I have an 86 XJ6 with fuel injection 4.3L. I started having intermittent starting issues(had to have it in N). Now the car will only start when in a certian spot in reverse. I did the adjustment for the neutral safety switch but was fine the switch is fine. what else should I be looking at? Any switch in the trans it self?

Thank you.

 

Your problem sounds suspiciously like the Neutral-start switch adjustment is out of whack. I say this because mine, although it started just fine in P and N, also started Just Fine in R!! (That was exciting I tell ya!)

However, mine is a Series 2 and the neutral start switch is on the shifter itself. I have no idea what differences there may be in the Series 3.
(';')

 

I found the problem to be a bad ground wire going from the neutral switch to the starter relay. just ran a ground wire to the relay mounting bolt. problem solved, just it will start in all gears now.

 

Oops . . . RBB, reading what you wrote as distinct from what you may have meant, suggests a very dangerous kludge indeed on an auto trans.

Cheers,

Ken

 

Yes, and no! To me, no. I date back to the pre interlock days. Built in, Manual shift to neutral. Bang auto box to P. then and then only fire the engine.


1. Way back when, the combination N/S - backup light switch on my 79 IHC Scout II bit the dust I did the "kludge". As IHC was wont to do, it outsourced many parts. The auto box, a big MOPAR. But, swapping in a new switch meant supporting a big mass.
Engine, transmission and transfer case. To drop the rear cross member!! No, sits and maams. I chose not. Just jumped it. Lost the "backup" lamps. kinda puny anyhow.
But, cranking restored.


2. My lump is probably similar. The N/S is a simple micro switch on the shift tower. My install instructions provided for a more difficult path for the ground from the micro. I ditched that ands grounded it in the console cavity. Starter cranks only in P or N. Great. I may have deprived my PCM of "knowing" that? It doesn't seem to miss that datum.


3. My Johnscars literature depicts a funny tale, sorta. An "amateur" brought in his effort at lumping for 'fixing". In some untold manner, the V8 was fired. Driver door open. But transmission in "R' . Jaguar backing in circles with John's guys in pursuit, to shut it down and not be run down....


Conclusion;


Adjust that micro to function properly.


Carl

 

Me, too, Carl. And I suspect the vast majority of others as well.

What's the first thing any driver does when he is done driving? He puts the gearshift in "P". And there it remains until he is ready to drive again...at which point he'll start the engine and then shift into "D" or "R". In actual day-to-day driving it's unlikely to be a problem.

But there's always that oddball stack-up of circumstances waiting to conspire against us. That's what safety devices protect us from.

Cheers
DD

 

Well said. Better safe than sorry. Sorry, but I gotta say that many folks just need that barrier. Just enough skill, to barely manage. More mere passenger than driver.


A decade or more ago, my daughter swapped cars with me. Her Ford Ranger had a crank issue. I figured it down to an outboard solenoid/relay issue. But, impeded by an interlock in my diagnostics. It was a 5 on the floor truck. Clutch pedal had to be depressed to allow a crank. But, I got it. OK, fixed...


Played with the old unit on the bench with a power supply and a meter and a test lamp. Tests inconclusive. I tossed it so not to confuse others or me!!!


Carl

 

Hi Carl & Doug. Perhaps I come from an even earlier age . . . when manuals ruled here and autos were non existent. None had interlocks to inhibit "start in gear". However, I do believe that in a modern auto Jag, with potentially lazy drivers (not directed at our OP) where all identical cars are so fitted, bypassing the safety interlock could be a ticking time-bomb . . . if not for the owner, then certainly for a family member or subsequent owner.

Carl, recalling your former vocation, I'd be very surprised if you never dealt with cases we see here too often . . . runaways and smashes where the lament starts with "I didn't know it was in gear" or "I thought I left it in Park". IMHO, we need go no further than these forums.

My purpose has been served . . . the OP is free to do to his car what he pleases, although your authorities and his insurance company may disagree . . . but I felt it appropriate to sound a warning. Oh, and just for the record, I have found far more dangerous electrical kludges on otherwise nice looking Jags that are now old enough for the cowboys to have got at.

