My 3 litre manual year 2000 X type has been sulking in a warehouse for a few months, as I had no use for it, and I brought it home with a ten minute drive. It sat in the driveway in full sun for a week, and when I tried to start it there was a very brief crank and then absolutely nothing - not even a click. Okay, so immediately I thought the battery must be flat after the long period of no use. So, charge it up overnight, and be hopeful in the morning. No joy - nothing. Okay, took the battery to my friend the dealer who told me, very honestly, that the battery was eight years old but did not need replacing as it checked out just fine. Bought a new battery anyway, and in it goes. No crank- nothing. Now for a long search through the NO CRANK posts and it looks ominous after reading that lot. My X-type has been a model of good performance, even after 20 years (not all owned by me). Can't even move the car from where it was parked. But my mechanic from work came around to have a look -and in ten minutes it started! What the hell! All he did was look for the starter thinking the brushes must be faulty. We could not trace any fault now, and the car started perfectly about ten times. So he closed the hood (bonnet) and walked away. But I was so thrilled I wanted to start it just one more time - NO JOY. So! - closing the hood prevents the car from starting? No, in the end it was just a loose wire to the solenoid - not the power cable, the signal wire.

Happiness.

Just proves what a lifetime of experience does when diagnosing problems. Not mine - the mechanic.