Wont start (I did search the forum)
 

The car is a '98 Vanden Plas with 90k miles. The car has had a problem where if I used it after a cold start and drove say less than a mile and shut it off it would need sometimes as much as three tries to get it to start. This wasn't consistent though. It stalled on my Wife this weekend too while she was on the Interstate.

Prior to all this I cleaned the MAF, etc but that breather hose that runs from the valve cover to the intake tract broke. I fixed this by using a hose slid in to each side of what was left of that hose. It seemed to seal and the car ran fine for a while. From time to time I would get a CEL and the codes were lean on both banks and I've been told that hose is the likely cause. Regardless, the car still ran.

This morning the car would not start at all. I don't have a fuel pressure gauge but I did push the relief valve or whatever it is called and gas did come out each time I pushed it after attempting to start the car. I checked all the sealing for the intake system, etc.

The car turns over but here is something that may or may not matter. When the key is in position 2 the tach needle set to zero as it should. While attempting to start the car it looks like the most the RPMs rise to may be less than 200. It hardly registers on the tach. The battery test okay and from what I can tell it is getting fuel.

Any suggestions?

I sugget you run a compression test.

Do you suspect it is something very bad?

Well, there is a cylinder wash issue with these cars that may or may not be a sign of impending doom from the Nikasil issue. I have never experienced it myself, and many folks report the car to be fine after putting oil in each cylinder, but I have never heard long term (more than 10,000 miles?) reports after that. There is also the issue of the timing chain tensioners.
Check the archives-
It is quite likely that your problem is neither of these, but the compression test on at least a few cylinders will pretty accurately divide the suspected problems by half. And that is an effective way to troubleshoot- eliminate groups of possibilities, rather than having to check each individual one. With any luck, you will find the compression to be good, and we can look to a sensor or other less serious problem.

Understood and thanks for your help and direction.

"It stalled on my Wife this weekend too while she was on the Interstate"



You might call your local dealer and ask if the SERVICE ACTION S514 has been performed for the stalling on the highway.

bob gauff

Hi
I found the contents of TSB 303-S514 in a thread on the Piston Heads forum website. I posted in our sticky TSB thread see post# 5:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...t-s-b-s-27320/

Jim Lombardi

Well my wife VDP didn't crank back up after she returned to the car. We had it towed and I pulled the cover back off of the fuel tank and had my wife to turn the key on while I listen for the fuel pump and I didn't hear a sound. So I don't know it that means fuel pump is gone or fuse or relay or something else.

So I suggest you check first and see if you hear your fuel pump running and go from their. I will keep all posted and if anyone have info on this issue please let us know.

If it is fuel pump how involved is it to replace?

Fuel tank OUT is required.

I usually charge 3 to 4 hours labor depending on how much fuel is in the tank.
The pump can be had for less than $150 including the pickup screen.

Jaguar Dealer will be more for the pump but labor should be the same.

AIRTEX E2471 plus a strainer kit will get you back on the road.

bob gauff

This link is for an xk8 but the process is about the same if you elect to do the job yourself.
Jaguar fuel pump replacement xk8 I hope it helps

It isn't the fuel pump because I hear it running and when I test the purge valve it squirts so it is getting gas. The problem is the starter. Trying to diagnose this stuff as a one man job doesn't work. I turned the car over while a neighbor felt the starter. Nothing but grinding. When I was trying do diagnose this on my own it sounded like the engine was turning over but it is hard to hear exactly what is going on.

So I bought a new starter and set about installing it. I absolutely can't get the the second bolt that holds the thing in. I've been able to get a socket on it but there is just no room to turn a wrench of any kind. Any suggestions on that?

Hi dba-one,

This may sound totally ridiculous and if you haven't tried it, may be worth a try, as it fixed the exact same issue I was having with my 99 XJ8.

All I did was disconnect the battery, recharged it whilst it was out of the car for a couple of hours, and reconnected it. The car started. A week later it did the same thing. This time I tried just disconnecting and reconnecting the battery. Guess what, it worked again. Since then, it hasn't done it and it's been a few months now.

Could be totally coincidental and playing tricks on me. All I can say is it has fixed my sudden no starting issue every time so far.

I have my fingers crossed that it may be something that silly :-)

Don't know about stalling on the interstate though, that sounds more like fuel filter/fuel pump to me. Having said that, I'm not an expert, which is why the above may sound stupid, but can't harm trying.

beaky.

Actually Beaky, that isn't silly at all. I've seen it several times where a vehicles security system can play games and prevent it from starting and doing the disconnect as you suggested cures it. I have left the battery disconnected overnight with no positive change.

I had the car towed to a shop yesterday to have the new starter installed. The dame thing still wont start. I'm going to do the compression test as suggested earlier. This sure is getting old! I actually had to go to several shops before having the car brought to a particular one to make sure they would work on it. 2 out of 3 said no. The shop that worked on it yesterday charged me $92 an hour and that had no guarantees.

I'm taking this slow because I don't want to spend hundreds or even thousands and have nothing to show for it.

When cylinder washing is a problem you will have no compression and when you attempt to start the car with no compression it will spin and sound different. I would reorganize yourself and prioritize your list of things to do. Check for fuel you need to install a pressure gauge to verify that fuel pressure is available. You need to check for spark. Compression test is a good thing but not sure it is necessary. If you have spark and fuel and you have a Nikasil block and you experience a no start you are likely experiencing a cylinder washing. This link will provide you with additional information to help understand the process. Nikasil No Start Cylinder Washing

Thanks. I will try all this stuff this evening.

dba-
You seem to be reporting several very different circumstances here and it would probably help get proper advice if you could clarify- The original post mentioned a condition that sounded like it cranked, but would not start. Thats why I gave the compression test advice. BUT, you also said it stalled on the interstate, which is a whole different thing. So motorcarman addressed a high speed stall. Now, it seems you have a crank (not no start) issue. These three conditions are not usually the same problem. Thats why you are getting three versions of what to do I hope you do not have three different problems, but that is possible.

XJ8 not starting
 

My Xj8 VDP 1998 would not start one time, well it started and ran for a few minutes and then stopped and would not start again. I did the same things you did trying to find out what the problem was, listened to the fuel pump,checked fuel pressure, and when using a clear glass to catch some fuel when it came out of the pressure valve I found out that it was full of water. further checking lead to the fuel fill cap and found that the drain hose in the compartment to let rain water run out was plugged and the over flow was running into my fuel cap, drained out about 3 quarts of water, over 4k ago and no more problems. I hope your problem is as simple.
Bill

The high speed stall occurred only once and all the new stuff started after it got a new tank of gas. I went through about half a tank before the no start issue began. The car did fire back up and didn't do it again. It wont be until Friday before I can get the plugs out and check all that. I'll report back with my findings.

I got everything torn down so tomorrow I'm going to get new plugs and a turkey baster to insert some oil in to the plug holes. The plugs I took out of it were gnarly to say the least. Everything around the throttle body,etc looks okay so I hope what I do tomorrow makes some sort of positive change in direction. As of Tuesday it will be two week this thing has been down.

Don't rely on the fuel rail test.

I had gas pressure there but the car still wouldn't start.

Needed a fuel pump.