www.jec.org.uk

every now and then my car fails to start. several fault lights come up on the dash the rev counter and temp gauge needles flicker when i turn the key but nothing else then i leave the car for awhile sometimes several hours and it starts o.k. my battery seems good i feel that it may be a faulty relay or fuse ? there was a similer problem with another member but no remedy as yet can anyone help as its most annoying........regards alan

Alan i had a similar problem and it didnt seem like the battery was duff but i had it checked on a hand held meter.
When a car elecrician tested it he used the old drop test....with the poker type rods and a gauge in the middle.....the battery had dead cell or cells in it........a new one did the job.

had my battery tested with a drop meter and no problems also replaced the battery but the problems continue.cant help thinking that its something quite simple and i have not found it yet.any help would be welcome

If your battery has been proved to be sound I would drop and e-mail to David Marks on this one.
Do not forget to quote your membership number.

I had a annoying start non start problem on my XJ40 i know its a different car but it did prove awkward to find, It may not be related but it did turn out to the crakshaft end float bit......not too bad a job to be done and about £35 for the part........i never had any problem after that.
See if it gets progressivly worse? or have the end float checked and the seat is connecting OK.......Joe

I have a similar problem on my 1998 3.2 XJ8. I turn the ignition key and simply get a clicking noise. A similar problem on a friends Daihatsu 4 track diesel, was advised to rock the car sideways which seems to free something and the engine starts. Any ideas?

One popular thing used to be dirt and dust from the clutch plate on the gearing not throwing the starter in enough.
Another could once again be the battery, looks like starter motor out and a wash in parafin then a bit of high melting point grease on the shaft,
but those are old remedies, a bit like me, an old remedy...

called into grange motors and had them test my battery with their own testing meter which proved my battery to be faulty although it seemed fine to me having tested same on my snap on tester and having my local auto spares shop test with their drop tester.so whilst there i purchased a factory part battery with jec discount and will now wait and see if problem persists.hopefully you will not hear from me again concerning this problem...............regards alan

Alan many thanks for the information, it shows that even the basic suggestions in the BB have some foundation.......but this battery problem is more common than you think........the correct diagnosis is also very important as a battery is not a cheap piece of kit.......Joe

just thought i would let you know that after fitting my new jaguar battery and all seemed well i went out today to start the car and quess what same old problem.not sure which way to go now. open to suggestions, will have the crank senser checked as that seems a possibility...............help

I too had the battery checked at Halfords. It failed but hey it was the original so 10 years service not bad. Fitted replacement 019 battery £104 including fitting. Then found I'd left my wallet at home. I obviously have an honest face and I was asked to come back later and pay. I didn't of course....
Oh ok, yes I did, and full marks to Halfords for customer service.
Starting ok although still have the odd, turn the key and starter doesn't engage.

there is one more possibility for this intermittent problem....

there is a known problem with the transponder circuit for the immobiliser ,

this manifests its self by intermitant ' no start ' when the key is inserted, turned and nothing happens, this is because the imobilise has cut in and stoped the engine from cranking

the cause of this is a broken ( or rubbing ) aerial lead on the transponder unit in the steering column surround,

this unit picks up the signal from your key , there is a small chip in the key moulding, it is under a slightly moulded circle on the end of the key.

this signal may not be seen by the aerial because it is broken or shorted out at the time of starting, if you try again it usually starts

i have this problem, and have had to turn the key up to four times in the past before the car starts

as yet i have not repaired it ( its on the list ), but i'm told its a simple task of simply replacing the short aerial into the immobiliser box and making sure it doesnt rub on any moving parts ( like it is at the moment )

i hope this makes sense ,

BB

when i took the car into grange motors with this problem they had the car for well over a week
reason being that it would always start and they could only attempt to fix the problem when it refused to start. eventully when it did refuse to start they thought they found the problem in the transponder unit where the key enters the lock on the steering wheel.
so they replaced the unit and all was well until a few days later when problem resumed.but i will check to see if they changed the complete unit including said ariel.although i think that if the lead was rubbing and that made it intermittent why does it restart without me turning the wheel ??. thanks for your reply i have read some of your other replys and you know what your talking about hopefully its a problem that will get sorted soon............regards alan