Hello All.

For the last 3-4 years I been spending a lot of time on the XJS and XK8-R areas of this forum, have learned a ton and still have a long way to go.

In my foolishness I let the word get out that I was swapping the engine in my XK8 (216K miles) with a more youthful version (34kmiles) and I eneded up getting lined up for another round of strange dance, cursing and a soar ol body. Yup, swap a donar engine and tranny from a 2000 S Type to a friends 2000 S Type.

I need Y'alls help in a very real way. The saying - ya dont know what you dont know (couldnt know) - comes to mind and I am COMPLETELY open to them GEMS, TRICKS and SECRETS that gurus such as yourselves have gained thru years of loving these cars... I am super appreciative of any and all guidance.

There are some similarities with this and the XK8/R,,,, but there are a LOT of differences.
I've read thru this link but unfortunatly the pictures have dropped off, timed out and photobucket is a thing of the past.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ion-how-64612/

The donor engine on delivery, thankfully, had all of the wiring harness in place just CUT at there mains (upper RH back corner of harness), and in a couple other key spots which allowed "them" to remove the motor as painlessly as possible. In replacing the tensioners and guides, removing the old harness etc I have gotten a good look at how things (the wiring kinda) are laid out.

Appliance mounts and appliances themselves, Alt and AC and Power Steering... Should or do I NEED to remove these off the old motor while still in the car? For instance, I know that the wiring harness for the Oil Pressure and Oil Temp sensors are strung behind the ALT mounting plate (maybe for the AC and PS moounts too?). So in that sense is it necessary to remove the mounting plates before pulling the motor and what will I run into (litereally) trying to do that while the engine is still in the car? Should I consider just labeling and cutting the sensor wires at the front of the engine to make life easy?

Any tricks to unplugging and disconnecting the transmission wiring?

One thing I noticed when pulling the donor motor apart is that the PS pump high pressure line blocking a 10mm bolt. I didnt have to worry about it much on the disassembly of the "new" motor but how impossible is it to get to and loosen that HPressure flange type nutt with the engine in? I WILL of course be removeing everything to do with the Rad and Condenser... I also have a 16 and 18mm flange and 10mm flex head wratcheting wrench on the way just for this.

What is the best way to disassemble the top end of the engine - intake and such - in as FEW parts as possible making reassembly as easy as possible?

Anything special I should know about motor mounts?

Setting the shift cable? Is it like the XK8 5hp24 trans,,, selector (J-Gate) in neutral, completely loosen the lock nuts at the back of the j-gate, 3 clicks forward to N at the trans lever under the car and set it there,,, in N?

I am ALL ALL ears and appreciative of any and all guidance. Thank you.

I'll attach a couple of photos of the car so folks can get a sense for why all the work for this car. A LOT of mods were made to the car. Lots. Including luvering doors where the doors open UP... Not my style but for each his/her own. Calling her the "rolls royce s-type...





Yup... That black beauty in the bottom of the photo is an aston DB-7

 

You did not identify which engine you are attempting to swap, but reading between the lines indicates that it is the 4.0 V-8. From the pics, the car has a 2003 or later interior. Are you certain that the car is a 2000, or has it had in interior swap as well?

Inquiring minds want to know...

 

Hmm. All I know is that there were/are LOTS of modifications to the interior. That the door patch says 2000 for the original and donor cars. It is a 4.0 engine AJ28 - I think. According to the owner the 2000 motor was not an easy find,,, I guess not many 2000s were made...?

 

Vin sajda01d1ygl747721

 

The first thing I would do is get your camera out and take as many damn pictures of every corner of the engine compartment that you can using different lighting techniques to get down deep as well as things are up on top and as you start disassembling things take pictures of that as well because when you go to put it back together you’re not gonna know which wiring harness clips into work hall or bracket and it makes a huge difference because if you screw off one you might not figure it out until you’re 3/4 of the we done and then we found out it was right at the correct way you need to takeoff 3/4 of the engine to put it back. Make sure you know where all the vacuum lines around it all the hoses try to take pictures of specific books that are unique to certain locations so you know put the wrong button I want to find out that when you get to another park the boat doesn’t work because it’s the wrong one. I always take as many pictures as I can only to find out that I didn’t take the picture that I need to put a specific part back so the next time I go in I take even more.


