Hello all

About last week my xjl went to restricted performance mode. I had just fixed a few issues with the oil and cooling systems and the dealer assured me everything was fine. I called them up and dropped the car off. Now out of the blue they said I need a new vvt unit installed. They quoted me $10,000 to replace. Insane! I love the car but this just seems crazy. I tried searching everywhere and could not find any info about this unit. Has anyone ever been told this before? I’m located in Los Angeles, CA. Any info will help. Thanks.

 

Better to buy a new/used motor. I put a 2016 5.0 supercharged in my 2011 for around 12k. Then I parted out my old motor for about 4K. So roughly 8k all in for a very low mileage 2016 motor. You need to find a good indie shop as they have to swap a few sensors and parts from your old motor as the Bosch/Denso parts aren't interchangeable. I got the motor from lkq for 8,599 with almost no miles. Mine had the vvt timing issue as well and my indie shop recommended just swapping the motor. Ended up being cheaper then repairing and the new motors have several updates and changes and are a much better motor.

 

Find a good independent with jag experience and ask for a second opinion. It may just be a lot of labor and dealer hourly rates killing you on cost.

 

Did they give you a part/ labor breakdown? What are the part numbers that need replacement?

 

Yes this is rare and not being reported. Can you get us some part numbers and a better description?

We have a thread now on a 5.0L engine rebuild and the VVT units are delicate and can't be dropped or roughly handled.
This is a very long and thorough thread so it will take some time to read.

5.0L Engine Rebuild

It might be worthwhile to ask davetibbs some questions as he is an expert on the 5.0L engine by now!!
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I’ll ask my independent shop when I have my car in next time about your VVT unit cost. Won’t be for 2-3 weeks though, if you can wait that long.

I agree that the pricing is probably just classic jaguar dealership labor/parts markup. My next service visit is for major service replacing many timing parts,supercharger service etc. I am using an independent shop in Orange County that lets you bring in your own parts. Doing it at the dealership would have cost me well more than 2x the amount. I suspect your bill could be cut at least in half by having an independent shop do the job.

So I would recommend finding out which parts need replacement from the dealership (get a formal quote). Find your parts cheap online (forum members can recommend good sources for parts). And then have an independent shop do the repair using your supplied parts.

Let us know what direction you choose to take.

All the best.

 

I believe that what to OP is referring to are the camshaft variable riming components of which there are the Actuators that are attached to each cam shaft and use the engine oil to vary the timing and the second component is the solenoid valve that connects through the valve cover to the actuator and controls the timing of the camshaft by varying the oil pressure in the actuator. Loosely based on the parts pricing of @ $1600 and Right bank replacement @18.4 hours and left bank replacement @ 20.4 hours and figuring a shop rate of $150/hour ($5820) total of $7420 for the repair. My estimates do not take in discounts or additional parts needed like gaskets and actuator filters. so the dealers 10k price is not so outlandish I read in the JLR V8 training manual that if an actuator is dropped it should not be used but replaced. IMHO

Actuator: C2Z30686 XJ SERIES; INTAKE; TO VIN V39426 @ $300
Actuator: C2Z30688 XJ SERIES; EXHAUST; TO VIN V39426 @$300
Solenoid Valve: C2Z27363 Solenoid, Right 5.0 LITER W/SUPERCHARGER @ $160
Solenoid Valve: C2Z27363 Solenoid, Left 5.0 LITER W/SUPERCHARGER @ $160

 

Am I correct to assume that a lot of the time for each bank would be covered by performing the other side? You only have to tear down to the engine once right?

Also they tend to over exaggerate shop time. For example, in the TSB for the supercharger repair it says something like 14 hours labor. I asked my independent and he says it is well under 10. So perhaps take their hours with a grain of salt and get a second opinion.

 

Nedoerr I'm not sure how much overlap there would be. In reality there is probably only one of the actuators that may have failed. Not sure but I would think a properly equipped and knowledgeable shop could find the failed part through testing or SSD codes before tearing down.