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New member!!! Have not drove jag in a month, could really use some direction....
Hello all, my name is Corey and I’m in Nashville, I own a 1987 xj6 series III, it has roughly 150k miles ,4.2 6 cylinder and is in good shape body wise and engine wise as I’ve drove in my jag every Sunday for three years and grinned from ear to ear. However, about a month ago I had her cleaned up and running great then I noticed that the car won’t start with key anymore. So I just jumped it off the battery ( w/r solenoid wire from starter relay, and after a couple weeks of that I thought “man this is embarrassing! I have this beautiful car and I can’t shut it off unless I wanna pop the bonnet and jump it”. So the torture began and it was about a month or so ago ( timeline not perfectly accurate I know but you all get the idea). So I take the relay off and decideinstead of replacing the original with the Lucas it needs I would inspect and try to solder or fix. At any rate, I take metal cover off and discover I have a tab broken off, and yes I know I should have replaced but I’m a poor country boy with good taste!!lol.... so I proceed to solder a new tab on it where old was and new contacts for them to connect, well totally didn’t work I blew it off fairly quickly, so back to jumping it. like a week later it just started to give me a no start, so just cranking till cows come home to never start. So panicked I proceed to go get a five prong regular relay 30-85-86-87-87a, so I read up on this forum as per usual and I put all connections as they should be in this particular standard relay well I believe this was my down fall. So I still have no spark, no fuel , and a good amount of systems stopping, so I have relay as follows, 86 g/b neutral safety- 87 w/r solenoid, 30 N,( brown) main power off positive terminal junction, and y/w ignition/ coil joined on 85,(85a. It used ). now I’ve played with them and tied ballast to solenoid as it just needs 12 v at crank as well as tied y/w together cause they too just need at crank, but still no spark or fuel. Lemme preface this by stating I’ve tested all wires in engine bay and poked in my gearshift for n safety and jiggled and turned off and On ignition , but notta. So I began a pledge and a rediculous journey of solving this problem so i start poking and testing. So eventually the car stopped cranking with key, so test switch it’s functional and left wire w/y has power about 5v and other w/y on other side rh side of ignition switch had zero as now I’ve seperated the two I had tied together or bonded,so I kept on troubleshooting, on down I have power going into the next like clasp that has all the ignition switch wires and connect them to my actual w/y wires I’m not sure of the terminology but it has six connectors and fastens in a crazy six way harness of some sort , again sorry for not knowing terminology , So as I’m testing and moving along I notice the wires don’t seem to have power after that spot it seems like. It would nt show power or12v, when tested it didn’t work so I continued to start or trouble shoot the devices and the car, when solenoid off and turned to start position my load relay was clicking, so I had a a screw in middle and when I took screw out to inspect it and it had loose prongs so I was like yes maybe!!!! So I replace load relay. And now nothing!!! Super annoyed and So I replaced with stNdRd five prong relay and now these are my symptoms ( orange light or brake lamp out, the error codes-that I also have are system fuel fault, ignition fault, and brake lamps are showing fault but all work when pedal is pressed., fuse 1,8,9, have nothing and still no spark or fuel and when wires are changed around i get a fuel sound from pump but seems like it has 5 v and is very weak and makes a weird gushing noise along fuel rail, and the coil still won’t come on when I hot wire it to battery,so I have No idea! It also cuts off while driving about once a month, I stick in neutral and always started back up before it come to a stop and I kept rolling, but these are my issues,and now the load relY don’t click but nothing still, also I discovered a switch by brake pedal that is super nasty and corrodedgreen and one sides hot and othernot but it’s connected to a red like jumper or in line fuse and I can’t imagine why it’s negative on one if it goes to both terminals, lay that’s a lot but man I want my car back and I can’t afford to spend much right now hence the standard relays, so I hope someone can help,so no spark, no fuel, orange warning fault light, brake light fault, fuses f1-f8-f9 have no power and no tach, and as of tonight no fuel gauge, quits intermittently while driving, kick down was acting up when I drove it, and no ac or heater, and a lot of questions, should have replaced relay and never worked on it but hey where’s the fun in that!!! Least I’m learning what not to do, sorry for lengthy post but geez I wanna cAt around in my xj6 Again!!!!
it might be the Ignition Switch that's worn out. (where you insert the key). These switches wear out.
Contact J.D. at J.D.British in Downtown Nashville to see if he can help you or refer you to someone. Although J.D. no longer works in XJ-6, he still owns his prized 1985 XJ-6, I spoke to him recently.
Ya I will do that , I've spoken to someone there before but didn't catch name, the switch is kinda loose also and is Def worn but it responds to all positions and it sends current and locks still and I tested it, unless it's not supposed to carry any voltage but I'll def look into it, also would that cause my fuses to power down too? My guess was the sensor at brake that is disgusting and had both wires that go to starter relay on it bc it's almost like protruding from it's case...dunno I'mma clean it tomorrow or this morning in like a he or so lol, thanks
Corey
Welcome to the Forum, Corey. I think you will find most of us here would rather repair a broken part rather than replace it so no apology needed.
I am not sure I followed your description but from what I gathered the starter circuit wasn't working, then you couldn't get it to turn off, then there was no ignition at all. Sure sounds like an ignition switch to me. The switch is rebuildable, I did mine last spring and total cost out of pocket was zero.