I bought an extra 2006F type with a 4.2 L I was going to use it for spare parts for my 2006 STR because whoever owned it before me that you had a timing chain problem I started taking it apart and couldn’t put it back together and this is what I’m not with bird which is been open for so long I don’t think it’s repairable to point so I might have to just try to find a spare motor and do exactly what you’re doing.

 

Got ya, x5... I have been taking a lot of pictures and thankfully I get to take the intact engine apart nice and slow.

What I'm really concerned about are those interesting SPOTS, where ONLY the experience, know how that comes with years of working on these machines, that need that trick, that work around, that short cut that can git ya unstuck... I'm hoping to get them gems from y'all.

I was just reading about trans cooler lines. Thankfully, the lines on this engine are intact and I'm HOPING it's a matter of replacing the rings and buttoning them down when I get towards the end of the job. Hoping.

I'm also worried about getting to a point on the PS pump where I damage the line trying get it out when moving or removing the pump when taking the engine out. Stuff likes that can make an already tough job a drinking bender, lol...

 

There is something you need to immediatly find out about the donor engine that has been purchased.

Have the engine tensioners been replaced? The tensioners on the 4.0 engines are the achilles heal. If the seller of the engine has no idea if they have been replaced, then the first thing you should do when the engine arrives is inspect the timing and valve covers to see if they have been removed. If they appear to not have been touched, then you need to remove at least one of the valve covers and look down into the timin chain area and determine if the timing chain tensioners are all plastic or the more durable aluminum based one. (There are lots of threads about this. read up on it ASAP.)
If you have to replace the timing chains and tensioners, plan on $300 to $600 for the replacement parts and gaskets. (I would not even start the swap process until I knew the condition of the tensioners. Not worth the time and effort to put a 20 year old engine in the car unless one is 100% sure they have been replaced!!!!)

Keep in mind that any 1999.5 to 2003 S-type (pre facelift) with average mileage, is worth a max of $6K. One can purchase one with a 4.0 engine for typically $3 to $4K, and these cars will likely have the tensioners already changed.

For many reasons, (You should do some reading about S-types on the forum) they are almost worthless.
-4.0 engine had timing chain tensioner problems.
-4.0 engine has Nikasil block cylinder bores. (Bad if certain types os gas was used )
- These cars had the 5-speed transmission.
- Front suspension and subframe is not as robust and has wear problems, (Same suspension as the Lingoln LS and T-birds.)
- Rear lower control arms have wear issues with the bushings.

If the owner has to put more than $2K into the car to get it on the road, I'd recommend scrapping the car and invest the money in a later model year S-type

 

Brother! Thanks so much for all that info! And the warnings.

As soon as I walked up to the (provided) donor engine I ripped into it for exactly the reasons you explain. I had come to be familiar with the engine having a xk8 and xkr. The tensioners were shot on it and I DONATED a full set of guides and tensioners I had in hand to the owner... I changed the uppers using the zip tie method. Checked the flats, things looked good, spun the engine 20x by hand, then hit with a starter to spin the engine. Compression test with a bit of oil in each cylinder revealed about 80-100ppsi... So I kept going...

Tell me this. What genius located to 8mm bolts for the timing chain cover which makes it so both mounting plates for appliances on the left and right sides need to be removed to,,,, remove 2 8mm bolts??? What a PITA

Anyways, things are going well. I have a concern I came across and was wondering if folks could recommend an ADJUSTMENT. On the LH side, at the CAT,,, it seems the high pressure PSteering line runs up against the CAT. Or is dangerously close, proximity... Is there a preventative fix folks are aware of.

I've only sheared one bolt so far... ONE of the four for the downpipes/cats... I expect to need to get the drill.

