Hi,
I have a 1989 XJS Convertible, love it! Saved it from a field, pit $3000 and 6 months work in it. Been driving it for 2 years. I found a 2002 X Type, 100K, not inspected, needs tires and rear brakes, sitting for a while, then wouldn't start, the owner charged the battery, the dash lights came on, it wouldn't crank. He is at the point of taking it to the dealer for "Reprogramming". Well, if it needs to see a dealer, it won't see a dealer, because the dealer is 80 miles away. I personally think a new battery would cure it. It needs tires and rear brakes, yes, I saw the rear brake caliper problem, but I can surmount that. The rear suspension had been compromised on a tow truck at some point but the owner says he had a lot of suspension parts replaced. My question, Do you think $1000 for this car would yield a lot of fun, or a lot of pain?

 

Hard to say. Could very easily be the battery like you said. What is the overall condition of the car other than what you described? How long has it been sitting and why wasn't it being driven in the first place? Could be you put a little money in it and you could have a pretty reliable car. On the other hand if the current owner neglected maintenance on it it could nickel and dime you to death. Routine things like vacuum leaks and lower rear control arms are cheap and easy fixes. If fluids weren't changed or he ran it with a check engine light on for a long time it could get more complex.

These cars are not that expensive to buy and if you would find a clean running example for just a few grand more that might be the better way to go. On the other hand, if you are handy and will do the work yourself could be a good deal. Maybe ask if the guy would buy a new battery and then see what you have. If it starts and you could drive it would make it a lot easier to make a determination.

 

Has anyone tried jump starting it? That might give you an idea of its condition, if it starts. The old battery may be beyond charging.

Of course, he might bump up the price if he sees you driving it around.

 

Yeah, that's the problem, if I put a new battery in it, and, it starts right up, he's going to up the price. I'm buying a cat in a bag as my one car dealer buddy calls it. I don't think much maintenance was ever done on it, the tires are bald, brakes are bad, inspection ran out about a year ago. It was driven up to about 4 months ago, even with a bad inspection sticker. But, the body has no dents or dings, interior looks very nice, it's a stick shift! which I didn't know. He said he let it sit for a while, and, things went downhill from there. I'm gonna talk to him later, maybe turn the key, see what it does.

 

Hmm. Bring your multimeter and check the battery.

I think it should read 12.6V. If it is, and the car is not cranking or the engine is not turning over, maybe you can offer him less.

Tires are not cheap, and who knows what else in addition to the calipers. Do you have to pay for back registration, too?

We can walk you through the transfer case, which may be going bad at that mileage...

I myself recently came into a similar situation and am so far thrilled, other than the auto transmission not being that smooth.

If you can fix the XJ, you can likely fix this, too, but the ROI may not be worth it if you have to buy lots of parts.

There are plenty of people on the forum who will help you figure things out though.

 

Jaggedy,
Yeah, I have one of those meter things, never used it, now's my chance. That would be a good thing to try, if it reads less than 12.6, maybe all I need is a new battery. I can't see how you can ruin a car just by charging up a low battery, I gotta think a new battery solves the problem. I am waiting for a call from the owner, the ball is in his court, will keep you posted.

 

Yes, haha, if I could fix the XJS, I could fix an X Type. Except, things are a little strained between me and my garage buddy. Picture a freeze frame of him diving for cover when the 12 cylinder finally roared to life with a BANG and filling the air with feathers, mice fur, and, rat poop. Or falling on his back, clutching the rear brake caliper, and, cursing like a sailor. He finally threw me out after 6 months, with the car able to move under its own power. Plus, I am afraid of carburetors and transmissions. Yes, I just realized the X Type is AWD. Uh Oh.

 

Well, if your garage buddy threw you out and you are afraid of some mechanical things, you might want to think long and hard about this.

I don't know much about the manual transmission, but I'd guess that you won't be able to avoid the transfer case.

Anyway, good luck checking the battery. You might want to practice on your own battery first, so you know what you are looking at.

 

It is an unknown quantity. Where did the $1K price come from? Is that his price or are you trying to come up with a number?

If it is his price, then he is asking too much given what can be deduced from the tires and lapsed inspection. His prospective market is also reduced by it being a manual (scarce as they are and the enthusiasts having to contain themselves when they DO find one).

That being said, if you have the ability to get it towed then you can possibly get a steal. Tires aren't THAT expensive on the X-Type. Mounted and balanced, you are somewhere around $500-600 for the four corners with good rubber and cheaper stuff can be had (but won't see the light of day on anything I own).

