This will be a little long but I will try and make it as short as possible.

On 2/21/11 I drove my 2000 xj8L to work, started up fine, 8 mile trip. I then drove it another 15 miles after that as I had to go pick up something at a distributor. I then drove another 10 miles to my house to make a quick pickup of my cell phone charger. When I went back to start the car it would all of a sudden not start! Crank crank crank no start!

Now the fun begins. The first thing we did was examine the spark plugs. The spark plug wells had oil in a couple of them. Also, we realised these were most likely the factory plugs(car has 115,000 miles) as they looked like crap and were the brand the car shipped with. So we replaced the plugs. Same issue, crank crank crank no start.

Next I rented a computer scanner from o'reillys but it pulled no codes. I then tried my buddy's $50 scanner and it pulled p1638(though I'm not 100% what this is or if it would cause a no start).

The next step was we removed the plugs and squirted oil into the cylinders. Gas pedal to floor, she almost started then died! Tried for about 30 minutes. Next I stupidly(having read something somewhere to try this) replaced the MAF sensor but this had no effect.

At this point battery was dead, recharged now. Cleaned throttle body. Pulled spark plugs again, put more oil this time. Car nearly started, revved up to about 2000 RPMs and as soon as I let off the starter it died. Continued to try starting, never got as close as it did at 2000 RPMs but still would almost start a couple of times and die right away as soon as I let off the starter.

We started thinking it was possibly a fuel issue and so we checked the fuel pressure, 40 PSI from schrader valve so I believe the fuel pump and filter are good gauging from that?

I'm not sure what other step to take past this point. Should I try the oil in spark plug wells again? Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated before I'm not longer part of the Jaguar family.

 

I forgot to put my vehicles history. 115,000 miles, I've owned since 99k, had no issues. The only thing close to an issue is the restricted performance light came on for about 5 minutes while driving a week before she broke down.

 

Make sure that the battery voltage never drops below 11.0v during cranking. Below that the starter will spin but the electronics will not work reliability.

All this and no codes?

After the battery, gotta be one of two things; compression or fuel. Everything else would give you a wink from the CEL.

While 40 psi is a little on the low side, can you hear the pump running for 2-4 seconds when you turn the key to position 2 (run)?

Try a compression test.

Good luck!

 

it sounds like its working and appears to be. We hooked up the fuel tester to the valve and pulled 10 psi, cranked car and shot to 40.

As for the compression test, would the oil in the spark plug wells not resolve and compression issue it had by rebuilding any lost compression? Thank you.

 

One would hope but a compression test would be a positive . . . or negative . . . answer to the question . . . inquiring minds want to know.

 

k, will do the compression test in the morning when there is light again.

 

Keep in mind that the fuel is cut off when you hold the gas pedal to the floor. As the car is starting let up on the gas pedal a little to allow fuel to enter the cylinders this will be feeding fuel to the engine to allow it to start. As it is trying to start feed the fuel to keep it going. Once you get it started you need to use a fuel additive to clean the injectors for a better fuel presentation that causes the cylinder washing. Along with that add Restore oil additive to the oil to help with the compression.

 

feartheclown: Gus is dead on with the throttle position. Be sure to bring it back to about half throttle. Work in 30 second crank, and 5 minute cool down cycles to allow time for the starter to cool off. You don't want to add a starter to your list of problems. Also, and this is a long shot, your filter may be clogged. If it's nearly clogged, you may be able to build up initial pressure to fire, but once the engine wants to run, it won't allow enough fuel through to run. Just a thought. I had same problem a year ago, and Gus's among others advice got me going...Good Luck

 

are there any handy fuel filter replacement guides?

 

feartheclown: It's not a bad job. Filter can be got almost anywhere. The catch though, is the 2 o'rings needed, one each side. I had to go to the dealer to get. I don't recall wrench sizes(2 are needed, one for fuel line fitting/one for filter), one was 5/8 equivalent if I recall correctly, designed to be metric though, and a stubby wrench helps the inboard fitting go faster. Otherwise, slow getting out. Filter is located behind left rear wheel up above axle near fuel tank. Be sure to relieve any pressure at the schrader valve.

