Hello everyone, I have an 06 X-Type with the 3.0 L that sat for years, it was last started about 2 years ago but now when trying to start it has a very slow crank and will not start, I have the intake manifold off and all of the spark plugs removed. Before I removed the plugs there was no crank at all. I tested all around for voltage differenced and the only one was between the starter and the solenoid so I figured I had a bad starter, after replacing the starter it cranks exactly the same. All of the pullies seem to spin fine with no bad noises so I don't think they're seized. I wanted to remove the oil pan to make sure everything looked good and to spray oil anywhere that could be dry but removing the oil pan is not a 10 minute job on these cars.

What do you all think the problem could be? And what's the next steps you guys would take?

Thank you everyone.

 

xj804, the starter on these cars are almost bullet proof and rarely fail. From what you describe, you have one or both of these issues. That would be either a weak battery or a bad battery cable. I would start with pulling the battery, putting it on a charger and getting it to 100% and then taking it into a local auto parts store and asking them to do a load test. If the results of that say that the battery has 75% or less capacity, replace the battery. See what you have there. That may be enough to make the car crank normally. If not, then what I would say to do is start with a fully charged battery and crank the car non-stop for say 30 seconds. Following this, cup your hands OVER!!!!!!! the battery terminals. Do you feel one of the battery terminals as being warm/hot? If yes, that is a bad battery cable. Replace. You may want to get say an IR thermometer and check the terminal on the starter as there have been a few instances of that getting warm and leading to issues. But, if you recently tore that connection apart and didn't see any issues (corrosion, darkness of the metal), then that being a problem is pretty small.

 

Thanks for the reply.
I forgot to mention I have a brand new battery and have cleaned all connections. The positive cable does get pretty hot, after about 5 seconds of cranking its almost too hot to touch. I will try a new cable and take the starter back and hopes that should fix the problem.

Is the 30 seconds of cranking just to see if it gets warm? If not I would be scared to do that because of how hot it gets so soon.

Thanks again for the help.

 

Yeah, very hot indicates cable is toast (no pun).

 

The time of 30 seconds was just to give it time to warm up. If it is getting hot after 5 seconds, then yes, you have proven what I was saying to do. Based on the severity of what you are saying, that is your problem. You are loosing too much voltage in the cabling and that is limiting the torque the starter can generate.