yes countyjag i did read about the immobiliser but like sparkenzap said the u.s market cars don'thave the immobiliser systems according to the thread . so I'm not focusing on them. i did get a scanner and hooked up to car today and to my surprise it said there where no codes stored or pending.even though the check engine light stays on when i turn key to on position so my question is if the battery was out of car like when i got it , could it lose the codes? or is it maybe a good sign that it a simple but not easy to find problem. i did clean three ground posts under hood that looked pretty bad and the one by the ecu. but no luck , the ones in trunk look clean . but i will check them still. i might get another ignition relay or see if i can jump it . i guess i will just start checking every thing one by one crank sensor ,throttlebody sensor grounding posts , ecu wires ,that Micro switch in gear shift. relays. ugh my friends are laughing at me.

 

o.k countyjag mentioned the dealer, that sold the car to the guy i bought it from. theres no way that they thought it was a bad fuel pump. what if i take a ride down there and talk to the service manager and see if he knows what the problem(s) are.? worth a shot might save me a lot of trouble shooting.

 

Out on a limb suggestion from way down here.

You mentioned that the battery was out of the car when you got it, no big deal, but on my X300, when I have the battery off for any reason, I have to use the remote to "lock, then unlock" the car before it will start.

Also, those stored codes will be lost once the battery in disconnected, and it sometimes takes a 100km++ of driving to get any code hits at all.

The check engine light at the ignition ON point is also normal.

Lastly,

Unplug the connector on the Cam Angle Sensor, and simply replug it. That has woken 2 up for me recently.

Look at the front RH side of the timing cover, basically behind the Cam Angle Sensor, and you will see the Crank Angle Sensor loom connector. It is a vertical fiasco, and crud etc gets inside that connector, and then the engine will not start. Seperate it (PITA X3), clean ALL the crud out of both plug ends, and replug. Fixed mine a long time ago. I then used RTV to seal that plug from the crud.

When you are cranking this thing is the Tacho reading ABOUT 200RPM?. It should do this.

 

hi Grant, i don't have a remote with this car just a key. i have locked and unlocked doors though. also tach moves just ever so slightly. when i crank it .like when i hit it, it it bumps up then down it doesn't stay up . i will add your checklist to mine thanks ,Brian

 

hi everyone so i finally got time to look at car . first thing i looked at was

the crank sensor and sure enough it was just dangling there. the cast bracket is broken, . i already looked at the updated bracket that guy makes that is advanced a few degrees. so might be buying one and new sensor as well. hopefully that is all it is . ( fingerscrossed). i will try to upload a few pics. thanks again to everyone who responded to guide me in the right direction. and i will keep you updated on the progress.

love the color ,though needs repaint

 

So much for "professional mechanics". At least you probably got it cheaper because they couldn't find the fault.

 

i just hope that this broken bracket is not the result of someone trying to replace the sensor and broke the bracket ,and the the problem will still exist after replace it. but i am hoping not.

 

so i replaced the bracket , still no dice. sensor seems to be working as tach goes up to about 200 rpms when cranking. think I'm going to hit up the dealer who sold it for any information they may have on it.

 

I'm not so sure that crank sensor is picking up anything looking at that corrosion. Remember, it's an 'on/off' switch in accordance to the teeth on the harmonic balancer. If it was just hanging before and doing nothing while cranking and showing some signs of life on the tachometer, there's a strong chance that sensor is bad. Unplug that sensor and take an ohm meter to it to see if it shows continuity. If it shows 'OL' on your meter, then the sensor is no good. If it shows something like 7 ish ohms of resistance, then it's ok. Now... I'm not sure what a threshold of resistance is too high for that thing. I just looked on Amazon and it was about $88 for one. They're only made by one company now as I recall. Standard Motor Products. Don't go out and buy one right this second just because I mentioned this. It certainly doesn't hurt to have a spare crank sensor for these cars but we need to make sure that this is the problem and that when you do get it to run it doesn't have any serious issues such as a rod knock or otherwise. Seeing as the ECU had a ziplock bag over it, I'd also entertain the idea of opening it up and see if any water got inside that ECU even after it was replaced. Somebody could have just put one over it after the water entered it. Let's hope not though. These cars were known for that problem...

 

Brian,

You're making progress! The 200 rpm on the tach is a good indicator that the CKPS is working (though not 100% reliable as at least one forum member learned).

The next thing I would suggest is that you again check the battery voltage while cranking. If it sags much below 11V the ECM will not trigger the ignition to fire. A lot of digital meters cannot react fast enough to show the true voltage sag, so if you have an analog meter it may provide a more accurate measurement.

Cheers,

Don

 

Thanks addicted2boost and Don. i will be replacing crank sensor in the next couple days .i will be in touch

 

Brian,

Have you checked the battery voltage while cranking?

Don

 

I haven't yet , but if it doesn't start after new sensor ,iwill. I want to replace it regardless.

 

The battery may just need a good charge after all the cranking you've done. Could save you the cost of a CKPS....

Cheers,

Don

 

o.k i put a new crank sensor in and nothing. i checked battery voltage while cranking and got 11.3 v at battery. i tried to check sensor resistance while cranking but couldn't hold meter probes on sensor good enough, it shakes too much.. also tried to call dealership where it was purchased but they all went home early I'll try again monday. thanks again everyone. I'm not giving up yet

 

Brian,

I like your fighting spirit!

Since you have nothing to lose, why don't you try jump starting the car with another vehicle to supplement the battery in the Jag? 11.3V while cranking is probably borderline and if your meter has a somewhat slow reacting time it may not be indicating just how low the voltage is sagging.

I would suggest connecting the jumper cables and allowing the boosting vehicle's engine to run for 5 or 10 minutes before attempting to crank the Jag to give the Jag's battery a little additional charge.

Cheers,

Don

 

I agree with Don on the jump starting, but if that doesn't work, a call or perhaps even better a visit to the dealer would be invaluable. The car clearly has a complicated back story, and the bagged ecu, loose crank sensor, the yarn about the fuel pump, not to mention the fact they gave up on trying to get it to run are individually interesting and cumulatively most odd. The circumstances under which it stopped working would be helpful too; are you able to contact the previous owner?
At the end of the day, it cannot be beyond the wit of man to get it running again, and I too admire your spirit. The point at which it no longer makes economic sense is your call, but I can assure you these cars are worth the effort. They are a beautiful drive when fettled.

 

Ps did you ever manage to scan for any codes? If your code reader still doesn't work, it might be worth begging or borrowing one to get a scan. The answer might be stored there waiting for you!

 

yes countyjag i got a scanner and it said no codes stored. i did not put the jumpers on I'll try that before i visit dealer. thanks

 

also i dont know the previous owners name or address. hoping dealet can help I'm sure they must know something. thinking a box of joe and some doughnuts might jog the service managers memory.and im thinking countyjag might be right about these cars as its built like a tank, its so solid it makes my volvo 850 seem like a tin can. riminds me of my old Mercedes 300d