right guys.

just took deleivery of my xj supersport with light front end damage.

car was totally dead due to a faulty battery.

new battery and ignition is restored.

now when i start the engine it is not turning but it sounds like the starter is just spinning.

i have removed the drive belts and the supercharger is spinning freely.

the engine is turning by hand. it is stiff but is turning.

i have two fault codes for the cam sensors in the engine management.

any ideas on this guys

 

I can't think of any engine problem that would make the starter just spin. The problem must lie with the starter itself, the ring gear, or the battery still has issues. Suggest confirming that when the starter is spinning, the engine doesn't turn. If so, start looking to the starter.

If the engine should be turning, but isn't, it is easy to imagine that triggering cam sensor codes, as there will be no signal when there should be.

 

many thanks for the reply.
opened the starter and its spinnig gear is broken inside.

the starter looks very very new. so i am worried something on the engine side is seized.

as stated above it turns but is very stiff.

 

Take the plugs out - it should turn fairly freely with the plugs out. If it doesn't, that is a bit worrying. What size engine is it?

 

update-
new starter motor and car fired straight up.

i can hear the supercharger making a clunking noise so onto problem number 2

thanks for the help guys

 

another update.

drove car around block few times to assess engine.

turned of and starter over a doze times and been fine.

on the last attempt i heard a crack and back to same problem.

so thats a brand new starter cracked.

any ideas guys

 

Brand New Starter also cracked? first find out if its supposed to have alignment dowel/sleeves for the starter if they are missing thats your problem. or correct bolts. some orginal bolts will have a lip for aignment.

 

yes the new starter had also cracked

the bolts are original and have the lining dowel.

car ran for a good time but was misfiring on all 8 cylinders.

drove fine and started over a dozen times

 

It's a long shot, but maybe the engine is running so badly that it's backfiring, which on startup could make the engine try to run backwards, wrecking the starter?

If that's the case, my money is on something terrible having happened to the valve or ignition timing.

 

its a difficult one to diagnose. i drove the car pretty hard and it sounded sweet and drove spot on. just slightly misfiring on idle.

the supercharger sounded like it was grinding.

plan tomorrow is to get a second hand starter and install it and this time do multiple starts with the supercharger belt off and see if the result changes.

 

Where exactly are the starters failing? Do you have a pic?

 

 

the image above is the old starter.

a breakage like that only happens when something gets stuck.

 

Hmmmmmm.

 

Any further progress?

 

hi
not at the moment.

i am having trouble finding second hand starters as the 5.0 cars are not common in the uk.

have a friend who works at land rover who is coming over on wednesday with the timing tools to check the timing is in order.

will update as soon as possible. in the meantime if anyone else has any suggestions. you are more than welcome.

thanks

 

Maybe you’re getting coolant in the cylinders. Trying to compress water would cause a huge load on the starter.

 

thanks for that. i am keeping a close eye on the coolant level and so far it has not moved

 

Sounds like you took a chance on an insurance write-off. Problem with buying something like this is you never know what else is wrong with it. The starter motor problem sounds like a symptom of problems elsewhere. It might be worth finding a Jaguar specialist hopefully not too far from where you live. There is always a strong tendency to thinnk you know the answer and then spend a load of money, then find out is wasn't what you thought i was. Certainly the car doesn't sound as if it was cherished by its previous owner(s).

 

yh was an insurance right off but not really a chance. i got the vehicle so cheap i cannot lose money on the vehicle.

im an auto electrician myself and have good links with mechanics including a land rover tech.

the issue we have is not a jaguar specific problem. as mentioned earlier the plan of attack is simple.

try a second hand starter with the supercharge belt off and check the timing.

hopefully one of these will find the culprit.
if not then the money in parts is way more than i paid and it will be getting stripped down.