In reply to a message from tinpan sent Mon 7 Mar 2005:
Fast way to tell if the fuel rail has fuel pressure is to loosen
the fuel line fitting at the fuel rail inlet…there should be
pressurized fule there…I doubt that is the problem though…just
helped a friend with his and our first check was to pull a plug
wire off a plug, installed a spare plug and placed it against the
engine to verify spark…we had none and then went on to find that
the coil was shot Just remember, fuel, air and spark makes it run.
In reply to a message from tinpan sent Mon 7 Mar 2005:
Thanks for the response. After three tries over a period of hours
last night I finally pushed the car into the garage. These really
are heavy cars!
This morning I decided to try to start it again and it fired right
up, idled smooth as silk and ran fine. I had checked for spark last
night and that was not the problem. It seemed not to getting fuel
but then this morning, no problem. It has me baffled.
Check The Book in the areas that cover injector triggering signal–
ignition amp->ECU->injector harness. Could be a bad connection somewhere
along that path which you temporarily got rid off. Very common fault.
Next time it wont start, check that the prime function of the throttle
pedal is working - are the injectors firing?
I assume ofcourse that you’ve already made certain the fuel pump runs
without obstruction and pressure is building up through the rail.
tinpan wrote:
This morning I decided to try to start it again and it fired right
up, idled smooth as silk and ran fine. I had checked for spark last
night and that was not the problem. It seemed not to getting fuel
but then this morning, no problem. It has me baffled.
My problem has escalated. I have gone from running with a dead B bank to
not starting at all. After replacing the distributor cap and rotor (cap
had a crack in it) the B bank was still dead. Getting spark and fuel to
both sides. Decided to change plugs in hopes of solving my cold B bank
and now it won’t start at all. I replaced the Champion plugs with NGKs
gapped at .025 and now it won’t start at all.
In reply to a message from David Tsaloff sent Sat 8 Aug 2009:
Hi Dave.
Make absolutely sure that when you changed the cap that you got the
right coil connected to the proper post on the distributor cap. I
am assuming you have a Marelli ignition. I know this sounds
simple, but it is an easy mistake to make, having made it myself.
IIRC, the A bank coil is on the bottom, and the B bank coil is on
the top. I know that a Marelli cap has the posts marked ‘A’
and ‘B’, so it should take 5 minutes at most to confirm you have
them connected correctly. If they are connected backwards, the
engine will not start. I hope this helps.
Matt
'95 VDP, '91 XJS V12–
The original message included these comments:
My problem has escalated. I have gone from running with a dead B bank to
not starting at all. After replacing the distributor cap and rotor (cap
had a crack in it) the B bank was still dead. Getting spark and fuel to
both sides. Decided to change plugs in hopes of solving my cold B bank
and now it won’t start at all. I replaced the Champion plugs with NGKs
gapped at .025 and now it won’t start at all.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!
Dave T VA Beach VA
'90 xj-s V12 Conv
Battery is fine, tried with charger on
Tried with head lights on, no turn over, and lights didn’t
dim either
Tried starting in P and N no difference
Put meter on at coil, with ignition left on, showed 12 volts
I can hear click, at starter relay, when key is turned to start
I can hear fuel pump running
lost at this point–
jag88xjs
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
With a helper to turn the key to the starter engaged position, put your
voltmeter red probe on pin C1 (Red wire) of the starter relay (large
silver relay at rear of right wing relay panel under bonnet, just in
front of right bonnet latch, beneath black plastic cover held by 2
screws) and black probe to ground. Meter should read 12V when key is
turned to start position. If it does NOT, then start relay is suspect.
Please test and post back with your results (there are other tests
based on your results from this one
George Balthrop, Clifton, VA USA
89 and 85 XJ-S Coupes; 89 XJ40 VDP-----Original Message-----
From: xjs88jag jag88xjs@aol.com
Starter does not turn over
Tried with head lights on, no turn over, and lights didn’t
dim either
Tried starting in P and N no difference
I can hear click, at starter relay, when key is turned to start
Remove the starter relay taking pictures and keeping track of which
wires go to which pins. This is very important.
Remove the metal cover
Clean the contacts with some fine sandpaper
Put the metal cover back on
Clean all the pins
Clean the ground wire
Reconnect the battery
Start the car
Been there, done that on my XJ-S and two of my Series III XJs.
They have the same starter relay.
