Realizing that our engines do not have an accelerator pump. I activate the choke, waiting about 15 seconds for the pump to fill the bowls and push the starter button. Once the engine starts it sometimes needs a small amount of throttle and then settles in at about 1100 rpm. I wait until the oil pressure is above 40 and within a minute I will drive off slowly with the choke still activated. After I get above third gear, I’ll disengage the choke and continue using partial throttle until the temperature is almost 70C
Do you guys start the engine with the clutch pedal pushed in or leave it out?
Once it is started do you maintain a higher steady RPM or do you “blip” the throttle for that wonderful warming up jaguar engine sound?
On my MOD 3.8S I engage the AED (hisser) with the manual switch. Wait a few seconds for pump to fill carbs, then crank engine. In colder weather the inertia type starters will often kick out of engagement on the first cylinder to fire necessitating a second use of the starter. Once started and running I drive a few blocks and switch off the AED but if coming to a stop or traffic light before temp gauge reaches 1/4 of the scale, I turn the AED on again to keep engine from stalling.
I have other inertial engagement starter cars (Morris Minors) and on these there is a work around for the early disengagement syndrome. These cars have a mechanical starter switch which allows one to crank the engine for about 4 seconds BEFORE turning on the ignition. This primes the cylinders and the engine will start on first pull of starter switch and keep running. I suppose this could be done with our Jaguars with starter solenoid switches under the hood using the rubber button on the solenoid.
With the hisser I drive off carefully after a few seconds. Once it’s off I give it a few (3-5) miles before I drive normally and at least 15 minutes before full throttle.
It’s automatic and sometimes turns off a bit early, so I keep the rpm at ~800 at the lights.
With a choke you wait a few seconds for the oil and roll off, the engine tells you what it needs. Don’t leave it on for too long.
The manual says to drive off right away unless it is very cold and in that case you are to wait with a high idle until the temperature needle starts to rise. In that weather we probably want to stay home either way.
You DO NOT start it with the clutch disengaged. Make sure it’s in neutral, don’t push the pedal.
Tom is correct: pushing the clutch Paul and actually creates quite a bit of drag on the stoner starter motor, because of the friction between the carbon throwout and the release plate on the clutch cover.
Choke on, foot off the throttle and clutch, turn on the key, wait 10 seconds, then start the car.
For my Project Utah Mark 1 I verifiy that I’m in neutral, turn the key and let the fuel pump tick over until it stops, then I pump the gas pedal 2 times ( just a ritual- I know it has no effect on the car, but… it’s my vodoo thing), then I push the button upon which the engine fires immediately, but chugs and coughs terribly, so I give it gas to bring the idle up to about 1,100 and after a couple of minutes blip the engine up to about 2,500 and see if the engine is firing smoothly. I’ll warm up the car this way and let it warm up for maybe 7-10 minutes before driving off. Smooth going at this point forward.
I think you could maintain that idle without the choke being on. It should run smooth enough above 1200 to not need the choke. Give it a try. Try driving off gently after one minute and let us know how that goes.
What these cars really needed was a throttle jack that would increase the idle speed to about 12-1300 until some engine warm up occurs. After start up and running, no need to enrichen the mixture, just an idle speed increase. I think some cars had these to overcome the load of an A/C compressor.
My Pontiac GTO 400 CI has a solenoid that kicks on with the a/c activation. I have an old school big compressor which would drag the engine to almost stalling at idle. In hind site I should have upgraded to a mini compressor like many Jaguar enthusiasts install. They sap a lot less power. I sometimes shut the a/c off at traffic lights or idle up a bit. I’ve also seen mechanisms that shut off the a/c temporarily during heavy acceleration. I’m sure one of our clever forum members could design a solenoid working off of the otter switch power to do exactly as John mentions. I’ll certainly buy one!
