Starter fluid didn't work. I think it evaps quickly lol

 

Checked coaxial cable from ignition amp to pin 18 for cont. All ok.

 

Still not start but I haven't tried as got busy.

I did put new connectors on wires that seemed a little loose.

Also found a 2.5a draw from the battery, which turned out to be the radio antenna. So pulled that fuse and no more draw (tested 30ma now). I'll sort that antenna out at a later date.

tomorrow I'm gonna test the injectors with a noid light (go buy a set or rent one) to see what's happening but from all other testing they are working properly.

Also im going to add another ground strap from engine block to frame. Won't hurt right. I've cleaned most ground straps I could find. I know there's more but she was running before I lifted the hood and touched things with all those bad ground.

I have one more week of vacation time before i get back to work and start getting ready for my move so hopefully i get it running.

Really frustrated at this point and theres no one around that knows these cars well enough to help on hand.

 

Hang in there. You are getting close. On these cars you have to methodically go through everything. You’ll find a problem fix it and then the next problem pops up. Definitely use a noid light. You have to see if the injectors are pulsing. I didn’t read this whole thread but have you pulled the injectors to see if they are spraying? The ground strap was my suggestion over on face book. It solved most of my issues after I questioned my sanity fixing everything on the car leading up to that point. You can add as many extras as you want and it won’t hurt anything.
Continuity for coax is important but not as important as a pulse. I had to buy a cheap oscilloscope off Amazon to test that the ecu was getting the pulse from the ignition amp. It was, intermittent. Bad ground.

 

Rescue
I am not clear whether you have definitively ascertained if:

1. there is a spark, and
2. the injectors are firing.

Assuming you are Lucas ignition: ask Madame to turn the key while you hold the King lead from the coil to the dizzy near a bit of engine and see if you have a stream of scary fat blue sparks.
Noid light is good, but why not remove the front two injectors on A and B banks, place each into a small jamjar and ask Madame to repeat the key turning. This should be the first step, IMO.
Then you will know, for sure, what to look at in more detail.

 

Today's update.

Still no start

Added an extra ground, removed the codensor thing from the ignition amp, and also tested with NOID light for injector pulse.

Still nothing.

i have had my battery on a charger when not trying to start it and even though it reads 13v on my multimeter when I turn on the ignition the Gauge reads low (say 10v just above the red) could this indicate an issue with the battery itself?

It's only 3 years old. Maybe it's not putting out enough cranking amps?

 

What is the voltage while cranking? I won't trust the gauge, put a multimeter on the battery terminals and have someone else turn it over. I had this problem last fall. A fresh battery fixed it. I'd tried to start it too many times without letting it run long enough on the times it did start. It takes a lot of power to turn over this engine. If you have a trickle charger, try leaving it on that for a few days to a week. The work better than the jump pack style. Slow and gentle changing is better for the battery.

 

i found my reciept for the battery so taking it in tomorrow for a fresh one. Or maybe ill upgrade to a yellow top. Well see.

My charger does have a repair option on it which is what I'm going to use tonight. The battery by itself the voltage is ok. but if i cam take it in and get a free replacement why not.

 

Be very cautious with 'repair' options on battery chargers - these are not suitable for gel type low or zero maintenance batteries, I'd be reluctant to use on an AGM too so you need to be sure what kind you have - repair is suitable only for lead / acid - you'll know pretty quickly since the battery will get hot, may even swell, if it does so it is dead.

I have a couple of spare's laying around from my battery vampires (the XF has a voltage habit as did my A8) so I kept spares - when it comes to waking up the V12 in mine one with 110ah and 900cca will be jumpered into the circuit temporarily instead of the wimpy 60ah recommended for the XJS.

Have you seen no signs of life at all ? - as somebody suggested have you confirmed the plug leads are in the correct places - I'm sure you said plugs were wet so is this true for bank A and B

 

So I'm looking at my battery I have and it's a size 36. 650cca and 800ca.

I think its to small. So I'm going to return it tomorrow as still in the 3 year warranty. I'm going to grab a red top size 34 which is 800cca and 1000ca.

 

So put in new battery. Definitely cranks better now but still no start.

Pulled 6B plug and took a pic.

This is a new plug and a week of attempting to start

 

I'd take those Platinum Iridium or whatever plugs and throw them in the trash. I have had several instances of misfire, won't run above a certain Rpm, hard starting etc. with motorcycles, cars, trucks, even lawn equipment, especially the older stuff, that didn't come with them. As well as some newer vehicles. Maybe it's just my luck, but it has happened often enough to have made me realize there is something to it. If I get a vehicle, and find it has Platinum / Iridium plugs they are the first thing to go. Take it for what it's worth. Just my thoughts.

Jack

 

Jack, what do you recommend instead?
(';')

 

What plugs do you use?

 

NGK BP6EF - pay attention to the gaps.

 

Plugs i have. All are gapped correctly


​​​​​​​

 

That plug in your first image is fouled, wouldn't foul like that if you didn't have fuel and at least 'some' combustion, I don't recall my plugs looking like that they were more traditional electrode wise, not convinced that is a BP6 on the Rockauto page that is TR5GP - wrong plug entirely and too hot (the 5) .

BP6EF

You could go cooler and run a BR7EFS too.

You sure any air is getting in ? Do you have the old plugs handy to clean up and try ?

 

No old plugs. These are brand new. Didnt look like that last week when i went down this rabbit hole. Seems to be getting worse as i keep trying things and attempting starting.

I did order a new ignition amp module which will be here tomorrow just to eliminate that possibility as last i checked i was getting spark but it did seem weak.

Hard to test stuff by yourself as i need to have someone crank the engine while i watch for stuff.

 

100% correct use BR7 EFS.

 

There is a trick to doing this by jumping the starter relay under the bonnet - or you can get a remote trigger such as the Sealey VS205