Regards,
Paul M. Novak
1990 XJ-S Classic Collection convertible
1987 XJ6 Vanden Plas
1985 XJ6 Vanden Plas (parts)
1984 XJ6 Vanden Plas
1969 E-Type FHC
1957 MK VIII Saloon
Ramona, CA @Paul_M_Novak1-----Original Message-----
From: owner-xj-s@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-xj-s@jag-lovers.org] On Behalf
Of xjs88jag
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 12:35 PM
To: xj-s@jag-lovers.org
Subject: [xj-s] No Start
Starter does not turn over
Battery is fine, tried with charger on
Tried with head lights on, no turn over, and lights didn’t
dim either
Tried starting in P and N no difference
Put meter on at coil, with ignition left on, showed 12 volts
I can hear click, at starter relay, when key is turned to start
I can hear fuel pump running
In reply to a message from George Balthrop sent Thu 14 Oct 2010:
Hi George,
Hi George,
I ran test as described, I do have power to at C1, on to
step two…
Thank you,
George–
The original message included these comments:
With a helper to turn the key to the starter engaged position, put your
voltmeter red probe on pin C1 (Red wire) of the starter relay (large
Please test and post back with your results (there are other tests
based on your results from this one
Starter does not turn over
Tried with head lights on, no turn over, and lights didn’t
dim either
Tried starting in P and N no difference
I can hear click, at starter relay, when key is turned to start
In reply to a message from xjs88jag sent Thu 14 Oct 2010:
After planning on how to take starter out, car jacked up,
I turned ignition on 1 more time, car starter right up, for
a week now in my drive way, car has started up every time,
I’m paranoid to take her out…any idea’s so I won’t get
stuck some where…–
The original message included these comments:
Starter does not turn over
Battery is fine, tried with charger on
Tried with head lights on, no turn over, and lights didn’t
dim either
Tried starting in P and N no difference
I can hear click, at starter relay, when key is turned to start
In reply to a message from xjs88jag sent Mon 8 Nov 2010:
Perhaps, inadvertently, you moved a bad ground enough to
make contact again.
Mine does weird stuff like that too. Now it’ll turn over
fine but will not start!–
The original message included these comments:
I turned ignition on 1 more time, car starter right up, for
a week now in my drive way, car has started up every time,
In reply to a message from MadTim sent Thu 11 Nov 2010:
Hi Tim,
I really don’t think I touched a wire on the Starter, I
wish I did,just another weird thing I’m going to change the
starter relay anyways, it checked out fine, but with
suggestions from others for $10 (thank you for Chrysler
relay suggestion) I’ll do that for now, winters coming here,
and I’m done driving it for the winter, I’ll try starting
her once a week to see if its a flat spot on starter…if it
is then I’ll drop the exhaust, and change the starter,–
The original message included these comments:
In reply to a message from xjs88jag sent Mon 8 Nov 2010:
Perhaps, inadvertently, you moved a bad ground enough to
make contact again.
Mine does weird stuff like that too. Now it’ll turn over
I turned ignition on 1 more time, car starter right up, for
a week now in my drive way, car has started up every time,
Tim 1983 XJS Lynchburg,VA
I have the same problem on an 88 and have not solved it. However if I
just keep repeatedly turning the key and hearing the clicks, it
eventually starts. But now, while looking for something else in the
book up as Xjs_help.doc(the page numbers change in various formats) I
found a complete discussion of this problem including solutions on
page 371 entitled “Starter Relay”. Perhaps this will help both of us.
Afton.On 13-Nov-10, at 11:23 AM, xjs88jag wrote:
I really don’t think I touched a wire on the Starter, I
wish I did,just another weird thing I’m going to change the
starter relay anyways, it checked out fine, but with
suggestions from others for $10 (thank you for Chrysler
relay suggestion)
In reply to a message from Afton Cayford sent Sat 20 Nov 2010:
In my 91 I had a similiar problem. Turned out to be a bad
connector on the w/r wire behind the engine.–
Maynard 94 XJS V12 Coupe 91XJS(RIP) 86XJ6 78MGB 67MGB
Niles, IL, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
–Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php –
Had clubs loaded in the boot last Sunday morning but had to use
another car to keep my tee time as the old Jag did not want to turn
over and there was no time to mess with it. After a terrible game
of golf (excuse this time can be my worrying about the JAG) in
determining the cause of the no start checked the battery voltage
which was fine. Turned the key several more time but would not
engage the starter. Took the plastic cover located on the right
wing which covers the starter relay (part number C 36611) and gave
the relay two light wraps with the handle of the screw driver.
