What’s missing? I’m assuming the SLS?
Not trying to scare you but the first XJ40 I had was a ‘89 2.9 litre, the sump plug was so tight I had to position the socket on a breaker bar and then position the breaker bar against the driveway and slowly lower the car down onto it to break the seal. Also be carful as there have been numerous instances of the sump threads coming out with the plug. I modified my later cars sump plugs with a smaller brass fitting inserted into the plug so that it never came out of the Ally threads again. It leaves a small amount of oil in the pan but in comparison to the pain of having to re-tap the sump in-situ its worth it
The first time I changed the oil in my car some 20 years ago I used the breaker bar trick but I had the car on jack stands (as always) and used my hydraulic floor jack under the end of the breaker bar to break the plug loose.
Changed the oil, the plug was definitely tight! I had to rent out a stall to lift the car high enough and use a breaker bar. Would not have been able to do it on jacks. While the car was up I took the right rear wheel off to check the brake sensor cable and pads, the cable was good and pads were beefy. Next I checked the left front wheel and the cable was good but pads need to be replaced. Hopefully changing out the front brake pads will fix the issue with the brake warning lamp coming on.
Steering rack was leaking from the gaiters, not enough to leave a puddle on the ground but when depressing the gaiters i had fluid “spray” out. Am I not suppose to do that? Green/yellow fluid. Im assuming HSMO.
Engine seems to have a very little leak right above the steering rack/front cross member of the car. Any advice?
Last but not least after the the oil change while driving, I hit a speed bump/bump in the road and the car shut off! So something must be loose? What can I check that would cause the car to just shut off? This is my main concern at the moment as this is rather dangerous! Any help is appreciated. I would like to disclose as well I am a very novice/amateur DIY’er and learning as I go.
Glad to hear you managed the oil change, I take it the car started up again? There is a inertia switch that cuts the car off in the event of an accident, this can go ‘soft’ and require resetting (just push a button down) this is positioned in the foot well, on a RHD its in the drivers footwell.
The other possibility is a fault with the Crankshaft position sensor (CPS) I had one that would cut the engine, normally when I was at the head of the queue at traffic lights, the engine would give a little shudder and quit, place in neutral and fire it up and we would be on our way.
It turned out there was a frayed area on the shielding wire and this would short out the signal to the ECU.
On the ‘91 I think there are only 2 pad sensors 1 on a front wheel and 1 on a rear wheel so you need to identify that they are both still intact.
Leaking fluid from the gaiters is not good especially green blood, they should be filed with a heavy oil from memory.
The leak from the engine may be from the area by the ‘distributor’ or the cam cover.
Check battery lead not contacting bonnet.
Oh thats a good one, I had that in 2000 at the National rally at Millbrook estate on my 2.9 ‘40
Yea Robin, i noticed my lead on the terminal facing up slightly, saved a potential disaster. Bent it down, all good.
Yes the car started right back up, luckily I was only going about 10-15mph. I shift it to neutral and cranked the engine and was on my way.
I did check those two (hopefully there’s only two) brake signal wires and they seemed perfect, front left brake pad was low didn’t bother to check the right front or left rear.
I did check the inertia switch the other day but i couldn’t locate/feel the switch that pops up, I will try again.
Anyway to diagnose the CPS I would hate to buy that part if I didn’t need it, sounds like a likely cause.
The connections to the battery are tight. We are trying to avoid them contacting the bonnet and shorting correct? I will check that and wiggle the terminals some more if I can find anything! Thanks!
Tested the inertia switch by pulling it up and cranking the engine, no start. Pushed it back in and went for a night drive, went on a couple bumpy roads and the car didn’t shut off but when I was on the smooth freeway driving 70mph the car “stuttered” about 3 times like it was going to shut off but luckily it kept going, I kept my foot on the gas not sure if that has anything to do with it not shutting off
If the front pads have worn to the point that they have triggered the PADS warning light then you will have to replace the sensor along with the pads. It’s the breaking of the wire link which is embedded in the pad that causes the PADS warning to illuminate so once it has triggered it is no longer usable.
If you remove some of the insulation from the top of the tank in the trunk you will see where the plug connects to the fuel pump on top of the circular plastic housing. This plug is known to cause problems. On my blue Sovereign the spade terminals inside this plug were melted to the point the connection was lost and I had to hard wire it. The problem started with unexplained and random cutting out while driving and also a stuttering, so it is worthwhile checking this if only to rule it out. I think if you had a CPS problem then the on board computer would detect and log the incident after each breakdown and you would have an error code, whereas with a poor fuel pump connection you would not.
Thanks for the info that is definitely worth checking out. So just remove some trim in the trunk behind the spare tire correct? I remember removing the back seats in my 2000 xj8 to gain access to the fuel pump/tank years ago.
I did order some URO parts brake sensor cables, I didn’t know how they worked so that is good information. I also ordered these brake pads will they work with the URO brake sensor cable?? Centric 10203941 from rockauto
https://www.rockauto.com/?carcode=1178287&parttype=1684
Yes they will be fine, the slot in the pad is where they fit - sometimes pads come with sensors so you might end up extra!
It seems to me my brake accumulator is only secured by one point of contact. Does this seem correct?
first picture I’m pointing to were it is secured.
in the second picture I’m pointing to where I think it should also be secured but is not. There isn’t anything else I can see or feel (underneath) that is securing it.
I have no idea maybe some long term members do, is it possible for air in the system to cause something like that?
The CPS will NOT flag a code.
My ‘92 had to be hard wired for the fuel pump as well, the plug has very small spade terminals <>4mm from memory and mine had not engaged and one was sitting on the male terminal and had arced this was causing many ‘fail to proceed’ in Rolls Royce parlance.
1 Like
Another test drive today around the block drove maybe 45minutes at various speeds. Was able to get the car to shut off on me about 4 different times. I would slow the car down and put it in neutral and immediately start up again. No rhyme or reason. Did notice when the car shut off the rpm tach would slowly/smoothly go down 2k->1k->500 and at 500 it would drop to zero rpms. Will have to verify again. CPS?
It does feel like a fuel problem though. I will order and replace the fuel filter next week see if that will help.
Or maybe even a transmission issue? The transmission dipstick reads overfilled if I’m reading it correctly that is.
Tried wiggling the CPS sensor wires with the engine in idle, no affects.
So my plan of action right now is to change the fuel filter. Then suck out the excess transmission fluid to have the correct amount of fluid in the transmission.(shifts kind of hard right now) After that check the terminal spades you guys are mentioning.
Hopefully that solves the random shut off issues I’m experiencing. If not what do you guys suggest I try next? Spark plugs? CPS?
My car idles in park at about 700rpm. Doesn’t overheat, needle points in the middle. The car was running hot on the drive home when I first purchased the vehicle because it was low on coolant in between the N and the H never for extended period of times. The expansion coolant tank cap does leak a little and you can hear the coolant boiling and air escaping from the cap. Would this cause my random shut off issue? Bad head gasket? Just shooting out ideas at the moment
Before you go sucking any tranny fluid out, I presume you are checking the level with the car running, right? The way to check it is to get the trans warm, (go for a drive) then, with the car idling on level ground, move the shifter through the gears a few times then, with the trans in P, dip the level.
Any other method will give you an incorrect reading.
Take out all the relays you can get to, clean the pins and replug them.