You do have a copy of the S57 wiring diagrams, right? Just take it one thing at a time and you will find the problem. Also, if you do fix something in a non-standard way (with the relays, for instance), go back later and straighten everything out properly so later on you or the next owner will be able to figure it out. Good luck
Welcome to the Forum, Corey. I think you will find most of us here would rather repair a broken part rather than replace it so no apology needed.
I am not sure I followed your description but from what I gathered the starter circuit wasn't working, then you couldn't get it to turn off, then there was no ignition at all. Sure sounds like an ignition switch to me. The switch is rebuildable, I did mine last spring and total cost out of pocket was zero.
You do have a copy of the S57 wiring diagrams, right? Just take it one thing at a time and you will find the problem. Also, if you do fix something in a non-standard way (with the relays, for instance), go back later and straighten everything out properly so later on you or the next owner will be able to figure it out. Good luck
Thanks for responding , ya so this is my conundrum as well it's been wired and re wired and jumped and crossed and this lead was changed , yada yada yada , so I'm dealing with a mess it seems but I'll try that before I rip apart any more pieces , I've been thinking it's a switch tho bc of all the systems not kicking up on two ie. The fuel pump and no spark but it's not the n safety or inertia, so I'll start one thing at a time, simplest first and start back tracking from ignition switch to starter relay.... Is there a known way to see or tell if it is the key switch? Like how will I know it's bad bc it will do it's job as far as I can turn car over right now but no crank so in my mind if it will do that , what else would I look for to say it's bad?
1) check to see if the IFCS is tripped. ( Inertia Fuel Cutoff Switch ).
Press the button on top of the switch to reset.
switch is located at the bottom corner of the passenger side dash, hidden above the kick panel.
if it "clicks" when you press the button, it was tripped. If it feels "springy" and does not click when pushed down, it is not tripped.
2) do the fuel pump priming check: Place the shifter in D or 1 and turn and hold ignition switch For 5 seconds and back to OFF to listen to the pump priming the fuel system. Can you hear the pump charging / humming / buzzing as you hold the ignition switch in the START position ?
Do this 3 or 4 times, then place shifter in PARK and crank the engine, it should start. If not, it is likely not a fuel system problem. Check the COIL wires.
3) If ignition is ok, then It could be the Neutral Safety Switch out of adjustment.
In my 1984 it is located in front of the transmission shifter. Later years have it on the side of the transmission.
1) check to see if the IFCS is tripped. ( Inertia Fuel Cutoff Switch ).
Press the button on top of the switch to reset.
switch is located at the bottom corner of the passenger side dash, hidden above the kick panel.
if it "clicks" when you press the button, it was tripped. If it feels "springy" and does not click when pushed down, it is not tripped.
2) do the fuel pump priming check: Place the shifter in D or 1 and turn and hold ignition switch For 5 seconds and back to OFF to listen to the pump priming the fuel system. Can you hear the pump charging / humming / buzzing as you hold the ignition switch in the START position ?
Do this 3 or 4 times, then place shifter in PARK and crank the engine, it should start. If not, it is likely not a fuel system problem. Check the COIL wires.
If ignition is ok, then It could be the Neutral Safety Switch out of adjustment.
In my 1984 it is located in front of the transmission shifter. Later years have it on the side of the transmission.
Okay so I'm literally sitting in my car inspecting the main relay and the fuel pump relay however I have checked the safety switch in front of the transmission the neutral safety switch. And what I noticed was that the switch barely touches the metal to the roller I supposed in park reverse neutral however when put in drive it clicks to switch up and stays that way through one and two however I can only assume that is the switch turning off or acting so it doesn't run someone over when cranked.? So the inertia switch when it is turned or excuse me when I press it all the way down and I don't have the orange that's where it needs to be it feels springy and I've tripped it before and had this issue and so that was one of the first checks I made. But I will try the key in drive and reverse to see if it primes so, I'll take some pics here shortly of what I have and maybe it will be a bit more informative ....thanks Cory
Which relay is this? Or diode cause it has pektron on it? I have power in but no power at all on my yellow white , under lh driver side kick panel, beside the load relay and the big yellow one?
no clue. None of my relays have PEKTRON on them. only a little buzzer box. The blue connector with tall relay shown in the picture is for the blinkers and emergency flashers.
does that pektron relay have a mounting area on one side? or is it flat on all 4 sides?
so you cannot hear the pump whirring with the shifter in 1st gear while holding the ignition switch in the max START position?, some of the pumps are very quiet, some are noisy.
It has a bracket, I have replace now I have a click in rear near fuel pumps, inetia switch should be pressed all way down also correct ? Bc I played with it and got the pumps in back to come on but only in start position So I do not have power coming out of that 6-way connector to the yellow and white when it changes to those
I'm so close I have prime but no fire found my dam ignition wire off coil and replaced and trying now!!!this site is my baby is alive hababhababbabba hahahhababba hahhahahhaha so many hrsso much time and effort, thanks so much !!!!!!this site is amazing She needs a bath but she's alive!!!!!! Bout to go cruising!!! Only spent 7hrs on this today!!!! Awesome
Ya so thanks again and also it’s almost as if the car beat me this time cause I’m working out of town in West Virginia for ten days and all I wanna do is detail and wax and replace wires and make it to where a freaking wire will not beat me down so much in a month lol, bc I almost gave up and sold it so glad I didn’t .
09-02-2019, 04:13 AM
New member!!! Have not drove jag in a month, could really use some direction....
