Hi all,

I just purchased a 98 XJ8. The guy I purchased the car from said it ran great before parked. It was parked for 10 months before we purchased it. When we arrived to get the car the storage facility employee was attempting to shift the car into neutral without power (dead battery). They finally used a jump pack to get power to the car and switch it into neutral to load it on the car hauler.

Current condition: The shifter is very loose. (I mention this because I have read a few things about this possibly being related to my symptoms) The only two codes stored are P1000 and P1643. I have checked all relays and all are good. I have fuel pressure at the rail as well. The car will crank but will not start. There is no spark or injector pulse. The message display says that the engine is in fail safe mode. I have checked for spark on all 8 plugs with none.

Thanks guys!
-Nate
98 XJ8

 

Can you shift it between P , N and D without stepping on the brake? The parking lot attendant may have buggered up the shifter.

 

It won't go shift all the way but will go from Park almost to Reverse without even touching the brake. When the key is in the run position it will shift but when it goes down to Drive it will not stay in the drive possition it want to drift up towards neutral. I've also noticed that the Park light and Drive light do not come on when going into those gears. Reverse and Neutral work fine though when shifting through.

 

My XJ8 had had the shifter totally messed up by wrenching it from P. In your case, it is hard to know what signals are getting to the computer. Maybe it always thinks it is in gear, and won't start the car. I recommend getting the shifter fixed before thinking about it too much more. You can find these on FleaBay for maybe a hundred bucks.

 

Installed the new linkage today. No go on the current problem, she still cranks and cranks but no start. No fuel or spark. I have 42PSI at the rail just no injector pulse.

 

I see that you have a 98xj8. I am attaching a oneline to help you along. http://www.gusglikas.com/images/Auto.../jagxj1998.pdf Look at page 20 fig 21 Power Distribution and you will see that the power from the battery goes to the High Power Protection Module from that point it goes in two directions, one to the starter and the other to the fuse boxes all the way to the engine management fuse box. In the high power protection module you have 3 fuses and you need to check them. It is located near the battery and at times the tire in the trunk bangs against it causing it to break or a loose connection. If you find it to be bad you need to disconnect the battery before attempting to do any repairs. Another way to check it is to turn the key on and test voltage at the engine compartment fuse box. I hope this helps!

Pulling and tugging on the shifter is not doing you any favors. You should be able to remove the little screw plug to the upper left of the shifter and insert a screwdriver to unlock the shifter if necessary. The idea behind moving the shifter from “P” to “N” is to identify a problem with the shift selector switch, I would hold on that for now. I must also add that I am assuming that you have a battery that is fully charged, if not get one.

 

thanks Guss,

I'll dive into this tomorrow and report back.

Take Care,
-Nate

 

If its cranking, its not the neutral safety switch anymore. If you have 42 psi at the fuel rail, you have fuel...but you are lacking spark as you say. Problem sounds electrical, hopefully gus's link will help you track down the proper wiring issue. Maybe the 'jump' blew a relay...has to be something simple.

Do you now have the proper lights on the gear shifter when you select P-R-N-D?

 

The old shifter did not light up in Park or Drive, the new one seems to light up in all as it should. I am working on Guss's link today. I've checked the relays and am looking for anything loose now.

 

Update:

Followed the electrical guide and all relays and fuse boxes have power and are functional. I also replaced the CPS today as I had an extra one and in the past have had vehicles act this way. No go so far. I still have no injector pulse and no spark. It'll crank and crank at what I would consider a normal speed. Do you think the ECU might have gotten something from the jump box? The parking lot where it was parked wasn't teaming with rocket scientists to say the least. They were connecting the jump pack up front under the hood if that makes any difference.

Thanks to all of you helping out, I'm learning but still in the dark.

Take Care,
-Nate