Hey guys, yesterday I took a trip down to the city to go eat with the family. My x-type started perfectly fine before the trip, however the car didn't start up after returning from the restaurant. The lights came on when I turned the key, but no cranking noise could be heard. I waited about an hour and tried it again, and to my amazement it started perfectly fine. Once I returned home, I shut off my car and tried turning it on immediately afterwards and it started fine. I haven't tried it out today however, could it be that the starter is going bad? Appreciate any help, thanks.

 

It is possible that the starter is failing but the more likely cause of your problem is a loose/dirty connection. I would start with removing, cleaning and tightening the battery cable connection points. You should also have the battery load tested.

 

When that happens with a mileage car its best to put in a new starter
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The problem is usually the solonoid that that makes a bad connection.

Walter

 

Is it a manual trans? If so, check the clutch safety switch. Mine gives me fits occasionally.

 

My 2003 X-type AWD won't start but can shift gears. Took the battery to Auto Zone and it's fine. Making no clicking sound or anything. Should I start by replacing the starter? Afraid to tow it, got lucky and it was parked 2 blks from the house. Guess we will get a few guys together, put it in neutral and push it home to start working on it in the garage. It has 197,000 miles but still looks great! ...

 

 

shula, attempt to start the car again and as you roll the key to the START position, look down at the center console. Do you see a red light lit there? If yes, then you have a car that is not recognizing the key. Let us know and we can take things from there.

Next, if you can, connect a multimeter across the battery terminals (connect it to the clamp portion, not to the lead part of the battery posts. With the car off, you should see 12.6 VDC on the multimeter. When you attempt to start the car, is the multimeter staying at 12.6 VDC, dropping to around 11.0 VDC or falling to something below 11.0 VDC? If the car is acting normally, it should drop to around 11.0-11.5 VDC. If it is falling to less than 11.0, we are looking at either a bad battery, bad battery cable. or a seized engine (granted, should still hear the starter click if the engine is seized). If the multimeter is staying up at 12.6 VDC, then something in the security system is not allowing the engine to roll over (this should be confirmed with the red light on the center console and/or a message in the instrument cluster).

Lets see what you have at this point and then we can give you more specifics.

 

Everything was fine this morning, I filled the tank with gas, drove to work. After work I tried to start the car, as usual, and the red light started blinking. Not sure what caused it to start all the sudden? So sounds like I need to take my keys to the Jaguar dealership, 100 miles away? Can't take the car, so guess they just need both key fobs? What caused it to stop working all the sudden?

 

 

shula, it may be that your key tumbler is starting to go and what is happening is you are not getting the voltage sent to the key. When the key sees this voltage, it then transmits a signal back with a special number (unique to your car and key combination). If this number matches what is in the ECU, then ECU then allows the car to start. If it doesn't, then it sends out a different signal to flash the red light on the center console.

What you can try doing is gently pushing the keyfob away from you as you rotate it to START or pulling it towards you as you roll it to START. What you may find is that if you push on the key in a certain direction, it will work every time. If this is the case, then your tumbler is going and you will need a new one.

 

hooked up a Car MD and it showed a code # 1638. Googled this and looks bad, may be a problem with the instrument cluster ?

 

shula, ah yes, This problem. This is good and bad. If you have the knowledge about doing a solder fix, you can get away with a cheap fix. If you have to replace the instrument cluster, it can be a little pricey as you have to get the car programmed.

In short what is happening. There is a ring around the ignition switch that picks up the signal the keyfob makes. This gets sent up to the instrument cluster which then puts it on the CAN bus to be sent to the ECU to be verified. What we have found is the point where the wiring harness attaches to the instrument cluster can see some stress and this leads to broken solder joints. This would explain the intermittent issues as the solder joint will normally make a connection, but when flexed, will result in an open circuit. the fix is simply pulling the instrument cluster from the car and looking at the solder joints near the plug. What you are looking for is a black ring/crack that is about half way down the curved part of the solder joint (known as a fillet). This is where the solder broke. Applying a little bit of heat (and potentially some solder to firm up the joint and give it some more structural strength), you can melt the solder and fix this issue. The big warning with this is you need to make sure that you don't start joining solder points together. This can lead to bad things. But, this is also fairly obvious as the solder joint will no longer have a round appearance, but more of an oval look.

If you need more info on this, let me know. Soldering is what I do for a living.

 

The car is still in the garage, ahvn't had a chance to work on it yet. Will I need to unhook the battery and disable to air bag before doing this? Thanks for the help.

 

You wouldn't happen to have a picture of what I am looking for? Thanks again!

 

Part number = C2S47302

Take a look at prices and you will see why Thermo is suggesting taking yours out and looking for soldering problems. He was very specific above on where and what to look for.

 

I checked the battery with my multi meter and showed 2.4 volts so took it in to check again and was a bad battery (5 yr battery lasted 13 months). They gave me a new one. I put in in the Jag and tried to start and it started right up. I drove it around for about 20 minutes, came back home, shut her off. Tried to start again and won't turn over. Do I need to do something else since is a new battery? Thanks!

 

Shula, I would say to put the battery on a charger and get it back to 100%. Then start the car again and connect a multimeter across the battery posts. You should be seeing 13.7 VDC or higher. If you are not, then you have a bad alternator or the signal from the ECU is being blocked (ie, bad wire). If it is good right after start up, then take it for a drive and before you turn off the car, connect the multimeter again. It should be at 13.7 VDC. If you are down at 12.6 VDC or lower, then you have a bad alternator or your ECU to battery wiring is toast. This is where measuring the orange wire wit ha green stripe at the alternator will tell you a lot. if it is up at 12 VDC (or whatever the battery voltage is), then your alternator is shot. If it is at 0 VDC, then you have a failed wire between the ECU and alternator. If you have something inbetween, this would be indicating a high resistance is the wiring between the ECU and the alternator.

 

The battery was bad so replaced with a new one and it started right up. I let it run a while and drove around the block then shut off. It didn't want to turn over again but after playing with the gear shifter a while was able to get it started again. It started fine for a couple days and now won't run over again? Back to the drawing board ...

 

 

Hi. I am far from an expert, and I don't know much about cars, but I do own a 2003 jaguar s type 3.0. It just so happens that I needed to get a battery for mine, and what prompted me to respond was that you stated you bought a NEW BATTERY. I research a lot and I am really **** about the research lol. You may know this already but I am just trying to help. I have read about different people having all sorts of problems, especially electrical problems, and even the dealership couldn't discover what the problem was. The problem? The type of battery they purchased. The battery needed for my car is a Group 49 Battery. I guess it's the same as an H8 battery. There are AGM batteries and there are FLOODED batteries. (I just learned all of this yesterday). I also learned that when selecting the battery, there are some other things that are important as well, such as the battery reserve capacity and knowing what the power requirements are for your vehicle. I do know that the dealership wanted $252.00 for my battery. I opted out and bought a H8 everstart battery from Walmart for $119.00 that met all the specifications for my vehicle. Good Luck, and I hope this helps you.