Hello,

I would be grateful for some advice on my 94 XJ12.

For no apparent reason, while only 10 minutes into my journey and underway at 35 MPH, my car's very robust engine gave a shudder and began to loose power. Moments later I heard a "rotational flapping" sound in the front-right area of the engine compartment, which was synchronized with the current speed of the engine. I immediately slowed down and the flapping slowed down - I sped up to test the sound and it sped up. All the while, the car was loosing power and within 60 to 90 seconds, it was unable to go on. I thought it might have been a belt, but nothing was hanging down underneath and the steering was not affected. The AC still worked and the engine still ran. I had managed to park safely before total power loss. Upon lifting the hood, I noticed a medium dense smoke coming from the B Bank side of the engine and a burning smell that was not rubber or electrical. No dash lights came on to indicate a problem. AAA kindly came to my rescue and towed the car home, whereupon my husband inspected to find nothing visually wrong. However, he said I was running on only a "6-pack". The car still starts up, but can only be inched along. The B Bank is getting gas, but no ignition, he said after testing it with a Meter. He says the ballast is OK. I suspected a physical problem inside the engine, but my husband suspected a computer problem. However, a new main computer did not solve the problem.

Has anyone out there seen this type of problem before? What might the problem be?

Thank you for your attention and best regards,

Emily.

Submitted by NW41-38077J on Thu, 09/22/2005 - 03:01

Sounds like B Bank coil. Swap A & B Bank computer leads at the coils and
swap A & B Bank high voltage leads at the distributor cap. If B Bank starts running and A Bank is now dead, its B Bank coil. You better check your catalytic converters you might have had a melt down. Good luck.

Ray Papineau JDRC/NWA
1990 XJS V-12 CONV.
1990 XJS V-12 COUPE
1988 XJS V-12 CAB.

Submitted by bonnettoboot@e… on Wed, 09/21/2005 - 17:02

Be very careful, the symptoms are strange It appears that you may have lost the ignition feed to 6 of the cylinders. that means the cylinders are still getting fuel but are unable to burn it, the Crankcase ( the engine oil) is likely contaminated with gasoline and the catalytic converter likely overheated. Or the car may have overheated and dropped a valve seat! Take the car to a known Jaguar service facility. ( you can smell the dipstick for a trace of gasoline! Jaguar affectionado and etc.