Hi all, recently bought my first jaguar, a 2012 xf 2.2 diesel, having a small issue occasionally with starting it. If I get in and start it up straight away there is no problem whatsoever.
If I get in and don't go to start it for a few minutes it seems to go to sleep and might not start for maybe 10 mins of trying.
As much as I love being in the car, I would prefer to be moving....any thoughts?

 

Random question - as soon as it doesn't start the first time, have you tried getting out, locking the car, waiting a couple of minutes, and then opening it and trying again?

The reason I ask is - at least on the petrol models - the fuel pump primes when you unlock and open the door, but it doesn't run again until (AFAIK) the engine is started. So if (theoretically) you had a small air leak in the fuel line, this means that if you start the car immediately after getting in, the line is primed and the engine starts, but if you leave it for a few minutes, there is time for air to bleed into the line and make it hard to start since the pump doesn't re-prime? Diesels don't cope well with air in the fuel line, though modern HP diesel engines shouldn't need bleeding in the same way the old mechanical diesels did.

Feels like I'm clutching at straws but it's a thought.

 

How is your battery? Possible that power drain from car sitting in powered up mode runs it down a bit and they get sensitive to low power. If it's original it's time for a change

Any errors / lights when you try to start it unsuccessfully? Any warning lights? Is the start button still pulsing?

 

Hi Dave, thank you for the reply. Yes it starts if you go away and 'start the procedure again'. You might be on to something there, it always starts straight away, only seems to be for example if putting the seat belts on the kids, putting bags in boot etc, anything that delays the initial start sequence for more than a minute or two.
i'll pay a bit more attention in future and see if there is a pattern of sorts that would indicate if it's that.

 

Hi Britcars, thanks for that, i'm not getting any errors or lights at all. Now you mention it yes the start button stops pulsing.
it may be that the power is low all right.