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AJ16 alternator/temp gauge

Posted: Sat May 23, 2020 6:14 pm
by XJSDave
Hi people, Just thought I'd run this by the club, recently noticed that on my ammeter the alternator seems not to be charging the battery. On putting a meter on the battery there is no increase in voltage when the engine is revved and in fact the battery is slowly discharging over the dormant period. The odd thing is that at the same time the engine temp gauge dropped from its normal running position to a lot lower reading. Water in the system is ok, I've cleaned and added an extra earth cable from the lump to the body work but can't test this as now I have removed the (potential) offending item (alternator) which I will replace with a re-con unit as I believe my existing one is original 102k. If anyone out there has a DCB 6819 alternator I would be interested as the world we are currently experiencing is some what messed up. Kind regards XJS Dave.

Re: AJ16 alternator/temp gauge

Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 7:55 pm
by XJSDave
I fitted a new alternator, DBC 6819 supplied by South Eastern Auto Electrical Services Ltd £120 + and this seems to have cured the charging problem along with the low reading on the engine temp gauge which is now back to normal. Having fitted 2 new earth straps from the engine to the bodywork, a good clean on the battery earthing point in the boot, I road tested the car but unfortunately after a few miles the car completely cut out and left me coasting to a stop. The car immediately restarted but on subsequent road test cut out a further 2 times and again restarted without any hesitation. The auto transmission fail light illuminated on the restarts but I guess this may be caused by the loss of engine whilst coasting to a stop. Any ideas would be appreciated, my first port of call is to get the Toad Laserkey isolator, installed 2002, disconnected or updated to a more recent device. Additionally I noticed that while driving and applying the brakes the ammeter would twitch slightly perhaps giving another clue to the fault. Regards XJS Dave

Re: AJ16 alternator/temp gauge

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 8:55 am
by XJSDave
Hi All, Switching the Toad Laserkey isolator off turned out to be quite a simple task. On my model which was installed back in 2002, you simply place the fob on the portal, turn the ignition on and then replace the fob for 3 seconds which disconnects the immobiliser from the system indicated by a rapid flashing of the red light. Did this cure my engine cutting out problem......happy days yes! The new alternator on closer inspection, had been damaged on the rear casing dropped in transport, Southern Auto have no problem in replacing the unit although it works OK. So once again my XJS is running with no issues, air con included. The car is presently up for sale only in the club classified section which I did reluctantly because of the present climate and may well withdraw this simply because I think I'd kick myself once this lovely car had gone, its a Jag thing as you well know :)