Jaguar, XK8, 1999. Won't start, just a clicking sound when the key is turned in the ignition.
Any suggestions, greatly appreciated.

 

How old is your battery, and what condition is it in?

 

I know the battery is at least 10 years old. Charged and stored after each season. Lights, wipers, etc. all work.

 

Regardless of your lights and wipers working, a battery that old is always the first suspect. These cars need massive power to start and run properly, and a ten-year-old battery will not be up to the job. Often times a four or five-year-old battery is too worn out to do the job, especially if the cells have not been consistently topped up with water over the years....

 

Local Mechanic believes the battery is good??? He thinks it may be the Starting Motor or Solenoid???

Any idea of where the solenoid is located, would it be on the Starting Motor or a Stand Alone solenoid?

 

He believes it is good, or did he load test it and it checks out good. The Jaguar will not crank when battery voltage is less than 11.5 volts. Normal is 12.5 to 13 and charging is 13.5 to 14.5.


To answer your question: The starter solenoid is part of the starter and not stand alone. In order to handle the amperage required for starting the system uses a starter relay.



If you know the battery is up to par then swap out a like relay for the starter relay and see if it will crank. If it cranks the relay is bad.

 

There will be more then one relay click on key rotation on the X100 and the specific one to put your finger on to feel it is the starter relay .

 

Thanks everyone. It was the battery.