Mileage, in and of itself, doesn't worry me...I view 100K as low mileage for the age (I am at about ~120K in the '03 and the '04.5 was over 130K) with both of mine also still being on their original clutches. I did have to get brake work done on the '03 since a shop used by a previous owner had no apparent clue about proper adjustment of the parking brake and munged things up.

 

Bought it! We settled on $650. I turned the key, the dash lit up, the symbols came on, no starting noises whatsoever. A round symbol with some scroll work around the circle lit up, and, the prior owner said, that is new, that never came up before. Windows worked. I took the battery out, had it checked, it checked as "Good State of Health" but the voltage was 12.23, "Could Use A Charge" Would that make a difference, I think it should be 12.6?

 

That could turn out to be a great deal! Time will tell, I guess.

I am not an expert on X-Type batteries, but I have heard that they are finicky if less than fully charged.

Good Luck!

 

Yes, they are a baby for low batteries.
Even a dead cell is enough to make it not crank.
I bought mine, sat in impound for 2-3 years.
Battery would charge 12.5 volts but not crank the car.
New battery, we drove it home.
But 3 months back, then new battery kicked, about 1 month
after the full warranty expired of course, new was prorated to $57.
It still worked, but if you left the door open or radio on car would not crank.

Battery is hard for most to find, goto a battery place for sure.
I believe Jag calls for a 13.6 volt battery, and it is HUGE.
Don't skimp on the battery, it will only haunt you in the future.

Good luck with your new/old ride!

Should we do a lottery on the amount of codes saved?
I vote 13 codes

 

Well, thanks for that Innzane, I may buy a new battery. Just had the battery charged, NO START! Cleaned terminals, tried the 4 fake starts with the key, nothing. I will try the 25 min key on procedure, then a reboot, then a new battery. Getting worried...

 

The battery terminals on these cars are junk and corrode inside between the cable end and terminal pretty easily, you may get lucky and only need a few new terminals. You should see between 12.6-12.8 on a fully charged battery but more importantly check the voltage when cranking as it shouldn't drop below 11 volts.

If the voltages are good and it still won't turn over leave the interior lights on and see if they go dim when you turn the key, if they do you've got a resistive connection somewhere probably at the terminal ends or inside one of the battery cables.

 

First, thanks for all who chimed in , I don't feel so all alone with this car. I just did the 25 min re-learm by leaving the key on for 25 minutes. Nothing. My daughter's Pontiac sometimes does this, and, a 10 min re-learn starts it right up. Anyway, I will try starting it with the interior lights on, see if they dim, nice suggestion, thanks. Where I'm at. Recharged battery, took cables off, cleaned, and cleaned by taking 10mm bolt out of cables. 25 min re-learn, and 4 starts with the key, nothing. I will take a cable off for 10 min, and, tap on the starter. All electrical things work, lights are bright, sometimes ww wipers come on when I turn the key. One of the icons that is lit up on the dash is a circle with an exclamation point, I fear this might be the security system. Oh, NO MILEAGE IS SHOWING ON DASH. It doesn't have an owner's manual, so I can't look stuff up.
Really! This car just had a bad battery, all this trouble? This is going to end in a trip to the Dealer. Someone please, at least tell me "Don't worry, you will get the car started."
Thanks, again.

 

When I bought my daughters last year it had a similar issue, it turned out to be a blown fuse in the fuse box under the drivers side dash. They were too hard to see if any were blown in place, so I had to pull each one out individually to actually find the one that was blown. After that it fired right up.

Might want to give that a look as well.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

Interior light remains bright when I turn the key. I am beginning to think it is not a battery problem. I'm leaning toward a starter or an ignition module. My '98 Buick acted like this, separately, with both those problems. I will tap on the starter when I get a helper. I'll also check the fuses, it's raining now, couldn't do it.

 

Lights do not dim when turning key. Tapping starter no help. There are no numbers on the odometer, just dashes - - - - - . All electrical things work. The fob does not work. There is a quiet high pitched hum coming from the engine, under the middle of the plenum? when the key is on.

 

That hum is probably the fuel pump.
Why not just buy a battery? You only spent $650 for the car. What's another $100 or so to rule that out? It was sitting for a couple years and who knows how old it is?

 

Alfa. I was thinking of doing that, you just clinched it. I will buy a battery. Then let's see what happens.