So I have a 1997 XJ6 and it occasionally decides to crank but not start. It is now in this condition in my driveway. When I crank the engine the tach does move and register approximately 200rpm. I decided to crack the line at the back of the fuel rail after cranking the engine over and all I got was a dribble of fuel out of the line. I decided to try actually cranking it while the line was disconnected and nothing. No fuel out of the line. So I am getting zero fuel pressure when this happens.

Is there a relay or some fuse I should check for the fuel pump before removing the tank?

I have removed the tank multiple times and changed a fuel pump on a 1994 XJ40 car before. Is the tank removal procedure for a 1997 X300 car similar or are there any additional tricks I should know?

 

Hi Steve,

Before you decide to replace your fuel pump, carefully check the electrical power supply to the pump. There are several things that can go wrong, starting with the fuel pump relay and fuse in the trunk fuse/relay box. You can measure for battery voltage on terminal 3 in the fuel pump relay socket (Brown wire with Yellow tracer line). If there is no battery voltage on terminal 3, the problem may be upstream in the power circuit.

If you have power, jump terminal 3 to terminal 5 (Red wire with Yellow tracer line). If the pump runs, it may be OK or it may have an intermittent problem. Before you pass judgement on the pump, check the control circuit upstream (beginning at the fuel pump relay socket, terminal 1 (White wire with Pink tracer line) and terminal 2 (Pink wire with Brown tracer line).

The Electrical Guide has all the schematics and you can download it at this link courtesy of Gus and his website, jagrepair.com:

1997 X300 Electrical Guide

Fuel tank removal on an X300 is similar to late XJ40s with the rigid fuel filler pipe welded to the tank, but the fuel hose connections on the underside of the tank are different. The X300 uses standard fuel line "quick connect/disconnect" fittings (they may be metric but a 3/8 inch disconnect tool works). But because of where they are located above the differential and tucked into the recess in the trunk floor, they are not at all quick or easy to disconnect. The best tip I've seen is an easy-to-make tool devised by aholbro1 that gives you additional leverage to push on the connectors to get them to release. See his post at the beginning of this thread:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...quired-163902/

BTW, it is possible to change the fuel pump in an X300 without disconnecting the fuel lines and just partially pulling the tank into the trunk/boot, but it is difficult and frustrating and I do not recommend it due to the very real risk of damaging one or both fuel lines and having to replace them. The reason I know this is that I recently had to rescue an owner of a '97 whose father-in-law wasn't able to disconnect the fuel lines so he pulled the tank as far rearward as he could but wasn't able to figure out how to access the pump. Fortunately, he somehow managed to not kink the fuel pipes, and I decided I had just enough room to access the pump through the top hole for the evaporative flange and side hole for the fuel gauge sender to get the old pump out (not too hard) and the new pump in and properly positioned and clipped to its support bracket (pretty difficult). Once I got everything buttoned up, I discovered the car had problems in the fuel pump electrical supply circuit AND a failed crankshaft position sensor, which was probably what made the owner decide it needed a fuel pump....

Cheers,

Don

 

Another area you may want to check would be your fuel filter. It may be clogged and not allowing fuel to pass.