Engine Management System S91.pdf

 

There should be a little lockwire in the grooves around the bottom of the connector, I don't see it present. That's a standard connector, if you can find another one in a junkyard you can grab the piece of wire that fits in there.

 

That illustration is from an 4.0 AJ6 engine. Your 96 will have the AJ16 with individual plug coil packs which came after the AJ6. I don't know if all of the engine management sensors will be the same. Perhaps your MAF is the same though. I'm just saying don't go by that illustration for your AJ16 engine unless you know all the sensors are the same or have the same values when measured if you're doing troubleshooting.

 

You need a TE Amp Junior Power Timer 282191-1 connector.

If you google that part, you'll see the metal tab that you are missing that Jagboi64 mentioned.

 

thanks for the info! will check into it.

 

Yes - many of these parts are in the same place and I haven't found a similar graphic for the AJ16 - much appreciated.

 

Just to mention in case someone searches at some point, my 93 4.0 started shutting off here and there and after trouble shooting I found that if my ECM connectors moved a little it would shut down and not restart. I ended up using a small piece of foam mat and a piece of cardboard between the two connectors to keep them stable. Haven't had a problem since! Not sure if it's actually the connector or maybe a slight solder issue inside, but it's working. No it's not the "right fix" but it works

 

The OBDI manual for the AJ6 engine is great. Does anyone have the OBDII manual for the AJ16 engine?
Best regards from Austria
Andreas