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Hi, I just bought a 1995 4.0 XJ6 and it's making an awful sound right after the engine starts. It's a high pitch screech which sounds like the starter motor being overly stressed. Before I get a new starter motor fitted, any advise as to whether that is indeed likely to be the issue or it's something else that anyone has experienced would be very much appreciated. Audio recording attached - it actually sounds not too bad on the recording but is quite nasty in real life!
Thanks very much!
Remove one rubber belt at a time on the front end .
Noting you will not have water pump or alternator for this short test .
Motorcarman ( Bob ) or Aholbro1 had a quick and easy test of the harmonic balancer by marking the driveshaft pulley sections with a stripe of paint and seeing that they still line up after stopping the engine .
Welcome to the Jaguar Forums! It's great to have you with us.
I listened to your recording twice, and at least on my computer sound system, it doesn't sound like a belt or harmonic damper problem. It sounds more like the starter gear hanging up on the flex plate ring gear instead of retracting cleanly back into the starter housing. You might be able to confirm this with an inexpensive mechanic's stethoscope with its probe held on the bellhousing near the flex plate while a helper cranks the engine.
Also, please visit the New Member Area - Intro a MUST and post a required introduction so others can learn something about you and your Jaguar and so we can give you a proper welcome.
Hi Don, just posted in the New Members area, thanks for the prompt and for the fast reply.
Stethoscope incoming from Amazon - if it is indeed what you suggest, would that necessitate a replacement starter motor or are the starter gear or flex plate ring individually replaceable? I'm not very knowledgeable, as you can tell, but willing to do my research - but any further advice very much appreciated!
...if it is indeed what you suggest, would that necessitate a replacement starter motor or are the starter gear or flex plate ring individually replaceable?
Hi moohead,
If you determine the starter is the source of your noise, you can usually solve the problem just by replacing the starter motor/solenoid, which come as a unit:
The flex plate or drive plate is what cars with automatic transmissions have instead of a flywheel, and the ring gear is around the circumference of the plate:
You can find parts diagrams like these at jaguarclassicparts.com, the parts service of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage trust.
I don't know what the current options are for replacement starters, but the original ones were typically made by Bosch.
Replacing the starter is not much fun due to difficult access, and typically you need to support the engine, disconnect the transmission/rear engine mount, and lower the transmission enough to reach one of the starter bolts.
I tend to agree with Don. Not a typical damper sound, although I've heard some that sounded quasi-similar. The key is, if your damper were involved, that sound would repeat occasionally until the engine has warmed up, independent of starter engagement.
I will be removing may starter today as it is lowering the voltage too low to correctly power the ECU . Below are 2 references on how to do this before I remove mine if this helps :
While you have the starter out you might want to overhaul the starter and below is a video . I'll have to see if the model application works out on a X300 .
Thank you all for the advice, very much appreciated. I'm going to investigate this weekend and if it is indeed the starter I'll see whether replacing it is something I can do myself... I'd love to try but it sounds like it might be beyond my capability and resources (i.e. if supporting the engine is necessary that's definitely not for me!) If that's the case I'll get it done by my local garage who are generally very reasonably priced. I'll report back on whether it fixes the problem!
If you look down from the top engine side you will see the bolt head on the left side and on the right side you will see the tail end treads of the bolt with the head on the transmission side .
Without doing it yet looks like the lowering of the transmission to get to the top bolt would be the way to go . If you had access to wooden blocks to place under the front of the car while removing the jack to place under the transmission . The car is very heavy and may over capacity the jack so you would have to jack it one side at a time . Remember to place a wooden block under the transmission pan to spread the load and not puncture the pan with the jack seat . The transmission just sits on the center seat of the cross member . Put some spray penetrate oil on the side 4 corner bolts days beforehand as they may be stuck . There was something about the exhaust pipe being in the way but maybe as much as you lower the transmission it may not be an issue .
Wanna Race ?
I'll use a turkey roasting tray from the dollar store and some gas for the heavy inside washout .
The starter motor brushes may be found at this source and maybe at the auto parts store but they'll have to order them in anyway .
Transmission mount , T30 torque bit a little loose , I'll need to find my T35
2 bell housing bolts : 13 mm . The one on the right side is way up in there through the right side of the transmission tunnel and you'll feel some O2 sensor wires in the area if loose , The one on the left also from the bottom with the hex head pointing fwd .
With a 3/8 inch drive ratchet I put a 7/8 inch closed boxed in wrench on the ratchet for more leverage . Falling hazard so be careful .
There was mention of removing the oil filter so the starter can maneuver out the fwd bottom side . Assuming it's full of oil so drain pan needed during removal of the oil filter from the top side .
Oil dip stick : 8 mm from the bottom , used a wire to twist around the very top tube flair and popped tube out of engine block .
Ground strap : 10 mm on the body attach point , don't forget to clean up the car side mating surface and protect .
Starter solenoid connector : remove the starter solenoid single wire connector next to the rear O2 sensors connectors . Remove from mounting bracket by slightly pulling engagement tab out slightly or the tab will break . This bracket should be removed or you'll have to drag it out and in during starter removal through the bottom .
The only thing left to remove is the upper aft flange bolt
Easy job so far
Editing in the morning
Last edited by Lady Penelope; 05-23-2018 at 05:00 PM.
Ordered solenoid and brush assembly early Friday , so still awaiting parts .
I have the only flying Jaguar on the whole block , really .
I would assume they have a overnight shipment option but did not look for it .
In reality you can leave that top and bottom bolt in place as there is room in the area to just slide the armature out with the brushes and planetary gears in your hand to overhaul . The solenoid mounting bolts tails are fwd facing and mine frozen so completer unit removal required , no shortcut there .
There is a Youtube video on the Bosch 110 series starter overhaul I posted on a different topic .
Didn't look at the adapter yet as mine makes a uncomfortable noise .
The key to that top bolt removal is to use twine through the universal joint just before the final socket and carpet taping the extensions together . Take that twine through the intake manifold last pipe so you have a more fwd inline pull to get your socket on there . You can use a piece of carpet tape on the windshield to hold your socket on the bolt or have heavy lumber on the ground for the other end of your extensions . Took me about 180 degrees of rotation after solid engagement to break it loose .
Last edited by Lady Penelope; 06-06-2018 at 05:58 AM.
What I found on my original starter is that the nose of the starter was missing the bushing on the final gear into the engine . This would account for the odd sound during rotation as the gear meshing contacts were moved apart from each other and not making full meshing surface contact . This is a different sound then a not fully engaging gear pushing into the side of the ring gear as a screech commonly heard in other examples .
Last edited by Lady Penelope; 06-11-2018 at 09:16 PM.
05-19-2018, 11:34 AM
Screeching after starting - 95 XJ6 4.0 Sovereign
