Ok, so here's the deal. We had a storm blow in so my wife put the car in the garage. This was two days ago & it ran fine. Yesterday I my trouble started, as it turned over sputtered & stalled. After that it would just turn over & that's all the life she would show. I checked the fuel pump & it's good. Got spark & all too. So after reading some posts here I recharged the battery & gave it a go again. Started by flooring the pedal for two turn overs then a half pedal turn as suggested by dealer in case it was flooded & well no go. Then I tried a little starting fluid sprayed in from the air filter box and that turned out bad. It fired but back fired & I got a good bit of smoke that rolled from the motor. So I pulled the coils & was going to check the plugs and noticed oil in the well. I haven't pulled the plugs yet the oil is on the socket. I'm guessing the starting fluid blow the head gaskets! yippee!! So i'm hoping someone has some experience with this. Where's good place to get a head gasket set & coils? I have the JTIS program and it's been a great help since all of my vehicle maintenance experience has been GM cars & trucks. I'd definitely appreciated some experienced help.

Thanks,

 

Too early for head gaskets.

Suck the oil out and check the spark plugs. Most likely the cylinder wash issue or fuel supply. Dry everything up and try the 'Foot to the Floor' starting procedure again.

A back fire through the plastic intake has been known to crack it but get the plugs squared away first.

 

Listen to test point on how to start it.
Oil down by the sparkplugs is because the o-rings inside the valve covers are bad, they seal the area around each sparlpug hole

 

You say you checked for fuel and spark and you have both? If that is the case then it could be the cylinder wash based on the short run time to the garage. I would suggest getting the battery fully charged and be patient. The last person that I talked to got the car started changed my procedure. I told him to be patient and to drink a beer between starts and instead he had a cup of coffee. No fun in that!
You can read my procedure at http://www.gusglikas.com/AutoRepairNoStart.htm and let us know if it worked for you.

 

lol, never use starting fluid, the engine loves to blow the air intake tubes apart when they backfire. I have blown 1 20 feet in the air because I thought I could use just a little, teeny weeny amount......
yes probobly wet plugs from cylinder wash which drops compression to just about nothing, the fuel goes in but with no compression you dont get combustion and the plugs get wet and then dont fire, and then your just stuck....Starting with your foot on the floor (clear flood mode) can restart, but it is an aquired and learned technique. There are sounds from the engine that let you know when to come off the floor and feather the pedal. And if you let off the starter, youll have to start all over, and the battery had better be fully charged, I use a jump box to give it plenty of juice. I would by new cam cover gaskets for the oil in the plug wells, upper tensioners if they havent been done and a fresh set of plugs. Change the gaskets and upper chain tensioners (I just did a set tonight on a 98) put in fresh plug and fire it up. Oh and clean the part load breather and throttle body too

 

I worked at a Dealer for years and saw many NO START problems. Some are simple and some are really obscure. It could just be the common 'flooded nikasil' no start or the dreaded 'broken timing chain'. It could be alot of things but for the 2 hours (or less) it will take to pull the cam covers you will ease your mind on the 'broken plastic tensioners and secondary chain' problems. I bought a car from a customer that had it at the dealer with a broken secondary timing chain and the 'newbie mechanic' spent 2 days putting spark plugs and coils on the engine until the shop forman told him to pull the cam covers. He came back later and the newbie said the chain was broken (well DUH). The service writer at the dealer I used to work at called me because the dealer did not want the car and I bought the car because the owner did not want to pay for the repair and just wanted to sell the car. I tore the front of the engine down and replaced all the chains, guides and tensioners. I got lucky that the exhaust valves were not bent so I have a good running XJ8L because the secondary chain failed while cranking and not at high speed on the road. The cam stopped at the right time!!!!! I did have to replace the starter because everyone cranked on it until it failed. (Keep cranking if it won't start and when it won't start, KEEP CRANKING.) If the secondary chain is broken you can remove/loosen the exhaust cam and perform a compression test to check for bent exhast valves. Let us know what you find.

bob gauff

 

Thanks for the responses. Today I pulled the valve cover and the timing chains look to be in real good shape and there's no play at all. I'm going to swap the tensioners since i'm there. Just have to wait on parts. I'll put some photos up when I get the chance in case my idea of in good shape is off. After all I am in the Air Force & we'll duck tape the wings on a jet to get in the air!

 

Dam shame we have a few that think we did it that way..

 

Sometime flooring the pedal and cranking is not enough. I had a same problem last year with my 1999 XK8. All it needs is time and patience, and of course, a good battery. I did not want to run for extended time piston rings on dry cylinder walls, therefore I removed spark plugs, cleaned them wit a starting fluid (only good use of it) and squirted a few ml of motor oil in cylinders. I removed a fuel pump relay. Then I cranked the engine approx. 3 times 10 secs. If you have a compression meter, it helps to use it. As soon as aerosoled oil stopped to puff from spark plug holes I re-installed plugs, f.p. relay..and eureka, the engine fired up right away...