Help!!

After setting for some time my Jag won't start. (has supercharger)

Symptoms:

Started twice when I first cranked but ran for just a very brief time.

Cranks and cranks but shows no sign of spark/fuel.

Is there a way to prime a supercharger?

 

start with basics
do you have fuel presh?if so what psi,and have you taken a fuel sample?
if fuel presh is ok ,do you have compression

why would you prime the supercharger??

 

How long has it been sitting? After as little as a month the fuel can being to destabilize. An easy way to check the fuel pump is to have someone turn the car from the off position to the run position while you stand at the back of the car with the trunk open. If you hear a "whine" for a second or two, then the fuel pump is working and on. the whine you hear is the fuel pump turning on.

step two assuming you hear the whine, is to check the spark. If you have no special tools for the job, just pull out a coil pack and a spark plug. put the plug in the coil pack. Next remove the fuse for the fuel pump so you don't start the car with the plug out. Have someone turn it over and watch for spark. Reassemble and head to step 3.

Thirdly, if you have spark and the fuel pump is working, get a can of starter fluid form your local Walmart or autoparts store. open the air cleaner box. Spray a liberal amount of starter fluid into the intake tube. Hop into the car and try to start it.

If she starts, your problem is a fuel issue that lies between the fuel pump and the cylinders. So the gas may have gone bad or the injectors are gummed up (or other injector problem) or the fuel filter is clogged. you will see a nipple on the fuel rail on the passanger side. it is a Schroeder valve (like the one for your car tires) pop the cap off grap a small phillips head and poke it. If fuel flows out of it you have fuel pressure. if you have a fuel pressure gauge this is where you would hook it up and check the pressure to make sure the egine is getting enough fuel. For now if we see a good flow we will assume that it's getting adequit fuel. In theory this would isolate the injectors or bad gas. Work from the cheapest part. Ie a tank of fuel isnt going to break the bank, and a fuel filter should be replaced occasionally anyway and is a good place to start. so drain and refill the tank, turn the car over a bit and make sure to clean out the lines. if she still doesnt start head to step four.

The fourth thing to check would be the timing and compression (you will need to buy a compression tester for this. (sears 65 bucks for the whole kit) but given your post I'm guessing the first 3 steps should lead you to your answer. -Shaun

Should you go this route however you pull the fuse for fuel and spark, screw the threaded end of the compression tester into the spark plug hole (remove the spark plug first obviously) turn it over 5 good turns or so and check the gauge. if it's between 135-160 you have great compression. (provided that it's holding the air and not leaking) on a side note, if your car has lower compression say like 110, don't worry about it, as long as all the other cylinders are within 10 percent or so it isn't such a big deal. if you have low compression squirt a bit of oil into the cylinder and retest, if the compression number skyrockets back up then you have some cylinder wear or aging piston rings. This is called blow by and you will probably find oil in your intake tube as a result. If however you find that the pressure doesn't go up with a lil squirt of oil, more than likely you have bad valve stem seals. if you find no compression in one cylinder it's probably bent valves or less likely catastrophic piston or ring failure. Though it is possible to have a ba head gasket show bad compression on one cylinder generally you will find that two adjacent cylinders have bad compression in th eevent of a head gasket failure. More over head gasket failure will also be evident by overheating (within minutes usually) and oil that looks like chocholate milk. Additionally you may find oil in the coolant resevoir or a skim layer of oil floating in the radiator.