Owners book says s/n for motor is on a raised pad on the front of the motor.
After unsucessfully peering with a flashlight, I'm not finding it. Do I need to remove something to get to it?

 

I understand that originally the engine serial number was on a raised boss (casting) near the base of the coolant tower. The later ones it was moved to under the engine on a plate - someone on the forum will put us straight on the details... on my 98 sovereign, it's on a boss at the base of the coolant tower. IT IS A REAL b@ll ache to see - stuff is in the way of direct line of sight. I needed to contort my upper body and neck AND use a mirror to see all of the number (jags eh, who'd have them....LOL). If you search on the forum there is a lot of threads/info on this - none tell the story of how 'challenging' it is to actually read the number, though...LOL!. Hope this helps Allan

 

I never could find mine near the thermostat tower. It was stamped on the block under the left hand side exhaust manifold. Easiest seen through the left wheel well with the wheel off.

 

The 1998 will have it stamped on the top of the engine near the thermostat housing.
It is a 'dot-matrix' type of stamping.

Sometime in 2000 or 2001 the stamping was moved to the left side of the engine block.

bob gauff

 

A polite call to your local Jaguar Dealer with the VIN will produce a report with the engine serial and all the other information as to how and when the car was assembled. No mirror required.