1982 xj6 series 3. The following parts are new....


Battery, Alternator, Volt regulator, Fuel pump, Fuel filter, Spark plugs, Spark plug wires.


The problem isn't so major but I noticed the car takes about
4 good seconds of cranking before it starts up (the car always starts). Sometimes it wants to start but fires the second try of cranking immediately when I go to turn it over(mainly on a warm start). I checked the air duct work and everything is tight and there is no leaks of air. I always fill with 93 v power at shell. What could be the cause if these long cranking times to fire up or firing on the second crank with this criteria? The battery is a super start from Oreillys but provides the correct cranking and cold cranking amps. I know there isn't one solid answer but if anyone knows some things I should look into that would be great. Or could it just be normal for these older cats? Am I missing something very small that's hard to detect?

 

Iposted a thread back about once about every 3 months my starter will grind to when starting but starts normal second try. Once started the car drives perfect

 

I would suspect an anti backflow valve in the fuel delivery system isn't closing, allowing the fuel injector rail to drain over time. That is an educated guess. Not even sure if you have one but if you do and it fails this is a classic symptom.

Have you tried testing fuel pressure to see if it bleeds down over time?

 

This usually means a missing tooth on the flex plate or a failing starter that isn't fully engaging the flex plate (flywheel). You might want to bring a breaker bar with you so you can get on the main crank bolt at the front of the engine and turn it over by hand a little to engage a better tooth.

I would at least clean the connections on the starter and maybe spray some lube (not wd-40) on the part of the starter that shoots out to engage the flywheel.

Good Luck

 

My old fuel injected Jeep did that twice over the 17 years I had it. Both times a buggered fuel check valve.
I bought an after market BMW one from BMA parts the second time and never had the issue again(11 years). Less than 8 bucks delivered to Australia.

patrick@bmaparts.com

 

Agree with teh posts above.

A quicky test.

Park brake ON.

Place the gear selector in either R, D, etc, just NOT in P or N, and turn the ignition key to start, FOR 2 SECONDS ONLY, NO MORE. Release the key. Place the lever back in P, and start the car. IF it starts instantly, or quicker, then fuel drain back is what is happening.

That little 2 second thing tricks the system to run the fuel pumps, and prime the fuel rail.

Good thing for rarely used cars to save the starter motor and battery.

 

mine starts from the first crank after priming the system.

try this: (sort of similar to Francis' tip):

place the shifter in 1 (First Gear), turn and hold the ignition switch in START for about 3 seconds and turn it back to OFF.

do it a second time. You can hear the fuel pump priming everytime.

Now place the shifter in PARK and try to start the engine.

Any difference in response? no?

might be time to renew / replace / substitute the Cold Start Injector, it's probably old.
Your car is a 1982, the components are showing their age. Can't expect a 1982
to behave like a new car.

As to the starter, if it screeches like a screeching witch, follow Nookieman's advice to see if it changes anything.

 

Four seconds isn't all *that* long.....so identifying an actual, repairable fault might not be easy.

Every Ser III XJ6 I've driven, worked on, or owned has been similar. Start OK if key held for 3-5 seconds. But, if key released sooner than that and then given a second try, the engine fires on the first turn of the starter.

Try the experiment suggested by Grant and see what happens. That's your best bet at this point. If the situation improves you can check the anti-drainback valve and/or consider that the fuel pump might be weak. If no change, however, you might wanna consider moving on to more pressing issues ....ones that are more fixable.

My personal experience is that the fuel pump pressurizes the system almost instantly....two blinks of an eye....so that was never an issue as I tried getting to the bottom of this peculiar problem.....which I eventually accepted as a trait.

Cheers
DD

 

If the cold start injector isn't working then extended cranking times will occur as only the normal injectors are supplying fuel. They will supply fuel based on a cold engine, but it takes a bit of time. The cold start injector really pushes out a lot of fuel, thus getting the engine going a bit quicker, but at a cost in fuel of course.

 

I noticed i only hear the fuel pump sound when the car is actually running. Turning it to "2" on position i do not hear the fuel pump at all. The past week its been the same longer cranking after sitting for a couple hours but actually starts quicker on the first cold start of the day

 

I forget. Is position 2 the 'start' position? If not, you need to turn the key to 'start'. The pump won't run by just turning the key 'on'.

Cold starts are often easier because the cold start injector gives a nice big squirt of raw fuel into the manifold!

Cheers
DD

 

Yes position 2 is the on position, then right after is the ignition

 

Ugh. that key position thing. But, whew, the bezel on my car is marked. It was out of the car, so I touched it up with black paint. Messy though!!! Should have left it alone.


OTH, my Jeep seems to turn about three times before it starts for the first time in a day. to me, no issue at all.


And, way back when my car was 4.2 powered, it was similar. No issue then either.


But, the LT1 usually fires much quicker. Still OK by me.


Carl

 

After putting it into D and turning on for a couple of seconds, the start was a little quicker but also sounded better to