I have been trying all day to get my jaguar running after being in storage all winter. the car will start for a very brief amount of time and just die. i cant get it to stay running. any ideas?

 

What year. How many miles..? Take the coils out and check for oil/watery sludge in the spark-plug wells...

 

You do not have your care information on your post so I went to your profile to see that you have a 1998 XJR and I hope this is correct. I understand that you had it running one time and it shut down or did you turn it off? You say you cannot keep the car running or is it that you are unable to restart the car? Did you charge the battery to get it started? Do you know if you have fuel pressure and spark?

 

when i start the car it stumbles for around ten seconds and dies. crank again, starts for awhile, dies. its a 1998 jaguar xjr with 84000 miles, i have new spark plugs, and i have already had the head gasket replaced.

 

and i put a brand new battery in it

 

Check your fuel pressure with a gauge.

 

I second the fuel pressure test... bet it's dropping off once engine starts running.

 

I will let you know how everything turns out. i called a local mechanic in town, and he said he would take a look at it for free! not to often that you find a mechanic that is willing to do that

 

the mechanic said fuel pressure was good after he flipped the relay switch? but after leaving it out at night it did the same thing in the morning. any ideas to give the mechanic on what this might be?

 

yeh, fuel pump is the first suspect - then trace back from there, filter also.

 

If it's been sitting for a while, the fuel filter and the gasoline are suspect. I guess we're assuming that there is no check engine light and no stored codes. Can your mechanic hook an OBDII reader to it ? That might help out if the fuel is good and there is good fuel pressure at the fuel rail.

 

and it needs a new fuel pump unfortunately,,,,,,800 down the drain

 

Unfortunate proof that leaving a car sitting for some time, without exercising it occasionally, can lead to all kinds of mechanical failures. Starting and fully warming up every couple of weeks might well have saved that $800.

 

easy for you to say, you live in california. i live in north dakota, and sometimes its not the easiest thing to go out and get your jaguar started in negative 40 degree weather