Bought 92 XJS last Jan, and up to now haven't had any problems.

During pre-purchase inspection, however, I was told that on one occasion the car would not start. On second try an hour or so later it started ok and problem did not repeat so no further check was done to isolate cause. Mechanic mentioned it could be a relay problem but did not do further research to pin it down.

All has been well up to today, went to start car and it would not crank. Fortunately it's in garage instead of being stranded somewhere.

I recall that one day few months ago after getting gas, same thing happened but on second try it started so didn't give it much thought....should have tipped me off! That time it was a warm start but today it was a cold start if that makes any difference.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

Start by checking the battery and earth connections; others will chime in with an extensive list of things to try!

 

Just went out and tried again, fired right up. Whatever it is, is this something that will need to happen while it's in the shop in order to trace it down? Are there things that the shop can rule out in order to identify source of problem?

 

When I got my 89 there where many electrical issues. Most related to bad connection. I removed and cleaned all grounding points, cleaned battery connection and then I removed and reseated all fuses and relays. Just to remove corrosion built up. Cleaned a couple of plugs and everything worked fine. A bit of a pain I know. I did the same with my 86 just for piece of mind. Everything worked but there was corrosion that would have caused a problem at the worst time and place. I think Jaguar could have done better job with electrical.
My 2 cents. For what its worth