That’s all it took and the engine roared to life. Seems to me that
I replaced that relay back when I rebuilt the engine and if so I
probably put the old one in my junk parts box.
Will it do any good to open up the relay file the contacts or
should I just buy another one–
1987 XJS Coupe
Weston Lakes/Texas, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
I have had excellent luck opening up the starter relays and cleaning the
contacts to extend their useful life. The same relay is used in my 3 Series
III XJs as in the XJ-S so I also swap them around when trouble shooting no
crank situations.
I recommend that you open it up to take a look at the contacts. If they
are badly tarnished use some fine sand paper to clean them up. This should
fix it for a long time, if not, then a new relay may be in order.
Regards,
Paul M. Novak
1990 Series III V12 Vanden Plas
1990 XJ-S Classic Collection convertible
1987 XJ6 Vanden Plas
1984 XJ6 Vanden Plas
1969 E-Type FHC
1957 MK VIII Saloon
Ramona, CA
P.M.Novak7@gmail.com-----Original Message-----
From: owner-xj-s@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-xj-s@jag-lovers.org] On Behalf
Of Don Franke
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 5:18 PM
To: xj-s@jag-lovers.org
Subject: [xj-s] No Start
Had clubs loaded in the boot last Sunday morning but had to use another car
to keep my tee time as the old Jag did not want to turn over and there was
no time to mess with it. After a terrible game of golf (excuse this time can
be my worrying about the JAG) in determining the cause of the no start
checked the battery voltage which was fine. Turned the key several more time
but would not engage the starter. Took the plastic cover located on the
right wing which covers the starter relay (part number C 36611) and gave the
relay two light wraps with the handle of the screw driver.
That’s all it took and the engine roared to life. Seems to me that I
replaced that relay back when I rebuilt the engine and if so I probably put
the old one in my junk parts box.
Will it do any good to open up the relay file the contacts or should I just
buy another one
–
1987 XJS Coupe
Weston Lakes/Texas, United States
// please trim quoted text to context only
Kirbert
(Author of the Book, former owner of an '83 XJ-S H.E.)
18
Will it do any good to open up the relay file the contacts or
should I just buy another one
In my experience, filing the contacts on that particular relay only
works for a matter of days or weeks, then you’re at it again. Not
sure why; I’ve had success filing points in other types of switches
and relays. I recommend buying a new one. The Book describes how to
use a Chrysler starter relay, exactly the same electrically but
slightly larger, different wire color codes, and 1/10 the Jaguar
price.
– Kirbert
// please trim quoted text to context onlyOn 31 Oct 2012 at 17:17, Don Franke wrote:
In reply to a message from Kirbert sent Wed 31 Oct 2012:
My solution to the quirky relay was an additional ‘‘emergency’’
toggle switch under the bonnett. Used for a time while I got the
engine sorted. Then, as a permanent measure I robbed my Hella fog
light kit of it’'s relay and sub’d it in. Works slick. Although, I
removed the toggle, after thinking is that I should have left it in
place.It was a clunky switch and not very well mounted, though.
I’ve filed a lot of contact points with varying success. Old stuff
like ignition points and generator regulators, oh and generator cut
outs. I think the sucess pattern had to do with the material on the
contacts and the abrasive used to smooth them.
I’m pretty good at rehabing Jaguar window switches.
The contact cleaner for old rotary TV tuners is NOT good for other
points!!!
I wonder if Coca Cola would make a decent contact cleaner?
Carl–
The original message included these comments:
In my experience, filing the contacts on that particular relay only
works for a matter of days or weeks, then you’re at it again. Not
sure why; I’ve had success filing points in other types of switches
and relays. I recommend buying a new one. The Book describes how to
use a Chrysler starter relay, exactly the same electrically but
slightly larger, different wire color codes, and 1/10 the Jaguar
price.
Feeling really lucky. Had taken a longish road trip (600
miles) last week and the car ran great. Pulled into the
garage and parked when I got home. Went to move the car out
the garage day before yesterday and she turns over fine but
no start. Has always fired right up before. Have many
things going on right now so no time to find the cause but
will report back when problem is solved. BTW now have
118,000 on odometer. Rebuilt the engine at about 57,000.
Had replaced the ignition module once way back when it
started and then died just as I pulled out the security
gate. Any way will let you know when it is repaired.–
1987 XJS Coupe
Weston Lakes/Texas, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
