Hey guys, I got a weird one. My wife's '07 X-Type, a recent acquisition, has developed a problem. Seems every time she fills up the gas tank, when she gets back into the car it won't crank. Just tick tick tick and no joy. This has happened on the last three fill ups.

Battery is four months old and tests fine, alternator is putting out 13.5v, and every time this happens, after a quick jump start everything is back to normal again, and for the next 300 miles or so there are no problems at all.

I am completely stymied. Anyone got any ideas?

 

Yankee, just to ask a silly question, but does the car do this when you do a quick run into the grocery store (ie, drive car and get it up to temp, shut it off for 5-10 minutes, then come out to start it up)? If so, it most likely is one of your battery cables is developing a high resistance connection in the wiring and it is resulting in a large power drop and therefore the starter won't get enough power to roll the engine. The other possibility is the starter is getting old and when it gets warm, it looses its ability to generate torque and therefore its ability to roll the engine. Granted, from experience, the starters on our cars are very reliable and are normally not the source of a problem.

 

It's usually warm, not hot when it occurs. Happened again on Monday, first time it didn't happen at a gas station... I guess I will bring it to my mechanic and give the charging system a full inspection and check the starter as well. Thanks!