Best wishes,

Ken

 

No argument from me. As I said, safety devices are there to protect us when unusual situations arise. The other 98% of the time they are not needed.

Cheers
DD

 

I agree. As car enthusiasts we take the operation of an automobile, and driving in general, a bit more seriously, IMHO. Many others, it seems, give driving no more thought than they do when tossing a load of dirty clothes into the washer.

Cheers
DD

 

Ken:


1. I think I probably date back before you!!! I've seen four score ands seven!!


2. My post ends with the suggestion that the micro switch be adjusted and the safety function restored.


3. True, in my former vocation, I did auto claims. But, far from my favorite. A bit boring. Similar scenarios over and over....


4. My Jaguar did "runaway" not long ago. My goof, pure and simple. The nose was up
on ramps to ease my access to the under scuttle. Brake light issue to fix. I forgot the usual chock on the rear wheels. Hand brake was on. I moved the shifter from P to R to check the backup function. Yowee....


5. Way back when, I drove my 49 Mercury to a young ladies house. We were going to dinner. She came out, gorgeous. But, the Mercury was gone!!!!! I learned something.
It was "three on the tree" + over drive. I left it in OD!!! Free wheeling. But, all not lost. Just down the road, trapped by a sand berm. Retrieved and .....


6. Runaway cars hit the news at times. But, usually by stomping on the gas not the brake pedal....


7. Do I have issues with safety interlocks. No sirs and maams. A bit irritating at
times, guilty...


Carl

 

Yessiree, Carl . . . pipped at the post . . . I bow and salute your venerable antiquity. My defense was finding myself transported by you and Doug back down the days . . .

I learned to drive (illegally) on my first car purchased with a mate while still at school, a 1928 RHD Oldsmobile 4 door F28 saloon, black rag over steel roof, pale blue body on black chassis, with yellow wooden wheels and brakes on only the rear axle. Body and wheels were offset with gold striping. Even without the bootleggers’ guns, its presence was awesome.

Next step-up was my Pop's Graham Brothers flat-top of similar era. My 3rd was the strangest of all . . . early '50s Armstrong Siddeley Saphire with Wilson pre-selector gearbox. Don't see many of them any more; even fewer of those gearboxes.

As to the issue raised by the OP, I agree we are all agreeing to agree!

Cheers,

Ken

 

Thanks, Ken.


That old Olds is probably the same or similar to one a fellow employee at a full service gas station acquired. Wearing a Pontiac badge and registered as a 27. A 'fake" cabrolet.
I dropped the sump and adjusted the Babbitt connecting rods for him. I learned to be quite good at that on my first car. A 23 Ford T!!!


Carl

 

Ah Carl, it seems those early Oldsmobiles were sent pre manufactured in US, but assembled by GM out here in Australia. Ours is too long a story to tell here, but bought by us 2 kids on the sly for ten pounds with only a few weeks registration and despite its good looks, little likelihood of passing test without work. Brakes were not the only problem. Part of purchase deal was parking at local garage; owner turning a blind eye.

First weekend was a hoot with about 8 on board for the beach. Second week was not when parents found out, grounded us, and impounded car. Third week was worse still. We boys sold our Elliott Ness machine (for twelve pounds, IIRC) and my Dad wept tears of blood that such a fine looking car had passed through the family without him even getting a look-in!

A few years later, very early '60s, I recall my license test by local sargeant . . . a couple of rules questions, short drive up hill from Police Station. Copper said "Pull into kerb and switch off". I did so. "OK, pull out without rolling back". I took care with my handbrake start, indicated by hand signal, and off we went. "You'll do, take me back". Five minutes later, I had my papers all stamped and legal, so I reckon my 4 years of driving "on the quiet" stood me in good stead.

Strange, but friendlier days,

Ken

 

Absolutely!!


Well, not always. Circa 1946, I got my T Ford to run. and with only a bit of help froma slightly older school chum, "learned" to drive it. Truly, more like how to manipulate the controls.


So, with teen verve off I went to the local Texas Highway Patrol office to take my driving test. Not so good. Grumpy cop. "I ain't getting in that thing...."


Back to the drawing board. More tutelage on the family 38 Dodge. Got the drift of the clutch. Same cop. Better attitude. Passed...


Carl