One pretty straightforward item that has me stumped... How to remove the up spout for the oil fill in the cam/valve cover? I would hate to break it.

Also, I am having a rough time getting to the plugs in the TOP of the transmission. As the engine and tranny comes out, is there enough slack in the loom that comes from over the trans and disappears down into the RH fire wall, to unclip the lines MID PULL?

Other than that mach everything else is going fine, kind hard fight just because of the poor engineering one would HOPE that Jag mightah factored in,,,, understanding that SOMEONE might have to work on the car one day. Sheeeesh. There's nothing like having to fight with a machine only because of the way that things were placed. Can make for cursing and swearing.

Again, this is not my car - feel free to make fun of the body "modifications"...


out with the old....

 

Desperately needing some guidance on a couple of things.

Got some time to wrap things up yesterday and things went good. I'm not done, of course... Tightened up the last bits, turned the key and NOPE. A neutral/park safety feature I'm guessing. Moved the shifter around, found neutral, turn key and BAM, fired right up - BUT.... And there's always a BUT!

For the shifter. In the past I've had luck placing the shifter in and around N (I think I've found an unstable N that kinda coincides with N on the shifter), unlocking the cable and letting it float, getting under the car and manually yanking the shift lever in the back direction (towards the rear of the car - the max travel of the cable when locked in and pushed forward to P) and then running the shift lever manually by hand forward 2 (TWO) detent clicks on the side of the trans. To N in the tranny. Then, carefully adjusting the bolts and shifter so the shifter is locked solidly in N... Then testing for P and D and such.

Of course this is the process on my ZF 5hp24 tranny. Is the process the same for the 2000 S Type tranny? Is there a better or right-er way?

Second thing has to do with adjustment and RESET of cam shafts and timing... This one is a biggy and I feel SUPER stupid for not having done this with engine OUT.... Yeah, real stupid.... If I lock the cams (as best I can if one is a bit out) and and can get the crank position lock in place will the lock notch and shape of the cutout on the flywheel the same on the XK8 and S Type (I have a tension kit for the XK8/XKR),,,,,

and THEN if I loosen the exhaust CAM allen bolt and adjust the exhaust CAM flat, then counter hold and retighten it to the 90ft lbs,,, will THAT get me in time, or and is it just wishful thinking???? I don't want to take everything apart again to do something I should have done when the time was right. Jeeeeeze...

Super grateful of all and any guidance...
Thanks so much

 

The selector lever cable can be adjusted by removing the console cover and using two 21mm (or 13/16") open end wrenches to move the cable fore/aft in the mount bracket.

Many TSBs for the early X200.
Here are a few.

 

The AJ28 uses a different shape crankshaft holding tool, so the one for an AJ26/27 is not going to work.

 

Understood...
What are your thoughts about making adjustment to the exhaust cams (assuming flats on remaining 3 cams are parallel with head edges) to deal with what maybe a jumped tooth? I can fit the 10mm allen in with the TC cover plate on, just wondering what folks think...?

 

Amazing! I hadn't noticed the markings on the range sensor...
Got ya with the 13/16ths...

Looks like I'm back under the car! Take a peak. I did notice that the TRSensor did have a lot of "wiggle room" on the slots in the TRSensor for bolting it down. Didn't know what to reference in the wiggling,,, during placement.

Thank you, Much!

 

Before you do anything with the camshafts, get the crankshaft into the proper position and hold it with the correct tool (303-645).

Remember to only rotate the crankshaft in a clock direction when viewed from the front of the vehicle.

 

Perfect! Thank you. Better get shopping around. I dont want to pay top dollar for something I'm going to use just once (as far as I know)...

Understood on clockwise.

Hoping I can do this thing without having to pull the entire face of the engine oft again... We'll see.

BTW... MCM,,, the shifter isn't hard to move,,, just inaccurate. I need to set and reset it - thankfully I can skip digging into the trans and dropping the pan.... Thanks for the articles.

 

You can also rent the tool set:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/JAGUAR-4-0-...YAAOSwVFlT9ju5