A little background:
I was willed an '89 XJS with 85,000 original miles on it.
It was driven regularly until 2005 and once a week from 2005-2009. Since then, it wasn't driven with any regularity (once or twice from what I can tell).

I tried starting it but the engine turned slow, didn't start. The battery is fairly new.

Hooked up my truck and cranked. Seemed to have plenty of power to the starter, but it still only cranks.

To me it seems like it's just not getting spark.

The serial # from the VIN is 154004 so I assume it's a Lucas ignition. (there's also some component on top of the engine that reads "Lucas")

I assume it could also be fuel related; bad/old gas, inadequate flow to injectors, inoperative fuel pump.

Being new to the XJS, I'm unfamiliar with its quirks outside of what I read here.

Are the things I'm missing in terms of what to look at to get this old girl running?
Are there specific things I should look at or do?

Any help is appreciated!

 

i got mine in 2010 and it sat since 1996. First cleaned out tank and put new premium with lucas treatment in it.

charged battery.

it would barely do anything, it was turning though.

had my dad turn ignition while i worked the throttle. Would run better with nearly WOT more like 3/4. After starting over and over like that for only 1-2 seconds at a time it would stay longer and i could close the throttle a bit. I used the process to nurse it down to idle after a good 30-40 minutes and who knows how many starts....

to check spark put wire to dis and arc it to something to make sure coil is firing. If it is pull a plug wire and arc it to something to see if plugs are getting power.

 

Interesting. Once I get it to my house I'll work on draining the tank.

Given this is fuel injected, I didn't touch the throttle when cranking. Am I right in doing that, or should I open the throttle some?

 

youre gonna have to work all the shitty gas outta the lines.

what does being injected have to do with working the throttle? if you had **** gas in a carb youd have to play with it to get the a:f combo right just as you do in the injected. The computer doesn't know the gasoline is crap so it can't adjust for that if thats what you mean.
i didnt actually think about it this is just what i did to get mine to work...umm maybe the fuel is less combustible so it needs more air for it to ignite?

pull the fuel sender, super easy. and clean everything out. I siphoned most of it out easily since its high up.

also, should really consider changing your filter and cleaning out the primary whenever you can. your gas could be worse than my 14 year old gas because yours had ethanol in it probably , which gels a lot quicker

 

In modern fuel injected engines, if you hit the throttle while starting would essentially flood the chamber.
My fear is the only thing worse than rubbish gas is a chamber flooded with rubbish gas.

Sounds like I can reach the fuel sender from inside the boot?

 

well i mean do whatever you want im just telling you my car sat for 13 years and it worked for me and i was only doing what it wanted and what the engine responded to.

the sender is really easy to get to, just take out the spare and its in a little holder to left of the battery. The filter is behind the spare and the primary filter is the right underneath the battery.

 

also^^ this makes it very easy to hot wire the fuel pump.

im sorry i mispoke. the fuel PUMP is to the left and down from the battery. THe sender is directly behind the tank in the center you have to take out the spare to access it. It spins out so simply take a flathead and tap on it to spin it out.

 

Easy to tell if it is Marelli.

The Dissy cap is quite small and has 2 HT leads going to it from the 2 square coils mounted just behind it. It will also have a 3 tooth reluctor wheel on the crank damper.

 

While you are working on the fuel system, it's probably a good idea to replace the short hoses that connect the fuel rail to the injectors. These hoses have been known to split on older cars if not replaced. The resulting fuel fire is usually the end of the car.

If the car is Marelli, google "Marelli cat fire" and do some reading......

Not trying to be dramatic, just advice to keep your cat alive once you get it "alive", if you know what I mean

 

ive always wondered about this, haven't looked into it. How do you replace those? Obviously the hose is just some fuel line but how do the connectors work? they look like they are crimped or something. How are they changed out?

 

Well, after a whole lotta help, my first issue is solved. Turns out it was ignition. $140 dollars later she's up and running. Now on to updating a whole bunch of potentially problematic parts!

I'm wondering the same thing. I'm going to check the big book, but they look like specific parts to me.

 

Great to hear you got it going!!! In my first year I had to replace the fuel pump and filter , the tyres, immediately had to replace the hp steering line...hmm. The hoses going to and from the master cylinder from the reservoir were aged and weeping so I replaced them, this caused the master cylinder to leak, rebuilt it, this caused the rear calipers to leak to leak so I had to take them out and rebuild them. Again mine sat for 13 years , didn't have the right brake fluid in it and was just overall neglected.
Also both of my thermostats decided to die and my relay for the electric fan went out. My a/c has a bent reed valve so it needs replacing.it leaks oil at the half moons and used to at the banjos and pressure sender before I fixed that. I think that's about it


Please please please replace your hood struts if they go out instead of being a jackass and putting PVC,wood , or any of the other "fixes" there...just FIX it.

Sorry if that was a lot I just wanted to say what's been wrong with my car since I got it so you would have some idea what to possibily look out for since it is a similar situation.