I just got Andy's kit and took off the air compressor, right as I was about to celebrate a finished repair, I noticed the cylinder walls were incredibly worn. I can see some slight scoring, but much worse, I can feel the dip and unevenness where the cylinder surface seems to have burned away.

Andy noted in his video that cylinder damage was likely the fault of a bad air filter, is there anyway I can check/replace that?

I don't want to put on the new ring to have it wear out really quickly, and I'd rather not shell out $500 for an entire compressor assembly when I just need the cylinder head. I'm considering putting the old stuff back on and just letting it continue to wear so the car is at least driveable while I look for a solution.

If I can't easily find another cylinder head, is there any estimate how long a new ring would last in there?

Thanks!

 

Andy sells the cylinders just contact him

 

Does he also carry the connecting rod bearings (big end I think).


Mine had the grove at the top as well, just put the new ring in, seems to be working better, the compressor in our case never got to the point where it was setting codes or riding low though.

 

The best thing to do is contact him but if the cylinder is scored and the big end needs replacing I would be inclined to fit a new unit there about £300 on eBay

 

Well I PM'd him and he replied, but I guess he forgot to paste his response because all I got was my message quoted back to me. Hopefully he responds here.

I put the new piston ring in and reinstalled the compressor, if Andy quotes a reasonable price I'll consider switching it out again, but I definitely won't pay for a whole new unit. There's other things that need more urgent attention on the car, like the TPS, headliner, possibly MAF, etc, than a wear part that only takes ~$40 and an hour to replace.

For anyone who hasn't done the piston ring replacement yet, I recommend scheduling it fairly soon. I'm a 2006 XJ8 @ 80k in SoCal, so those in less moderate climates are almost certainly experiencing more wear. It's not a hard repair at all, just follow DonBs pictorial and make sure you have enough clearance, I recommend ramps over jacking if you're new to raising a car.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-xj6-xj8-xjr-x350-x358-28/air-suspension-fault-vehicle-too-low-138049/#post1180660

 

Sorry I was replying to zac if it only needs a ring and cylinder I would just replace them I should have stated that in my reply .but zac was asking about the big end on the unit.

 

Just a thought, what if you coat the head with Dry Film Lube (the kind you bake because it's more resilient) then sand it down to profile?