I have a '94 XJS Jaguar that has been having repeated issues starting and has lately been putting out a dramatic plume of grey smoke each time has actually succeeded in starting. Currently, the engine refuses to turnover (or even give the usual “crank”); however, all the electrics in the car - lights, radio etc - seem to work perfectly fine. Attempts to jump the car have proved futile. Previous trips to the repair shop have included battery replacements, battery cable replacements, tightening of this, that and the other thing as well as a transmission cleaning, all to no avail. Would anyone have an idea of what the issue might be? Further, does anyone know of good LA mechanic that specializes in older Jaguar models?
I don’t live in LA, but there must be a good Jaguar mechanic (shop) somewhere in the LA area. Lot’s of Jaguar’s are sold there, so there must be some old ones that need service.
Sounds like there might be an “interlock” that is not switching correctly. Has the ignition switch been checked? There is an interlock in the transmission too, to be sure you are in neutral before power will go to the starter.
You might need an electrical shop with a schematic of the circuits in the car. Dies the car have an “after market” remote starter?
Does it have have any kind of alarm system? Those can disable a starting system. As to the gray smoke, it may just have worn valve guide seals.
When you try to crank the engine with the starter now, do the headlights get dim? That would indicate a weak, or discharged battery. If you’ve tried to crank it quite a lot, it could just be discharged.
Have you checked the Mecanics files link at the top of this page?
I just recently had a nightmare Jaguar in the shop. It was a 86 xj6. Cranks over really nice. Barely runs will not idle and so on. I pulled out a spark plug. It was really really dirty. Also a few vacuum lines were ripped and fuel leaks on the rubber lines going from the fuel rail to the injector. I repair all of these things thinking it would solve the problem. No good. Then I ran into something I have never even noticed before. The six main injectors were fine and not leaking. ( I determined it was getting too much fuel) So I was digging around in my service information and found that this jag had a cold start injector. It was the only one I did not check. So I found it in the intake manifold and pinched off it’s rubber fuel line. And started the car, ran like crap for a moment, then bang it was purring like a kitty once again. Unfortuantely this is a very expensive part. So have a good mechanic look into that sort of problem. After ten or twenty minutes of running no more grey smoke.