Ok. Help please. I have a 1998 Vandenplas 4.0 V8. I have had a rear seal problem and due to this was not driving much at all. I parked the car and it was sitting for some time. I would start it from time to time and then I started it (severe freezing weather). The tach went to about 2K RPM and then died. No real noise, just died. Then crank crank. Nothing. I noted that the gas was low if not out. Thought it was frozen so let sit. Added dry gas and some gas and let it sit. weekly or so would go out and try to start it and it would stumble and die and then crank. Not even trying to start after initial stumble. Today I tried again but with the hood open. I was trying to listen for noise while cranking. I am worried about the timing chain and I noted a whine from the throttle body with the key on. When hood blew closed could not hear the sound due to insulation. Hard to hear anything in the cabin (like the fuel pump, etc). Any way that's all I've got right now. Any ideas. Gotta get it running to get the seal taken care of but worried about timing chain and valves, etc and not sure it is worth major work. 119500 miles and was VERY well maintained at Southampton Jag in NY. I have read about the throttle body whine. I now know that is normal. The throttle body was redone by dealer years ago. Will try for the fuel pump check but I think I heard it in the car. Will check the trunk.

 

Ok got in the trunk and asked the wife to turn the key. (sounds wrong) The CD player makes it really difficult. I hear a click from the fuel tank but no whine like I would expect from a fuel pump. Any I idea if the fuel pump would be loud enough to hear over the CD player. Seems like it should be.

 

No idea, but you could remove the CD cartridge, that should quite the CD changer.

Throttle body definitely whines and it is rather loud if the hood is open, you can also hear the butterfly clicking closed when you release the throttle while driving slow with windows down.

 

Thanks, unplugged the cd player and hear relays clicking in the truck but no fuel pump. Runs les than a second and then will not refire. Will look for other threads on fuel pump and aldata.

 

Are you removing the carpet finish piece that hides the fuel tank?

Steps I would take to trouble shoot a possible fuel issue (the safe way).

Rent/buy fuel pressure gauge (autozone will rent you one for free).
Attach to fuel rail schrader valve.

Try starting.... low pressure? (under 30psi)... try replacing fuel filter.

No fuel pressure? Then
Check the fuel pump fuse (in the trunk in front of the battery). Swap a same or higher rated fuse in.
Swap the fuel pump relays around. Maybe you have a bad one. (also in trunk fuse block)

Try starting.... No start/pressure?
Ensure properly rated fuel pump fuse is in place.
Disconnect CD changer.
Remove carpet trim hiding fuel tank.

Turn ignition key to "on"... and leave it on.
Remove negative terminal from battery.

Sit in trunk with your ear near the metal fuel tank. Connect the negative battery terminal (key is still "on" right?). You should hear the whine of the pump in the tank. Disconnect then reconnect again... hear it yet? Try a couple of times of disconnecting/reconnecting the battery.

If still no pressure and no whine from the pump, sad to say it is probably a bad pump. Not an unusual problem at all. I just went through the pain of replacing it myself and there are many detailed threads on how to do it and troubleshoot the problem here in the forums.

Good luck!

 

As Ron said, try a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail. If you're not sure where the valve is, you need to pull the passenger side engine cover (just the cosmetic plastic), and the valve is under there. A quick and dirty way to check if there's any pressure there is to just do a quick tap of the valve stem core to see if gas squirts (do at your own risk... make sure you're shielded, and I wouldn't do it with the car running).

I said that so I could say this. If you have fuel pressure, it seems to me that your problem might be cylinder wash. Here's a recent thread on the subject:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/j...-3-days-52404/

Hope you figure it out soon.

 

Well after sitting in the trunk (to my neighbors amusement) and disconnecting the CD player I found figured out the fuel pump was not working. Checked the relays (by changing them around) and still nothing. Got the Airtech (sp?) fuel pump for around $100.00 and filter for around $20.00 and got back in the trunk with my dad. We rocked the tank and pulled the pump in an afternoon and after putting it back together the it started up instantly. As in better than it had since I bought it 2 years ago. The thing that changed my mind over the timing chain was that it would run for about a second on first crank and then die as if running out of gas. I can not thank you guys enough for your help and the thread with the pictures of the pump change. You have to be real careful not to break the nipples off the bottom of the tank though the floor. This was most challenging thing of the job.

Now to tackle the diff leak...... again. Need to check the breather and make sure the seal seated in all the way but I think I am going to have to pull the seal again and replace it. Anyone else have trouble with leaks after changing the diff seal. No noise thank God.