Hi all, I just bought a 1999 XJ8 project car and gave it the once over. The battery was completely dead and the plugs were all sludgy. I put in a new Battery and changed the plugs. The car sat for quite a while before I purchased it. I have had no luck in getting the car started. I checked the fuel pressure at the fuel rail when I turn the key and I get over 40psi which in my mind means the fuel pump is working. When I had the plugs out a checked the 1st few for spark and the coil overs were working. If I spray starting fluid while cranking down the intake, she fires and then dies which would indicate to me a fuel issue.

I am wondering what else I can try mechanically to test and eliminate. I have moved relays and check the fuel injection and fuel fuses. Can the gas go bad in a few months and cause the car not to start? When I pulled the plugs I did not see a bunch of wet plugs.

Is there a code reader out there able to tell me if the fuel injectors are firing?

I was going to change the filter and drain the gas tank but as I mentioned I did not see wet plugs which if the gas was not good should have coated the plugs.

Please let me know your thoughts. As mentioned I have good pressure at the Shrader valve.

 

My Daughter's Jetta is from Snohomish- small world.

When it cranks, does it crank slow like normal, or kind of fast? Might be cylinder wash, especially if it has sat for awhile.

 

I had the same diagnosis problem with a Ford engine. Everything seemed to be as it should be but no fuel out of the injectors. Mine had set up a little more than you indicate but not one was actually injecting. An $80 professional off the car cleaning solved the problem.

Because I only had a two wire permanent B+ and a PCM controlled pulsing ground to operate the injectors it was obvious that it was an injector problem and not an electrical issue. I have no idea how to test the Jaguar injectors on the car.

. . . and we were through Everett in June.

 

Well I did some more testing last night and now I have no fuel pressure at the Shrader Valve which would then make it a fuel pump issue. I will have to verify this most likely at the fuel filter and power to the pump. I am no hearing anything in the trunk when I turn the key other than the relay clicking.

 

Hi Greenlee63,

The previous owner of the XJ8 I bought had let this car sit for 2 months in her garage during the winter of 2011. Ended up with a dead battery which she had the Jag dealer come out and replace, it still would not start so it was towed to the Jag dealership where they diagnosed that the fuel pump had died, and replaced it.

 

There have been many reports of fuel pumps failing after extended storage.

 

Well I plan on testing the circuits first and then tackle the nasty job of pulling the tank. I will most likely pull fuel filter first just to make sure but I don't hear the pump kicking on when the key is turned anyway.