I've only driven the car once in the last 6 months because I store it in the winter. i went to start it today and it turns over but doesn't catch. The only message I see is DSC Not Available. Any suggestions that I can try before calling a tow truck? Could it be the battery? I have about a quarter tank of gas. Should I add some "fresh" gas?

 

If it cranks, its not your battery and i doubt 6 month old gas would prevent it from firing. i would continue to crank, stopping every 15 sec for 15 secs, for at least 3 more times.

Other than that, i'll step aside and allow the Jag experts go deeper.

 

Unfortunately it often can be the battery even though it turns the engine over. I have had this syndrome with a Rover 75 V6 during a very cold winter. When you crank the engine, the system volts drop, and with an under-par battery, sometimes the voltage is not sufficient for the car's electronics such as the ECU.

Did you keep the battery on trickle charge all winter ? How old is the battery ? You could try a bit of "Easy Start" as this stuff normally wakes the dead.

 

It is the original battery, so probably 8-9 years old. The car only has 21,000 miles. I take it the age of the battery is a bigger factor than the use?

 

oh, and what is "easy start"?

Thanks.

 

Oh yea, That would be my first step. A battery is really only good for 5+/- years and little use is worse than daily use. So consider you got your monies worth. Does it crank slower than usual? Do you have a battery trickle charger? Find your radio code before you do the swap.

Interstate MTP93 seems to be the suggested replacement of the OEM. The hold down bolts are 10mm

 

Easy Start is something available here in England, but I don't know about the USA, there will no doubt be something very similar. Normally used on diesels when conditions are arctic. It contains ether a very inflammable substance plus upper cylinder lubricant. I once got a Jaguar engine going with it in the 80s.

However, caution is needed with it, so I would suggest a battery check first, hopefully by a mobile battery techie.

 

Ok, not too car savvy here. Can I hook it up with jumper cables to my other car and charge the battery that way? Or do I have to take the battery out of the car, which I'd prefer not to.

 

You can jumP start it using your other car if you are in a hurry but it can reck havoc sometimes to electronics in either vehicle, make sure to read your manual on both cars and follow the procedure. I burned out a skreem module in our MB jump starting

I think it would be better to attach a trickle charger to the battery, while in the car, and let it charge your battery overnight.

 

Ok, I got it started, went and got a new battery installed, got an oil change, and everything was fine. I went out last night and the car wouldn't start in the parking lot that i was in. I had to get it towed home. This time it would actually catch when I turned it over, but would immediately stall out. Does this sound like a fuel pump issue?

 

Ok, my car is at the dealer and their initial analysis is that it needs a fuel pump. I googled it and I see a cost of either about $100 or $800. Anyone know what I can expect to hear from the dealer? Don't want to get ripped off if that's what the repair ends up being.

Thanks

 

So what's the verdict?

We just had a problem like yours this week and my wife's car is still parked in the our garage. Our car (04 XJ8 55Kmi) was taken to local KwikKar for inspection and Passed. Then, afterwards car was turned off and it wouldn't start. Mechanic retrieved code P1338. Car eventually started in restricted more so she brought it home. Code apparently is either bad fuel pump or conrol module. I think I'm going to remove battery for 30 minutes. Hope it will clear and go away.

Is our fuel pump in the gas tank or external?

 

jaguarparts.com has the fuel pump for $580 and a $177 core charge. Nally might have it a little cheaper but no way it is 100 bucks.

MBary,

From the illustrations on jaguarparts.com it looks to be a in tank pump. I would link but the site is flash.

 

I just did a battery swap in my car, I even made a run to the Jag dealer and got my radio code, for whatever reason I didn't need it. I have the alpine/Nav unit. I lost all my radio presets and I had to recalibrate the auto up windows, that was it.

 

High pressure pumps often fail after storage. Don't know why but I hear of it often. The dealer price to change these pumps is steep, around $1000. Just one pump is around $600. The X350 tank is a plastic saddle type and there are two pumps, one for the engine and one to transfer fuel to the pump side of the saddle. It requires a computer to keep both sides level and the computer can fail too.

 

The fuel system is a little more complex than may appear at first sight.
The pump is a variable speed type controlled by the Fuel Pump module situated in the Rear Electronic Module. The FPM is controlled by signals from the ECM which measures fuel rail pressure and temperature and using this and other inputs sends a fuel demand signal to the FPM.

Now why it has been done this way, you tell me !!

I would expect the ECM to detect failure to supply fuel by the fuel rail pressure not being maintained when demanded. So a fuel pump failure should be accompanied by a fault code, (or codes). So, if the dealer says a new pump is needed, they should be able to advise what fault codes have lead to this conclusion.

BTW only the supercharged cars have two electric pumps, one per half of the tank, plus a suction jet pump (no-moving-parts), to transfer fuel from one half of the tank to the other half to keep the levels equal. Non-SC cars have a single electric pump on one half, and the suction jet-pump in the other half.
The inference is that fuel pump failure with an SC car is least likely to prevent engine start, as failure of both pumps at the same time is less likely