Hey everybody. I just joined up here on the forums.

First off I want to thank thighed1 for his excellent knowledge and how to article on the 'mysterious no start' problem. I just started encountering it last month, and after replacing the starter with no luck, I decided to shop around for advice. And that's how I ended up here! With that 'how-to' and some easy to access resources, I was able to fix the issue next day! So, in closing, it's nice to finally find a community for this car, and reliable knowledge. See you all around!

 

Be gone troll!


Oh wait. No ads at the bottom of your (first) post!
WELCOME to the forum.
What XF do you have? Where you at?

 

You mistook him for an owner of a "black" XF.......right?.... I need to put up some ads on here....BRB....lol

 

Haha. my original locale is not too far from sierra vista!
but i live in new orleans now!
and i have '04 an alabaster coupe
pics uploaded soon

I originally got the car for $7,500 too, from a family friend, so I think i got a decent deal! It only had 94K miles at the time.

 

So I managed to re-attach all of the exhaust that I had to take off to get to my starter. Upon starting my car, I noticed a very evident hissing sound coming from what seemed to be somewhere under my battery. The BAS/ESP light also came on, but went away very quickly. I'm guessing it might be a hole in some hose making the sound?

 

Congrats on your new ride, You picked the best color.
I hope you enjoy this car as much as most of us do. They really are special.

 

So....


My crossfire won't start again. The relay control module solder points that i recently fixed and resoldered are fine. But my car will not crank, at all. I turn the key, it hums, and just sits there.

Replaced the starter, and still no help. I'm literally at a loss for ideas. Possibly the fuel pump or ignition?

I don't think it could be the battery because the radio, lights, windows, etc all come on....any ideas? help would be much appreciated.

 

OEM battery? (White casing). I'd at least check the terminals to see that connections were clean at the battery and check where the ground attaches to the chassis. Has been an occasional demon in here.
Have you tried to jump start?

 

Try turning your key the opposite way when sliding it into the ignition switch. It sounds stupid, i know, but I just got my car two days ago and noticed that occasionally it would only start when i flip the key around. Hopefully the fix is that simple; good luck.

 

did this help????

 

Funny, my friend had uew iame issue with his Xfire, found the same resource, and implemented the same solution. So, I guess all is well for both of you.

 

Jump starting the battery yields no results, and the terminals are clean and not corroded.

Will try the key flip today, but I don't have much hope. If that is the case though, shall I just look for a whole new ignition?

 

I ended up replacing my battery the night before last due to a no start issue and it fixed everything. I could hear the starter clicking when I turned the key, all the lights still worked but flickered when I tried to start it. Jump starting didn't work for me either. Turns out my battery was running at 9 volts and didn't have enough cranking amps to start the car.

 

guys, just because you have lights and radio does not mean the battery is good..... it needs to be tested under load to find out if it is bad or not.... the lights and radio take very little power to work... cranking the engine to start takes a HEALTHY batter putting out at least 12V and enough amps.... there have been two (or three) recent posts of people that couldn't get the car to start and thought they had a good battery only to replace it and everything was fine..... get your battery tested....

 

Starting to sound like they aren't jumper cable friendly either! Reading up on abs/esp failure I have to wonder if my whitetop might not be the issue.. per the manual if it doesn't see 12v it has fits..(okay not exactly per manual).. just wonder if 11.8 volts would crank and "act" just fine from the drivers seat. Was thinking hook up the tahoe to jumper cables for testing before replacing the battery but now???

 

11.8v is probably too low... I had an intermittant no start issue that my battery showed about 11.7 - 11.9v and wouldnt start.... I could hook up my charger and set to 12v 200 cranking amps and the car would fire right up....

Oddly my problem was only during cold weather and turned out to be a very slightly damaged flex plate that had to be replaced.... this also gave me P0335 Crankshaft Position Sensor errors...(the flex plate is what the CPS looks at to generate pulses)... yes it was a strange problem...

 

Hey..the next time I'm not thinking things through.. just slap me.. lol.. guess Autozone could be an easy solution to my battery voltage thoughts... If I'm bouncing off marginal then it would just be time to replace and quit wondering..

 

Battery has 12.5V sitting on it. still no start, but I suppose i will try getting a new battery. I'd hate to go buy a new battery to not have it fix the problem, but I'm really running out of options :/

 

If all you hear is a click, or you hear nothing at all, then it is more than likely a voltage issue. That's obviously not the case if your battery is getting 12.5V. If your engine isnt turning over, try checking the starter solenoid. It might be stuck or not getting enough power. OR... you might be missing teeth on your flywheel.

 

Unless you can hear the starter free spinning I'd relax on this one.

Looking back through the thread....
You had a no start issue..
You replaced the starter..still no start
You soldered the RCM and it started
Now it's back to no start.
Was the replacement starter a rebuilt or something that could have been marginal?
Did you ever investigate the "hissing sound"? Thinking that would be an exhaust
leak, and have to wonder if it hasn't created an issue?
One more thought... "terminals are clean"..is that just looking at them or have you
actually taken them loose and sanded the contact areas of the post and clamps to
insure a good connection?