Just arrived back in Florida and my 99 XK8 won't start. I had taken the battery off prior to leaving and kept it on a charger/maintainer.Refitted the battery and the car turns over but will not fire - was running perfectly when I left it in May this year.Checked for fault codes and there are non present.Anybody had a similar problem??Is the fuel pump prone to sticking if not used??

 

Yes indeed. Do a little searching and you'll learn that the fuel pumps tend to give up the ghost when they sit idle for extended periods of time, particularly on the older models....

 

Update
It's cylinder wash - never had it before.The oil must have drained from the cylinders whilst it was standing.Is the best fix the one Gus has posted??

 

If Gus posted something, it's likely it'll work, judging from personal experience.

 

RESOLVED

It was lack of compression, presumably caused by sitting idle and the oil draining back off the Nikasil.Tried the standard fix of oil in the cylinders a couple of times but no success other than in draining the battery - I was also hesitant about exactly how much oil to introduce into the bores - conscious of potential hydraulic lock and potential damage to the cats(the latter possibility I realise depends on who you talk to)
So.....this was the technique.

1.Remove fuel pump fuse
2.Remove all spark plugs and leave the engine overnight to help dry out unburnt fuel from the cylinders
3.Leave battery on charge overnight.
4.Following morning connect another fully charged battery via jump leads.
5.A cylinder at a time I added a teaspoon of oil at a time and in between checked the compression on each cylinder with a compression tester.You could actually see the compression increasing each time I added a little oil - I got all cylinders up to between 125 and 150 psi.My other thinking was that rotating the engine with the plugs out was less wear and tear on the starter motor plus helping to clear out any unburnt fuel.
6.Plugs etc. back in, fuel pump fuse back in and she fired up first time on all cylinders AND there wasn't a huge amount of smoke from the exhaust,which is a pity really since we're plagued with mosquitos here :0) I'd say the whole working time,start to finish was 2 hours.

Many,many thanks to Gus for his prompt responses to my emails and also his kind offer of telephone help if I needed it.

 

I've edited your thread title adding 'RESOLVED' to help anyone searching for a solution to this issue in future.

Thanks for posting details of the resolution.

Graham

 

It looks like i am just down the street from you..

 

Thank You!

 

Yeah you are! I spoke to ya awhile back on the phone about a few things with my XKR100. I used some of your ideas about swapping out my hydraulic lines, what would have cost me thousands ended up costing me about 300 bucks and some slightly bruised knuckles, I'll take that over $4k any day!