Now I've sorted the leaking spark plug holes (thanks helicoils!) I've got the engine tuned a bit better. Sounds a little tappety to me. Would this be the shims or as I've just read, the valve guides lifting slightly. Any thoughts anyone or have newer car engines spoilt me? Don't know if you can tell from this clip

 

The attachment just seems to be a picture?

 

Video file upload is playing up for some reason. Working on it!!

 

Is this any better? Had to convert to MP3 from mp4

 

Uploaded from youtube

 

Does sound slightly more to the right/front of the engine

 

Doesn't sound bad to me. First thing to check are the tappet clearances.

 

That doesnt sound great to me but the camera might amplify the noise, check the tappets as suggested above and also check that the tappet guides arn't loose.

Might be worth checking the timing chain tension.

 

Hi Fraser. Thanks for that. I wasn't sure as I was up close and personal with it. Will probably leave alone and carry on with other jobs. Will wait until I've got it in front of a jaguar expert for an informed opinion. Oil pressure idling at 500 rpm is 25 or so. Don't know if you can rely on these gauges though

 

Thanks Homer. It's running which is what I wanted at this stage. It's not going anywhere for a while. Suspension stripped down at the moment.

 

 

Hi Glyn. Yes I watched someone on YT fitting those. Guessing that's a heads off job. Will investigate. Thanks for this. Have you ever done the shims? Is that a faff or doable?

 

To set the tappets all you do is remove the cam covers then measure each tappet gap with the lobe pointing away from the tappet, make a note of them and if they are out of spec remove the camshaft, lift the cam buckets out, measure the shim and work out how much you need to add to it to make it the right size then get a shim that much thicker. Its time consuming but not overly difficult.

When removing the cam shaft be careful not to drop the bolts down into the engine, I seem to recall when I did the last one one of the bolts was trapped by the cam position and the other one was able to be removed but I think it depends where the cam has stopped as to how easy the bolts are to remove.

Make sure you don't turn the cams with the chain disconnected as its possible for a valve to hit a piston and bend it.

I usually allow 1 thou either side of the standard clearances to make it easier to achieve although some people don't agree with this.

Its best to check all the clearances together and then see which shims can be moved around to make some right and then buy the ones you need, note also that some shims may be worn on one face where they touch the valve which affects the thickness and by turning them over the thickness increases which can help you with getting the right shims although you normally have to buy a few.

 

Oh what a good idea about turning over and swapping them round! Would never have thought about doing that. Let's just hope it hasn't already been done!

 

No ~ you can do it head in place if this is your issue. Homer has covered the shimming of tappets.

 

Right, just to clarify. Heads have to come off for shims, but stay on for guide fixings? Your talking to a Ford V8 man. Only ever stripped down old mustang engines. Sorry if this puts me over on the dark side. I'm loving working on the Jag engine though. Teach me all you know obiwonkynobbi! (spell check loved that word!)

 

No wrong the head can stay on for both but you could remove the head for both as well if you wanted to create a lot of work for yourself..
Shims are on top the valves which are under the cam shafts but on top of the head. To change the shims you will need to remove the camshafts which means the cam covers need to come off but the cylinder head remains in place. Shimming the valves requires a lot of measuring with a micrometer, buying the correct shims required, fitting them and then measuring again. I let my local Jaguar specialist do this for me. Cost the same amount as buying a shim kit and doing it myself.
The stakedown kit can be fitted with the head in place no need to remove anything apart from the cam covers. Problem with the stakedown kit is you have to make some holes in the aluminum head to bolt them in place. There are two types of fixings.1. Self tapping bolts which you do not need to drill any holes for you just set the stakedown kit bar in place and then drive these self tapping screws/bolts in to the head. Not my choice.
2. The other kit which is what I went for involves drilling holes in the head. Sounds bad but is not really. The kit comes with the correct drill bit and a thread tap to match the allen screws supplied in the kit. The cams can remain in place. You set the stakedown bars in place mark where you need the holes and drill away. The swarf is aluminium so a small amount is not going to damage the engine but the idea is to drill a little at a time cleaning the swarf out as you go on. The drill will finally break through the head but only in to another oil way, not in to a combustion chamber, waterway or exhaust port. You then have to tap a thread in to the hole using the tap supplied. You have to make sure it is upright and that the tap is greased. Greasing the tap means the swarf you create from drilling and tapping the hole sticks to the drill and tap which you remove constantly to clean as you go deeper. Once the holes are tapped and all the swarf cleaned away the stakedown kit can be fitted. I put lock tight on the threads of the allen screws for piece of mind and did them up as tight as I thought was good by hand.

 

No, the head stays on for tappet shimming. What can be a real PITA is carefully measuring everything, then fitting the correct shim to correct the clearance, putting back the camshafts only to find some clearances are still wrong. Been there, done that !! What is particularly important is to not rotate the camshafts disconnected to the drive chain, i.e.check clearances by turning the engine over at the crankshaft, and only then remove cams, check shim clearances and insert ones to make the clearance correct. Usually thinner shims are needed than are found in the engine, so must be purchased. A micrometer is also essential as most shims will have lost their identifying letter.
It is my understanding that earlier engines didn't suffer from tappet guide loosening, it was later engines especially those in the XJ salooon starting in the 70s, and probably is related to the dreadful deterioration in quality throughout the whole car. This was at the time when England became basically ungovernable.

 

Rob ~ I was hoping you would comment as you did the job recently so it's fresh in your mind.

BTW ~ I think that the Allen cap screws supplied with some hold down kits are a more elegant solution than the Barratts bolts.

 

As mentioned above the head can stay on for both, don't take the head off unless you have to as its a lot of work and really heavy!