Hello Jaguar friends.

As this is my first post I'd like to start off by thanking all of you for your informative threads & links I wouldn't be where I am today with out the help of this forum.

A little back story. My 2004 X-type 3.0 Automatic blew its engine in January. Since then I have been in the process of swapping in a good working engine.

My Problem
A few days a go I finally had every piece back on the car and the wheel son the ground however when I went to start the car all I hear is a few little clicks. I took a video and posted it on youtube so you can hear what I'm hearing. you will hear the clicks as the key is turned.
YouTube - Engine start

I believe everything is connected correctly but right now I have no clue why the car is not starting. It doesn't even sound like the starter motor is trying to turn the car over. Any ideas as to what this might be?

Also I dont know if this information helps but.

I changed the transmission selector cable (it was damaged in the engine removal) and I made sure the car is in park. The light shows P..
I double checked the connection to the PCM I feel it is in correctly and in all the way.

Thanks in advance for anyhelp

 

That's the sound or not enough amps at the starter. Usually it is from a low battery. Check the battery, and try jump starting it.

If the battery is good then check the big grounds from the battery to the engine. Make sure the terminals are clean and tight at the battery.

 

Just tried giving her a jump and still same issues

 

When jump starting, make sure that the negative connection goes to the block on the vehicle with the low battery. Otherwise you are just using most of the power to recharge the bad battery.

Check all of the connections. Somewhere the high amps needed to crank the engine are missing. If the engine was frozen, then the starter would hit in hard and hold while trying to turn it over.

There is a possibility that the starter has a bad spot on the armature which cuts power to the pull in windings in the solenoid. That is why people hit the starter to try and jar it around.

 

Some of that went over my head but I didnt connect the negative to the block Ill try that tomorrow. As for the starter I thought maybe it was the cause of the problem so I started to take it off and when I went to take the positive cable i guess the wrench touched the negative at the same time and it started spinning ( i had forgotten to disconnect the battery )

 

Always disconnect the negative at the battery before trying to remove the starter.

What happened is that you "motored" the starter. This is when you connect the positive terminal to the solenoid connection that goes into the starter. The starter will spin but the engine won't turn. If it motored, then I would guess that your battery may have gone down during the swap job. When you go to jump it, let the other vehicle have a chance to recharge it before trying to crank it up.

For class time: The starter is engaged and powered by the solenoid. When you turn the key(press the button), power goes to the solenoid. Inside the solenoid are two windings. They are the pull in and hold in windings. The hold in winding grounds through the solenoid's body. The pull in winding is different. Its ground is connected to the stud that sends power into the starter. As the solenoid is powering up. The ground can travel through the starter and up to that stud and this completes the power to the pull in winding. When the plate inside the solenoid connects the positive terminal to the terminal that goes into the starter, the negative flow is gone and the pull in winding shuts off leaving just the hold in winding which lets the starter disengage easier.

 

If you can read a schematic, here's what it looks like:

 

Just to be sure there is a yellow ground cable that connects to one of the starter prongs?

 

Update just went outside to give it a jump.

I made sure all terminals where very tight. I connected the ground to the chassis as recommended waited a few min and still no dice. same noise nothing more. I then put the ground onto the battery ground left it there for about 5 min tried to start and still same noise nothing more.

 

Could it be the relay from the fuse box?

 

Put the battery on a charger for about twelve hours to deep charge it. Five mins on a jump charge won't do it.

 

Will do but do you think that on the jumper cables it wouldnt have even at least made a sound like it was trying to start the car?

 

JUMPER CABLES:
I wouldn't buy a set of jumper cables that had a number bigger than 4 gauge. The bigger the number, the smaller the wire. 8 and 10 gauge are for recharging another battery.

Batteries that are located under the hood usually live about 4 years. If you didn't put the battery in; look for a set of letters and number engraved in the battery. The number is the year when the battery went into service.

I have seen very low batteries do everything that you are seeing. We just had to wait for the low one to get charged up. It may take 15 or 20 minutes to get to the point that it will crank the engine.

 

If your battery is dead as a post it wouldn't make any difference jumping it. I'd put it on a charger, highest amp charge it will do, leave it a day to charge. Still sounds to me like you have an issue someplace between the battery terminal and the starter. Maybe a bad cable. Wouldn't be a fuse if the solonoid is clicking.

 

Alright friends I'm lost again I had the battery tested at a auto shop and it measured 786 cold cranking amps the Guy said that's definitelugh to start a car is that correct ? What do you guys think

 

Yes , that is way more than enough.

That said, you are not getting them to the starter. Check all connections from the battery to the starter and make sure that the ground is connected tight and the spot that it connected to is clean (no paint in the way). Check that the grounds to the body are done right. It just takes one missed connection in the right place and it's no go.

 

Is there an engine to body earth strap?
It may have been missed during the engine swap.

 

Well I just had it towed to a mechanic lets hope its something that doesn't cost too much to fix.

 

Update, please. It helps out others that may have the same problem later on.

 

okay your starter is most likely dead hit it with a blunt object while starting it this might release the stuck solenoid. you may also check it by removing it from the car and hooking it up to 12v source or taking it to auto zone and have it checked.