My Jaguar had been sitting for a long time and the battery was dead. I replaced the battery and it turns over but wont start. I pumped it a few times and still no go. But, I could smell gas. Seems that it is not getting spark. Is there a computer reset needed ?

 

Jag4dave, when you are attempting to start the car, look at the center console. There is a red light next to the coin holder. Is this light on? If yes, then you have a problem with the security system of the car. It may be possible that the car lost the programming for your key and while it will allow the car to roll the engine, it is disabling the spark plugs, preventing the engine from starting.

The other thing that I would try is get into the driver's seat and attempt to start the car. Let it crank for about 5 seconds or so. Now, roll the key back to off. Depress the gas pedal as far as it will go and with the pedal still fully depressed, attempt to start the car. After a few seconds, did the car attempt to start (ie, you could hear it trying to run, but may or may not have reached idle)? If yes, then you may have a bad fuel injector and it is causing the car to flood out. I know what you are thinking, depressing the gas pedal fully is going to cause my motor to flood. Quite the opposite. When the computer senses the gas pedal fully depressed when cranking the engine, the computer turns off the fuel injectors and opens the throttlebody fully to allow the engine to clear itself. As you go through the point of getting the right mix of gas and air, the car will attempt to start. At this point, you can ease off the gas pedal and it will start admitting fuel to the engine and you can bring it to idle.

It may be possible that your spark plugs are rusted and they will need to be cleaned before you can get a good spark. I would also look in the engine bay for signs of any nests. For some reason, small critters like all the wiring under the hood of an X-Type and will crew the crap out of it, causing who knows what problems.

The one last thing that you may want to look into. Since you are in the US (Nevada from what I can tell), if you look behind the passenger side headlight, on the engine block, you will see where a bunch of black wires come together. Remove the bolt holding them in place and using some fine sand paper or a wire brush, clean up those terminals and then put them back down like you found them (if you don't recall, largest gauge wire on the bottom (nearest the block) and the smaller wires higher up. See if that helps. Those black wires are the grounds for the coils and it is possible that if you get a high resistance on those contacts, it will cause the coils to not develop a strong enough spark to let the engine run.

If you get really needy, you can remove the brake booster line at the top of the intake (hold down the black plastic ring as you lift the connector out of the ring). Then you can spray some starter fluid into the intake and then re-install the booster hose. You can then attempt to start the car normally. if the car wants to start now, then you have a fuel issue. If this is the case, you can try rolling the key to the RUN position (NOT!!!! START), wait a few seconds and then finally roll the key to the START position. If the fuel pump is having a problem getting the initial pressure build up on the fuel system, when you start the car, it will not have sufficient pressure to atomize the fuel. This will result in a no-start condition. If this fixes your issue initially, stop the car, let it sit over night and then see if you can start it normally the following morning. If you still have issues, then your fuel pump may be the issue.

 

Sorry for not replying right away, I was a little under the weather. Thank you for your concise response, without being insulting. As I have reviewed several forums and found some of them to be an arena for individual just to chat, without providing any value. So, thanks again. Now to the matter at hand. I reviewed your response several times to ensure I understood your intent. I performed your first step and Yes the red light does light up. I assumed I did not need to go any further. But, being the person that I am, I tried a few of your easier steps. I tried the "Pedal to the floor" and "the key to "ON"" both to no avail. Now back to assuming. So, is it time to call the dealer and make arrangements to have the vehicle towed to them and re-sync the system ?

 

Jag4Dave, before you just fall on the sword and bite the dealership cost, call up a few locksmiths and ask them if they have the ability to program a key for a Jaguar. Not all will be able to do this. But, that may be a cheaper alternative. Otherwise, you are looking at a trip to the dealership.

 

Okay and thanks. I will try that.

 

How long was the car sitting before you installed the new battery and tried starting it?

 

You can reprogram both the key fob and the RFID chip in the key to the security system yourself, I did this some time ago without any special equipment. There are instructions out there and you will need to do a search to find out what you need to do as I didn't keep hard copies once I did the job. Lots of Jags and Fords of this era are similar so you may need to try different methods.