ENGINE CRANKS BUT WON'T START, Series III
Doug Dwyer
This is a basic "do it yourself" checklist which assumes you have
minimal tools and test equipment and that your Jag which ran well
yesterday won't start this morning. You will need basic hand tools, a
12-volt test light or voltmeter, and a jumper wire with alligator clips.
I believe this info to be accurate for all 4.2 SerIII cars but the very
earliest models have a combination relay instead of the separate pump
relay, main relay, and diode pack.
1) Check for spark. You can buy a spark tester at any parts store which
looks something like a sparkplug with an alligator clamp attached If you
have one, fine. If not, remove a sparkplug wire and insert a screwdriver
into the boot so that it contacts the terminal inside. Hold the
screwdriver by the handle and position it about 1/4" from a metal part
of the engine. Crank the engine over and watch for a spark to jump the
1/4" gap. If you have a spark, skip to Step 6. If no spark, see step 2.
2) Remove the coil wire from the distributor cap, insert screwdriver as
mentioned above, and hold it about 1/4" from a metal part of the engine.
Crank the engine over. If no spark, see step 3. If you DO have spark
here then you have a faulty cap and/or rotor (spark is getting to the
distributor cap but not getting to the sparkplugs). Remove the
distributor cap and peek inside. Look for a burned center terminal,
burned terminals to the plugs, cracks, or carbon tracks between the
terminals. Inspect the rotor contact. If it's bad enough to create a "no
start" you'll see obvious burning and/or disintegration of the contact.
3) If you don't have spark at the coil wire-to-distributor cap, then
check for power getting to the ignition coil. Power here comes directly
from the ignition switch via a white wire. If you have a ballast
resistor, the wire will go there first. If no resistor, this wire will
go directly to the "+" post of the coil. Remove the white wire and,
using the test light, check for 12 volts with the key on. If you have
voltage, see step 4. If no voltage, you have an open circuit. This can
be confirmed by running your jumper wire from the positive battery post
to the coil or ballast. If the motor starts, you have confirmed the open
circuit and must now look for a wiring fault or ignition switch fault.
4) If you have 12 volts at the ballast you must check for voltage coming
out of the ballast. Reattach the white wire. Using your test light,
check the other ballast terminal. If the ballast is good, your test
light will light up but no too brightly--- the ballast has reduced the
voltage as designed. If the ballast is "open" (no continuity) your test
light won't light up at all. If the ballast is OK (or you don't have a
ballast) then, with the key still "on", check for voltage at both coil
posts. If you have a ballast which checks good at both terminals but no
voltage at the "+" coil post, then check for a wiring fault between the
ballast and the coil. If you don't have a ballast you should have
voltage at the "+" coil post if your wiring is OK, as mentioned earlier.
You should have voltage at the coil "-" post as well. If no voltage at
the "-" post, you have a bad coil.
5) If everything checks good so far but you still have no spark then
you've got an amplifier problem or distributor pick-up problem. Testing
of these items is beyond the scope of this checklist (requiring an
ohmmeter) but do check the wiring from the amplifier for breaks.
6) You're here at this step because you've determined that your ignition
system is working. Now we must check for fuel. Use extreme caution here.
Be prepared for some spilled fuel and have rags, a small container, and
fire extinguisher handy. Disconnect fuel supply hose at the fuel rail
(at the rear of later "straight rail" cars and at the bottom of the
early "loop style" rails). Some fuel may spill, have rags and container
handy. A properly operating pump will produce about 34 PSI so, again, be
ready ! Position fuel hose so fuel will flow into the container. (As an
alternative to using a container you can hook up a fuel pressure gauge,
if you have one. The usual method of attaching a fuel pressure gauge is
to leave the supply hose connected to the rail but disconnect the cold
start injector nozzle and use it's nipple on the fuel rail.)
8) Now, locate the fuel pump relay. It is mounted on the firewall right
next to the red diode pack and has white, black, white/purple, and
white/green wires attached. Remove the relay plug-in socket and
determine which terminal cavity corresponds to the white/green wire.
This wire goes right to the fuel pump. Using your jumper wire apply 12
volts to this wire for just a moment (you are bypassing the somewhat
tricky control portion of this circuit). If the fuel pump is operational
you'll get an immediate and powerful surge of fuel through the hose. If
the pump does not operate, either the pump is faulty or you have a
wiring fault between the relay and the pump.
9) If the pump operates with a jumper wire, plug the connector back onto
the relay. The fuel pump circuit is so designed that it will operate
whenever the starter motor is engaged so go ahead and engage the starter
and see if you get fuel. If "yes", see Step 10. If "no", see the "Fuel
Pump Circuit Diagnosis" checklist.
10) Remove the air duct from the front of the Air Flow Meter (AFM).
With the key "on", move the air flap which is inside the housing of the
AFM. This movement closes a switch inside the AFM and powers up the
fuel pump circuit. You should get fuel in your container or a 34 PSI
reading on your gauge. If not, see the "Fuel Pump Circuit Diagnosis"
checklist.
11) If you have fuel pressure and good spark and still the motor won't
start you should check the
fuel injector circuit. The injectors receive voltage from the ballast
pack (right fenderwell, across from the power steering pump). With the
key "on" the two brown/slate wires goind into the ballast pack should
have voltage. If they don't you have a wiring fault between the ballast
pack and the "main relay" (on the firewall, white, black, brown, and
brown/slate wires) or a faulty main relay. The realy can be tested this
way: remove the connector. The terminal in the connector associated
with the black wire should be ground. The white wire terminal should
have "key on" voltage, the brown wire terminal constant battery voltage.
If these are OK but there is no output to the brown/slate wire then the
relay is faulty.
The injectors are grounded by the boot-mounted ECU. The "firing" event
is so fast that is it difficult to check with a test light or voltmeter.
The best test is to buy (inexpensive) a "node light" which plugs into
the injector connector. If the light blinks while cranking the injector
circuit is OK.
If you have spark, fuel, and injector pulse but your engine still does
not fire we'll have to check for the third element of internal
combustion: compression. Perform a compression test, bearing in mind
that for the purposes of diagnosing a "no start" you're primaruly
concerned that compression in the cylinders simply exists. The variance
between cylinders and/or wet vs. dry test results are useful for other
diagnostics but not really required here. If you have extremely low or
zero compression then an internal engine problem must be investigated.
If compression (and spark, fuel, and injector pulse) is good and the
car still won't run, then problems beyond the scope of this checklist
must be diagnosed.