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Look on craigslist or find a parts car with so called bad engine, dropped valve seats or tensioners. I don't think you have the problem with the tensioners. I have a motor with bad valve seats the only problem it is a 4.0.
The reason I mentioned getting yours repaired is it could probably be repaired for under $400. Then a set of bearings for that rod and proably a new rod. If you get the replacement crank you'll have its cost and a complete set of bearings with the rod. Bearings are about $40 -$50 for each rod. Trying to think of the least costly way to get repairs done.
Of course this is all speculation until you see the full extent of the damage. You should be able to see #1 rod on the crank through the sump after the pan is removed.
The sump blocks access to the rods but there are places you can see through.
When I did the work on the 4.2 that was in my xk8 I had a hard time finding the 4.2 bearings. I went to the local dealer and told him what I had
They ordered them and it came back with 4.0 bearings. We sent those back and reordered with the correct part # for the 4.2. It came back in a bag with the correct part# but in the bag were 4.0 bearings. I then got a hold of Jaguar of Palm Beach. They didn't have them in stock and had to order them through Jaguar UK. I finally got the correct bearings.
Last edited by BobRoy; Mar 20, 2017 at 10:05 AM.
Reason: More thoughs, what they are worth
I don't know if you understand how the engine is assembled. There are no MAIN BEARING CAPS. The upper oil pan IS the crank main bearing cap!!!!
Remove the front subframe and lower oil pan components. If you remove the upper pan, the crank and rods and pistons and...... will all fall out. I guess you could support the front and rear end of the crank and unbolt all the rods???? Gravity will not be your friend.
As Bob describes, the EPC shows that the crank main bearing bores are integral to the two halves of the block with no traditional bearing caps: the "cylinder block" above, and the "bed plate" below:
The sump is also two-part, the upper "structural sump" (1), and lower "oil pan" (2):
The piston connecting rods have conventional bearing caps:
Without having actually inspected things from underneath, here's a rough assessment of what I think would be involved (not all steps included, such as disconnection and possible removal of the steering rack, radiator, starter, etc.):
1. Support the engine from above,
2. Disconnect and remove forward section of exhaust,
3. Disconnect the transmission from the engine and probably remove the transmission,
4. Remove harmonic damper?
5. Remove timing cover?
6. Disconnect and probably remove the front suspension subframe,
7. Remove the oil pan and structural sump,
8. Remove the piston connecting rod bearing caps,
9. Using a transmission jack, disconnect the bed plate and carefully lower it, along with the crankshaft (and possibly some pistons if their rings can't hold them in the cylinders).
Do this slowly and carefully to avoid scratching any crank journals.
My brain is tired so thanks in advance for helping me think this through!
If you remove the piston connecting rod caps, the pistons/rods will remain in the block.
The problem is access to the rod caps. They are somewhat inaccessible with the upper oil pan in the way. I have never tried to remove the crank with the engine in-situ.
The rods are not accessible with the structural sump in place. The structural sump, upper oil pan, need to be removed for access. I changed the rod bearing on the # 5 cylinder on my 2000 xk8 which I found while doing the repairs I had a 4.2 block. I raised the engine afew inches and took the four bolts holding the subframe on and was able to get enough clearance to get the sump off. To remove the crank you will need to completely remove the subframe. Post #15 on my thread shows how I braced the engine after raising it and what I loosened underneath to get access. If you remove the subframe you won't need to raise the engine but you will need to support it. This is a XK8 but gives you a idea of what you need to do.
I have learned how complex is the AJ-V8 engine block thanks to this discussion.
For those like me unfamiliar with it, here is another pic showing the several-pieces block, in particular the bedplate just below the central block part that holds the crank:
I just finished reading your saga of the 2000 XK8. Wow! Highly informative and great preparation for my project.
Based on my symptoms, would you agree that at the very least I will need a new crank, rod bearings for cylinder 1, and possibly a new rod/piston?
The Jaguar parts catalog shows three different color-coded bearing sizes but doesn't give their difference in size, so I don't know if it would be possible to get an oversize bearing and just have the affected crank journal turned. Based on your experience what do you think the chances are?
