See that was not difficult all you had to do is look at what was given to you to use. I do my best to provide tools!

Yes that is for a 99xk8 and you have 3 fuses one is piggybacked.

The second link is showing that the power from the battery to power the starter is direct from the protection fuses.

The third is showing that the key provides power to the starter relay that activates the starter solenoid that in turn connects the power to turn the starter that comes from the protection fuses.

If this were me I would verify that the starter relay is working to activate the solenoid. If that is working then I would test for power to the starter from the protection fuses. If all of that is good I would look at the starter being the problem..

May I suggest that you use caution and good judgment when messing with the power leads to the starter.

 

Hi WhiteXKR, yes, 2 under the hood, 2 in the interior, 1 in the trunk.
Many had and many didnt have power going to them, I figured because engine is off, but all were test light tested or visually inspected multiple times.

Thank you, much appreciated
Sid

 

Hi Gus, yes, absolutely will use caution.

Where under the hood exactly is the relay?

All i know from experience with american cars is that the relay is usually on top of the wheel well under the hood on the passenger side, and it is recognized by noticing all the main fat cable/leads, but I don't want to take anything for granted, so this is why I ask for explanations, descriptions and/or confirmation of location/placement and appearance.

Thank you, much appreciated,
Sid

 

I'll buy another battery because a "marginal battery" is not a top fully charged unit. I've had a supposedly good battery not work for me. I had to get a new one and my starting issues went away.

If the new battery doesn't work just return it for a refund.

Good luck Juke

 

My view is that you can rule out the battery. It might be marginal to get through a winter in Buffalo, NY, but you have measurements on it from two places now that are inconsistent with it being the cause of what you're seeing.

That, and your symptoms say ... It's not that the battery can't provide enough current to run the starter; its that the starter is not demanding current.

Before doing anything else, I'd test to see whether or not voltage appears at the starter. If yes, starter is very likely bad; if no, then best strategy is probably to trace backwards from that point to see why not.

Good luck. I admire your perseverance!

 

Sid, did you get this solved?

 

Hello bakntyme and everyone, no I have not had the opportunity yet, the weather was very bad over the weekend, then Monday came, too busy to deal with the car today.

I will try all the new suggestions hopefully by tomorrow or Wednesday then get back to you with the results.

Thanks alot, very much appreciated
Sid

 

I've read this thread with some interest as I may have some deficit in my charging system .. but I haven't dug into it yet. There are two diagnostic tools that I haven't seen mentioned in this thread, so I'm just making suggestions which may be helpful.

As to battery condition .. use a 500 amp carbon pile tester .. forget about the anemic little 100 amps jobs .. I've owned a couple over the last few decades. With a Carbon Pile you dial up the load and watch where the voltage drops to in real time. I just replaced the 10 year old original stock Jag AGM last year (Johnson Controls AGM from Napa). In a Jag better disconnect one terminal .. lest the electronics may go hinky for some reason. I use a previous iteration (Blue) of the HF 91129 .. on sale at this writing for $50.

As to the starter circuit .. when you turn the key to "Start", what is that circuit actually drawing? If it's not turning over, is it "bricked"? To help answer that question, you need to measure the current draw. I use a Mastek MS2108 for both AC and DC circuits going up to about 7kw of juice for other applications. It will give you the Inrush current (first 100 ms) and both Minimum and Maximum currents .. up to 600 amps. This is a 6,600 count TRMS (True Root Mean Square) meter comparable to the Fluke 375 (MSRP $349.95). Beware .. the MS2108a is not an upgrade .. it's only good for 400 amps .. a 4,000 count meter. Amazon has the MS2108 online for $72 at this writing .. about a fifth the cost of the Fluke. I can tell you .. this meter paid for itself the first five minutes I used it .. albeit in a very high power AC to DC application. It will measure your starter current while you recline in the drivers seat. Also, the DVM features will cover pretty much anything the average homeowner would ever need.

I hope this is helpful .. while I procrastinate on the dreaded brake switch replacement job.

 

Thanks for the advice attaboy, much appreciated,
Sid

 

If you got a little spark, don't be nervous, you have 2 fuses in the trunk as well, sometimes when you get a little spark, it will partially blow one, just replace it.

Also check your engine ground strap and negative cable ground strap and stud, as you could be a victim of that as well.

 

Hello everyone, thank you for your patience, and sorry for the delayed update, it has been a very busy week with bad weather most of the time, but I finally was able to get all the suggestions tried and the following is what happened...

