Well group as some of you know I just drove over 1500 miles in the 96 XJS Convertible 2+2 I purchased up in Syracuse, NY about a month ago.

I did the trip from Syracuse to Cleveland,(picked up wife at other daughter's home) and we drove back to Venice, Fl.

Absolutely no issues, UNBELIEVABLY RAN GREAT AND EVERYTHING WORKED)

Yesterday my wife wanted to go to the outlets in Ft. Meyers, about a 150 Mile round trip.

Car ran great the entire trip there and back. We ran into a huge rain storm on I-75 heading back up to Venice...couldn't see 5 ft in front.

Car ran great...No Issues....

When we got home I decided to run up and top off the tank

THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON!!!!

Don't have an OBD reader so I went to Advance Auto. The young fellow ran the scanner and the the Isse " Multiple Mis Fire".

The car does not have a misfire!!!!! Runs perfectly!!!!!

I asked for him to erase the Check Engine Light and he stated that he couldn't.

OK..... No issue in that I would disconnect when I get back home.

Disconnected then hooked back up the cable.

Started the car and the light came back on.

Pulled the coil/plug cover

What I saw was a couple of wires coming out of different connectors to the coil packs were frayed and exposed. I took some electrical tape and did my best to recover the exposed areas.

Disconnected the battery again and rehooked up after a couple of minutes

Started up again and the light came on....This thing is running really smooth.

WHAT GIVES?????

Any and all comments are appreciated

Thanks

Softball Paul

 

Most of the time (and as you just opened it), its the fuel cap not shutting properly. It seems that its now part of the "check engine" light thing.

 

malc4d,

I was intrigued by your thought that it could be the fuel cap. I can't work out how that might be. It may be different on cars destined for the US, but UK XJSs don't have any electrical circuits on the fuel cap. The MIL is only set, I thought, by defined error codes being thrown. Do you know which error code gets thrown by the fuel cap being open on a US car?

Tks

Paul

 

Disconnecting the battery will not clear the codes.

I don't know what you mean in that paragraph I quoted. It does not make sense to me.

You should buy an OBD2 reader, they're less than $20 on Amazon, and clear the codes to see if they are in fact returning.

Its plausible that you had a short from the exposed wires and its fixed, but until you clear the codes, you won't know for sure.

 

Please have your code pulled by Advance again and give us the DTC NUMBER.
The fellow at Advance is correct; company policy prevents employees from erasing DTCs in customer cars. You really should buy an OBD2 code reader. Your car is fully OBD2 compliant.

 

Vee,

Can you recommend which OBD II unit for ~$20 is the best for a back yard guy like me!!

Thanks

 

I forgot to answer your question regarding the wires.

Out of each coil over there is a two (2) wire conncector coming out of the side and running into a harness.

Out of two (2) of the coil packs the wire jacket must have become brittle and craked exposing the raw copper wire.

I taped these up as best I could to eliminate any potential shorts.

I would have thought if they were shorting out I would feel while the engine is running.

Thanks

Softball60 Paul

 

This one seems to get good reviews

I own this one:

I think at that price point, they're all the same.

A bare wire could have caused a momentary short setting off the code, I suppose.

 

Advance carries code readers as well (Actron brand). The price is reasonable, buy one at Advance and have the salesman show you how to use it on your current DTC.

 

Paul, l was told that on a lot of cars nowadays (not sure about our XJS's) but the fuel cap is included in the emissions set up.


The Five Most Common Causes of a Check Engine Light and What You Should Do About Them


http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/151

 

Thanks for the input. Purchased a scanner on Amazon

I know I read in one of the past threads that an individual disconnected his battery to clear the codes.

That's probably why the Check Engine light stays on!!!! because disconnecting the battery won 't clear the codes.

Thanks

 

Paul,

The XJS works on a three times positive reset principle. That means that after an error code is thrown which turns on the MIL, the system checks each time you turn on the ignition again. If it has 3 consecutive starts in which it hasn't seen the error code thrown again, it will extinguish the MIL, but retain the error code in memory for retrieval and clearance later. So if your light us still on after four subsequent starts, the error has re-occurred since the first time.

Hope that makes sense.

Paul

 

One last thing I forgot to ask.

While I was in the trunk disconnecting the battery (waste of time) I noticed a connector located below the battery case.

What is that???

Is it another location to connect to the fault code reader??

Thanks

Softball60Paul

 

Update,

Still have not received the scanner.

The engine fault light went out.....

1. Don't know if it was the fixing of the exposed wires coming out of the coil.
2. Added a couple of cans of Fuel Injector Cleaner over the last two (2) tanks.

Either way it is running good!!!

Just waiting for my auxiliary fan.....From another post.

Thanks

Softball60

Paul

1996 XJS 2 + 2 Convertible
1957 XK140 DropHead Coupe
Everyother British Sports car known to Mankind

 

softball60, my car is identical to yours and it throws codes quite often. I just clear them and we motor along fine for quite a while. Not than there was any indication of anything wrong with the engine light on. The car runs perfectly. My anti-lock light is also fond of coming on too. It goes off the next time I start the car though.
It is a trip to drive these old Jags. Only their beauty keeps us putting up with the little niggling things they do.
Cheers, RagJag

 

Softball60, the only connection for the OBD11 system is driver side close to your left foot.
RagJag

 

One of your wheel sensors probably needs to be cleaned. Next time you pull a tire off, you'll have to disconnect the ball joint, you should clean it out. For me it happened to be the front passenger's side.

If it doesn't bother you, then I don't think you're hurting anything. You should know that the ABS will not work when that light comes on.