Update: Found an earlier post of mine (I need to keep better notes)....wrench sizes 20 & 16mm or 13/16 & 5/8. 13/16 is a little sloppy though. Good luck!

 

Progress! I'm not sure which it was that has helped get the car closer to running but we changed out the fuel filter(the one in it looked bad and said 'made in uk' is that the stock filter?) and also did the oil trick again. The car now starts with pedal to floor! However, it sounds horrible, if I don't keep pumping gas it will not idle and die. Also, there is a loud tick tick tick tick tick, is this the car misfiring over and over or is it the timing chain?

I've started it and run it for about 10 minutes total time and it still dies over and over. Thanks again!

 

oh and this may be part of the dieing issue I'm not sure. The hose in the air intake that goes out of the big part with the accordian elbow directly into the engine that is right next to the MAF sensor broke apart. We haven't fixed it yet because I want her running before I put any more money into this cat.

 

I taped up the hose I previously stated was broken. I also went back and double checked everything was put back together correctly and attempted to start with the same issue, engine stall as soon as letting up on gas.

I pulled some codes also, here they are:

P0300 0301 0302 0303 0304 0305 0306 0307 0309

1313, 0102, 0112, 0122, 0222, 0560, 0101, 1316, 1111

All of those seem to either be related to misfiring or the MAF. I'm assuming the misfire is due to the oil we injected in the spark plug wells, however the MAF is brand new, I just replaced it. Thank you for any more insight, we've made a ton of progress so I hope you guys can help me get this beast on the road.

 

If there is any chance your timing chain tensioners have broken (and the ic, tick says there is!), I would take the valve covers off and make sure I don't have a timing problem.

 

I was mistaken, the sound was just misfiring.

Something interesting to note: When I taped up that hose next to the MAF that goes into the engine the car would not start and run at all so I took it completely off and it once again started and would stall out if not given gas. I looked at my throttle body and its filthy again so I cleaned it up and am about to give it another whirl. If it doesn't work then its time for a tow, need this thing running by friday.

 

Towing her off :*( . Start my new job monday so I can't waste any more time on this thing! I definitely appreciate all the help from you guys, and I will post back what the issue was once she's fixed.

 

Final diagnosis:

I was wrong, timing chain broke, bent 2 valves. $3000! WTF should I do?

 

Well, you say you have no time to fix it yourself, so you might be in the unfortunate situation to determine whether the car is worth more than the $4000 difference between selling it as is or fixing it. My reasoning- The car will sell for about $1000. as is. Do that, have $1000. cash and no car. Fix it, you are minus the $3000 but have a car. So the fix or dump desision is based on your estimation of the value of the fixed car. If you think it will be worth more $4001, fix it.
BTW $3000 seems a little steep for repair. If you have not bolixed up the piston, then repair parts including all new chain tensioners, gaskets, valves and so on is about $750. Add the tools for $250. Then, add about 25 hours of your time if you work fast. So you've got some decisions to make.
As I postulated in another thread (and was accused of negativity)these cars are stylish, fun to drive and impressive to the unwashed masses, but are potentially expensive to keep running if you do not do the work yourself, especially if you need to depend on them for transportation.

 

Apologies, it seems the forum could not help you prevent the timing chain failure in time. You are not the first, and you surely will not be the last to purchase a jaguar v8 4.0 w/o knowledge of the weak tensioners. $3000 may not seem like much if you consider the alternatives, which are sadly, very few.

 

feartheclown: I feel bad for you. Tough call. If you've got the cash, I'd fix it. It should blue book for more than the 4k that sparkenzap reasons after repairs. Also, this is probably the single biggest failure costwise you could have, short of major engine failure, or tranny problem. It's your money though. Hang in there and sleep on it for a day or two. Best wishes.