And about freaking time! lol. I can't believe its been almost a year too. After a lot of sweat and blood, and plenty of this . She finally started. She unfortunately did not fire up right away... I'm going to do a compression test tomorrow, hopefully the news is good and its another reason other than worn Nikasil, that she doesn't fire right away all the time. Its weird, if I turn her off (at operating temp) she will start right up no problem 90% of the time. Then occasionally she just won't... Then I have to wait about 3 seconds, and then she fires right up again... I'll get to the bottom of that later.

ANYWAYS! I'm so thrilled!!!!!!!!!!!! Had low oil pressure for about the first 15 or so seconds. I ran the starter a good minute prior to starting as well. She sounded a little rough at first, but then suddenly, SMOOTH. Purrs like a kitty. Now for the best part. I don't know if any of you remember when I first got her, she was having that weird transmission fault? Well, GUESS WHAT! Its gone! Shifts perfect . Thank you all so much for your help!

Special thanks to Ross (Sparkenzap) for generously giving away a camshaft!

 

JagScott- attaboy! What do you mean about it not starting right away? What did you have to do? Certainly the cylinder walls may have been dry- Harbor freight now sells a blowby tester for about $50.oo as I recall. Blowby is more telling than compression by most folks recommendation, although I do not yet have enough data to know what;s good from marginal/ I hope not to learn !

 

Initial roughness might be totally normal for the first start after a period with battery disconnected considering that the ECM is self-calibrating

 

She runs like a champ, handles beautifully too . Occasionally that weird failure to start the first time problem occurs. I caught it on tape, wanted to show you all how smooth she is running, but it didn't fire up like it is supposed to, just cranks (sat there for 15sec cranking once). After you turn it off, pull the key out, and wait a few seconds, fires up without an issue. Here is a little video of it: Jaguar engine - YouTube

 

Hmmmh... That IS strange. Its pretty clear its not Nikasil or the cyclinder wash issues.. And your battery is plenty strong, so the old "change the battery" advice won't fix it. I suppose it could be the throttle body. Hopefully one of the pros will lnow what to look for.

 

I was noticing that when I was trying to start it for the first time, I could smell fuel from the tail pipes. Could it be flooding itself while trying to start?

 

Taking the key out means microchip in>>microchip out. Maybe its a security immobiliser, that would fit every diagnosis. Maybe the security system immobilises the engine, because it isn't transponding with your key every time?

 

Does the immobiliser allow a crank?

 

Sometimes I do not take the key out, I just turn the thing off and let it sit. Then try again. Works almost 100% of the time on the second try. Its 50/50 on the first try though... Just weird.

This isn't related, but I thought it was funny. Everyone sees the Jag from the outside and instantly thinks its a POS until they get inside and see the pristine interior and get to feel the smooth V8 power and cushy ride. Since it sat for so long (lack of funds and time, not the Jag's fault). Everyone dismissed it and thought it would never run again... I've put about 150 miles on it since Monday. It just FLIES! Incredibly smooth. Other cars are having trouble keeping up on the highway and it acts like its not even trying.

 

Yes, I believe they do. In fact, the way it was cranking, given the conditions, the sound reminded me of a car with an immobiliser tripped, cranking that I had heard. Ask the dealer for a replacement microchip?

 

Would the car let you know via the instrument cluster that it was immobilized or that there was some immobilization issue occurring? My rover will let you know if something is amuck anyways… Maybe I should switch to the other set of keys and see if the symptoms persist. The remote FOBs on both sets of keys work too. Don't know if that info helps. I'll put the obd scanner on it too and see if its throwing any codes even though the CEL light isn't on.

 

Here's a test: hit the headlamp button 3 times for panic, and let the alarm go off, and that will immobilise the engine. Then, as the alarm is going, crank it up, the microchip in the key being the only think to re-mobilise the engine. See if it starts up the same as normal. When the alarm is blaring in my car, there is no message whatsoever regarding the alarm, as far as I can remember BTW.

 

Well, I armed it, had the alarm go off by opening the door from the inside. Put the key in and turned it to the "II" (on) position and it disarmed the alarm with both keys several times and it always fired right up. It kept starting no problem, then suddenly it wouldn't start again... I did not remove the key this time. I just kept going from position I to II, and III (letting it do another system check each time I tried). It would not matter how many times it cranked, it would not start or even show a sign of starting(sputtering, coughing, etc). Eventually on the 4th or 5th try, she fired up. However, this time it took quite a few cranks to get it started. When she finally did fire up, it sounded normal. No hesitation like its starving for anything. I just don't get it. Its so WEIRD! Its not a huge problem, just embarrassing when you try to show a friend how smooth it runs and the blasted thing takes a few tries to start lol.

 

I'm sorry, I have no idea! Weird problem I must say.

 

My diagnosis may not be scientific but the reason it wont start is because it is a Jaguar! I'm having starting problems myself. It is very aggravating.

 

Maybe it's time to check fuel pressure at the fuel injection rail, there's a shrader valve you can put a pressure tester on for this exact purpose. I recall 40 PSI or close to. This confirms your fuel pump is doing it's job. I'd check pressure while cranking....
How old are the plugs?
Have you run any fuel stabilizer or injector cleaner through it?
How old is the gas? Fill the tank up with premium?
Have you cleaned the throttle body neck and butterfly, MAF also?
Maybe a mucky crank position sensor?
If there's no codes and intermittent, it's back to basics questions. Something isn't quite right.