I was walking out of my home and noticed a AAA truck jumping someones car so i thought since this person probably does alot of servicing, that he might have some insight from other people that encountered the same as i have with the Jag, so I went over and waited until he was done with the customer then explained what happened, so he offered to try jump starting the jag, he tried with the portable, but no start, then he tried with the AAA truck, still no start, but I did notice that there seemingly wasn't any clicking under the hood, no starter or relay clicking when attempting to start the car, I did hear somewhat of a light click around the headlights on passenger side, and then the AAA guy noticed another very slight click at an electrical contact point, I'm guessing is a sensor plug, at the very front of the driver side engine valve cover extension type area.

The strange thing is I couldn't seem to find the relay and its location on the passenger side which is where those usually are on american cars, even though I tried to follow the faint click towards the passenger side headlight.

Then I went to the trunk to check the high power fuses located in the black box / splitter that is just in front of the spare tire, with a test light I tested all the connections at the posts and at the wires too, all tested lighting up.

Then I went to try the alarm trick suggested by Aode06 , I shut the trunk then got into the drivers seat, opened the window, set the alarm with the remote, then opened the driver door from the inside using the inside door handle, the alarm went off right away without the usual gradual beeping prior to it going off, it just went off immediately, then i put the key into the ignition and turned it forward, IT DIDN'T SHUT OFF, the alarm just kept on blaring, so I tried to turn it back and forward again, still nothing, so I turned it off with the remote. I repeated that whole process again 3 or 4 more times, but I got the same result every time, the alarm does NOT turn off when I use the key to turn the ignition forward either all the way to the start position, and not if I turn forward only to the system check position either.

I know there may not be a difference, and I didn't get around to trying this, but I realized and wondered later if it would make a difference whether triggering the alarm on by opening the driver door by using the inside or outside door handle would make a difference. The test i did was triggering the alarm by opening the door using the inside driver door handle.

Thank you
Sid

 

Been following this thread with interest and I'll refrain from giving advice as there's folks posting that have more knowledge than me. However attached is the Relay and Fuse box layout as well as the starter electrical diagram for my 03. Maybe this will help you find the relays and wiring you are looking for.

I did duplicate your alarm test with my car.

Sitting inside the car with the keys in my hand, locked the car using the remote with everything closed [trunk, windows, hood]. The inside door handle moved to the locked position, opened the door with the inside door handle and the alarm went off. Put the key in the ignition and turned to position 2 [just before starting, dash lights on], the alarm stopped.

Looks to me like your key transponder is bad from the results in your last post.

One more thing, throw away that test light you are using and get a digital VOM, i use a fully auto one from Radio Shack cost less than $30.

 

That was my thought reading the post also.

 

Check the exciter ring at the ignition switch it may not be reading the key.

 

Hi Gus, how do I check it ?

What does it look like?
How do I access it?
How do I confirm if its reading or not?

Also, a few posts back someone suggested I rub the key on the battery neg post, would that mess up the key code?

The car battery is what went low so the key should be fine.

Thank you,
Sid

 

What usually causes the exciter ring to become defective?

Thanks again,
Sid

 

Hello Jandreu, I appreciate the pdf of the 2003 xk8, it seems to show the same lay out as what I saw in my 99 .

Also made me realize how out of touch I've become, lol, silly me I thought the starter relay was mechanical with lead cables, when in fact its just one of the electronic box relays, I honestly didn't realize these small boxed ones can be used for starters too. If it wasn't for the key not turning off the alarm via the ignition, this box relay discovery would have come in handy because then all I would have had to do is just swap the starter one with another/same one to check if it would have remedied the problem of the starter not turning.

thanks alot, much appreciated,
Sid

 

A new thing that now comes to mind is the fact that it seems these cars usually come with 2 keys of different color logos. I only received one key when I bought this car, so does it matter which key I have?

Does either key usually have the ability to shut the alarm off via the ignition?

I think from what I recall there is a green logoed key and another.

My only key has a gold jaguar head on top of a black background.


Thanks alot,
Sid

 

Anyone know what exactly the "Ignition Positive Relay" are for?

There are 3 showing on the PDF, 2 as R7 (one under the hood, one in the trunk), the third in the driver side fuse box not stated as R7.

Thank you
Sid

 

Hang in there, Sid

Keys with a black background are owner keys; those with a green background are valet keys. I believe this is true for all MYs.

Jandreu's post #72 makes the pivotal point: the evidence seems to be telling us that your key is not recognized. So I think pursuing that issue is a better use of your time right now than tracing through fuses and relays and such.