The color, size, of the bearings are determined by a code on the side of the block and another code that is on the end of the crankshaft on the flexplate side. I linked Gus' site for the Engine repair course code guide. I'm not sure if it applies with your year since it only mentions engines to 2003, but it has a chart on how to determine the bearings you need. The notes on some of the pages come from Bob, motorcarman, he supplied the guide to Gus I believe.
As for what you need I don't know until you get it apart and see how much damage has been done. I personally think if it is possible to repair your crank if necessary. The problem I see by getting one from ebay or an online sourch you don't know how its been handled. You don't want anything hitting or marking up the crank journals.
This is not a weekend job. You can't order parts in advance and put it together. It might take several weeks from assessing the damage, having the crank addressed by a machine shop, ordering parts and then reassembly.
This is not a weekend job. You can't order parts in advance and put it together. It might take several weeks from assessing the damage, having the crank addressed by a machine shop, ordering parts and then reassembly.
Yes, I'm anticipating doing this over a couple of months. That's why I just bought a clean '03 XJ8 so I'll have a Jag to drive while I fix the '04!
Thanks, Bob. I'll probably be calling upon your experience as the journey commences.
Don, not sure where you are on this endeavor but wanted to say thanks for the pic with the coil removal. Im having the same issue with #6 and have tried prying with a screwdriver. Maybe prying and spinning with my driver will do the trick.
On a related note, my pcv thing (not sure exactly what the UFO is called) which is bolted to the cam cover with 2x8mm bolts also had the same problem with the stripped brass anchor. I removed the anchor and placed it back into its hole and tapped it in with a hammer and flat head. Next I used a soldering iron and touched the insides of the walls to remelt the plastic. This was suggested on some other site I had found while looking for solutions. I think the epoxy route is a good one, but just wanted to throw another option into the mix!
The lesson I learned is to hand tighten these coil pack bolts (book says 5Nm).
Thanks for checking in. Naturally, just as I was preparing to replace the crankshaft and bearings in our XJR (and possibly other items), my workload went off the charts and I haven't had time to make any progress toward getting the car back on the road. At least the '03 is behaving reasonably well.
I'll update this thread when I have time to make progress.
I was wondering if there had been any progress on your XJR?
My car started knocking last week, so I'm probably looking at a similar repair... I can't afford to buy a new engine, so I'd like to do as much of the work myself if possible.
As it turned out, before I could pull the engine from the XJR we sold our home and moved. I had a lot going on and didn't want to move the car to our new place, so I sold it as a project. The new owner eventually salvaged it.
Sorry not to have better news. I think you will need to remove the engine to repair it. I contemplated attempting a repair while working from below, but the construction of the engine will make this approach very difficult or impossible.
I'd certainly agree that taking the engine out would make for the easiest repair in terms of access, especially when I don't have a lift to get under the car properly.
I'm hoping though that I may be able to get to the offending conrod through the sump without having to take the upper sump section out. If the crank is badly damaged though, then that'll have to come out too and I may as well take the whole lot out as I eventually need to do some work to the VVT gears.
Luckily, I work in quality assurance at a large automotive factory, so I have access to all the measurement tools that I might need.
If I can, I'll drain the oil at the weekend and see if I can get my borescope camera in to have a look.
Hey, Don. Your persistence and determination is admirable and I fully understand the 'fried brain' syndrome. Your advice over the years has saved my head from exploding more than once. Prioritizing as you did probably kept your synapses firing. Hope the move went well and two thumbs up for sharing.
You have helped me (and many others) with our aging Jags over these past years
BTW, I feel like you did just the right thing in selling the '04. Sadly, these cars just ain't worth fixing in many cases. If you do move forward toward an SV8, suggest try and find a X356 (late '06 and '07 in the US), or an X358 ('08 and 'some '09, if you can stand the face lift front end). Lots of subtle issues addressed in these later cars.
Loved the way you used a dowel to confirm cylinder diagnosis...brilliant... (Noise to me sounded more like piston/pin failure, esp as believe you still had oiul pressure on the way home from church). Quirky breakdown; bit of bad luck.
My old '07 XJR - "Nanny" - is now pushing 150K, and I continue to drive it back and forth across the country (San Diego) several times a year. Such a beautiful car - still looks new - and wonderful for fast travel. Can't find any car - new or used - that I'd rather have. Guess that makes me increasingly eccentric...(though I'm in good company here...)
