1997 Jaguar XJ6 I hate my car.

JDOG1357

MEMBER
1997 JAGUAR XJ6
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
77,000 MILES

OK. I have spent over $1200.00 dollars getting to the bottom of a problem and it's still not fixed. I am at my wits end. Help! It began with a problem of the car cranking, but not turning over and starting. Sometimes, if I waited long enough, it would finally start, but having a car that is unreliable is no fun. Three things were recommended as potential problems: fuel filter or fuel pressure problems, crank sensor replacement and a throttle body problem. The mechanic checked the fuel filter and pressure and that was fine. He replaced the crank sensor, but that didn't help. Then he told me that he was 99% sure it was a throttle body problem and replaced that. Two days ago, it did it again. I called Triple A, but by the time they got to my car, it was starting again. My mechanic is perplexed and I'm not sure if I want him working on the car anymore. Coincidentally the engine light went out a few days ago with a P0125 code which states:

Insufficient Coolant Temperature for Closed Loop Fuel Control; Excessive Time in Closed Loop Fuel Control.

My mechanic is certain this is an unrelated problem.
I don't know what to think. Could this be a computer glitch of some kind? If so, how do you fix that? Any other ideas out there?

1 Reply

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,938 POSTS

Hi there,
Thank you for the donation, I am not a Jag expert, but what you have reported tends to have me thinking that the coolant temp sensor, (not the gauge temp sender) may be faulty, with cold starts the sensor sends a signal to the ECU telling it to go rich for a cold start, if it is still in lean mode this can be a cause for hard starts, not so much with a hot start, this will mainly affect cold starting, I would be checking this avenue out next as well as having the engine either on a scanner for live data or an oscilloscope to check the ignition patterns on cold startup, if the ignition voltages are down, this will also be a reason for hard starting. Check this out and report back your findings.

Mark (mhpautos)