My 1998 xj8 has been sitting in the garage for the last 5months.Charged the battery refitted battery tight etc,went to start nothing,lights inside doors etc work but flashing on off,clicking sound on left had side of car under hood,dash information states electrical fault,any ideas any body? Barry

 

Barry,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help section to X308 section. Members here with the same model as you have will be able to offer advice.

If you haven't done so already, it's worth getting the battery tested to eliminate it as a possible cause.

Graham

 

Sounds like a loose power or ground cable. The ground cable at the battery has a failure history as does the connector on the firewall in the engine bay but it is probably time to check all connections for corrosion and tightness.

 

And the engine to chassis ground connection underneath LHS just behind front wheel.

 

Hi Barry,
My year 2000 3.2 did exactly what yours is doing, it started doing it during some unusually hot weather we were having. I jumped to the conclusion that it was the EMC overheating as after leaving the hood open for some time it would start. It was only the fact that I could hear a slight click when trying to start that lead me eventually to the starter relay. I have attached a picture showing the guilty relay in black, you will need to remove the anti tamper screws etc. in order to get inside the compartment where the EMC and relays live. I changed all of them while I was in there, I have not had any starting problems since changing the relay. The picture was supplied by Max Heazlewood who lives next door to you in Tasmania, he has a website with tons of good stuff. JEREMY J. IN THE WORKSHOP Photo Gallery by Max Heazlewood at pbase.com