The 'E' Type Forum

Starting my v12 after a couple or more day's sitting on the drive is getting more and more difficult, the drive is sloped and i usually park with the divers door on the low side, when starting after a couple of days, its as though I've no fuel, after cranking for ages with choke on, the only way to start is, choke off, full throttle and crank continually, one by one the cylinders start to fire, eventually firing on all 12, accompanied by smoke!!!
I'm going to park with the passenger side low today, to see if maybe the fuel pump is having trouble pulling fuel when on a slope ??? any thoughts??

Replace yr fuel filter. I'd gamble this is yr problem. Filter collects dirt on the inside, u cannot tell when it is blocked by looking at it.
Turn on yr ignition, not to the start position, just to the run position. Listen carefully for the "ticking" of the fuel pump, you should hear it slow down as the fuel line is pressurized. If it doesn't you may have a fuel pump problem.
After it hasn't started for a bit, remove some spark plugs and check if they are wet. If so u are getting fuel, maybe it is a weak ignition problem. The fact that there is lots (?) of smoke when u finally start, does suggest this possibility but not exclusively.

Cheers Colin, where about's is the filter? you might be on to something here, i can here the pump ticking away, and it is only i problem if I don't start it every day

On roadster its in the spare wheel well, rhs.

On roadster its in the spare wheel well, rhs.

Hi,

Same filter location in the FHC (Jaguar normally referred to the 2+2 Series III as the FHC, though not always).

Two different designs, early and late.

Regards,

Simon

Hi John,
how did it go with your problem ?
Apart from the clogged fuel filter, I was thinking maybe flooding of the carbs.
A clogged filter would in my opinion not cause start up problems, since start up is fed by the fuel already in the carbs from driving it previously.
When turning on the ignition, w/o starting the engine, you should hear the fuel pumps clicking away for a few seconds and then slow down, that indicate that your fuel pump works and is feeding fuel to the carbs. If it doesn't slow down, you may have one or more sticking needle valves, a stuck carb float, faulty return valve or something else that causes fuel to flow when it shouldn't.
A way to check if any of your carbs have the above mentioned issues is to remove the airfilter "lid" on both sides and see if the carb is wet where the piston meets the bottom of the venturi.
I had a stuck needle valve causing fuel to run through the carb and ending up on the garage floor.

Good luck ........ Ole