2001 XJR with about 184k miles on it. Been playing Russian Roulette with a slow coolant leak while helping resolve other people's car problems and letting them use my spare vehicle. Finally sorted everyone else out and I managed to win this round by NOT losing all my coolant and overheating my motor...just in time too as I now have coolant seeming to run down the front of the engine block as well as the back of the block. Haven't tracked it down yet but the car is now put away for the winter so I've got time to work on it. With a broken part load breather, one replacement knock sensor zip tied to the side of the engine, cam cover gaskets oozing oil out of a few bolt holes, what I think might be a supercharger coupler in the early stages of needing replacement and now cooling dribbling around, I guess its high time I pulled the supercharger and cleaned up/serviced everything under it. So I'm here looking for some guidance on what things are under there in the valley of a supercharged AJ27 that I should start collecting so I can do it all in one shot.

- 2 knock sensors.
- Replacement part load breather.
- There must be at least one coolant line running under there.
- Supercharger coupling and oil change.
- Cam cover gasket kit (whats a good one? I used a Mahle kit from Amazon and its always had a bit of a leak...could be the quality of my work).

Since I will need to drain the coolant and pull all the hoses from the charge air coolers, I assume I ought to replace the hoses? Maybe do the octopus and just do a full coolant line replacement so I don't keep finding exciting new leaks all over the place? Water pump is new this past summer. Should do plan to replace the supercharger coolant pump as well?

Thanks for the advice!

 

The heater return hose is most likely causing the leak under the supercharger.

Yes, do replace both cam covers, but from personal experience, I strongly suggest you use the OEM gaskets and seals. The aftermarket ones seem to always fail prematurely.

 

I like the idea of a hose refresh on these cars at this age it's something to plod through.
OEM are more difficult in some regions but try and get them over aftermarket, unless they're silicone and that could be a great option.

There's 2 hoses in the valley, a foam 'anti vibration' pad that sits under the SC and above the casting hollow that's covered with a rubber diamond shaped bung. Change both hoses.

OE spec' cam cover gasket sets - these things only need a light torque, if I recall 6Nm - if they're overtightened then they leak.
Clean flat surfaces and correct TQ - no problem using a dab of loctite ultra grey to hold things in place while the covers inverted for install.

Coupler - a rule of thumb, if it moves further than a quarter turn it's worn and change, along with the belt - maybe the bearings in the pulleys also.

Run a coolant flush with just water before you split the system, this gives you a clean install. Possibly check your heater pump brushes if it's weak.
Up to you on the SC ic pump - Bosch 050 upgrade - I will say the orifice the coolant is pumped through in the split system really doesn't need it, unless you're adding pulleys and big charge cooler, or - the wiring link lead has gone hard to bend.

You probably know it's covered on the search function but if you get stuck we've got you. If you find any silicone upgrades, lets have a group buy.

 

Check the hard bleed hoses that run from the expansion tank to the rad too. One of mine had a small leak in the join halfway down the side of the SC. You should be able to replace the O-rings in the connection if needed as the hoses appear to be NLA.

If you're replacing the intercooler pump or thinking about it, you might as well put the more powerful Bosch replacement in. 50% more flow to ensure the intake temps don't get too hot. You can order them from Powerhouse & the like, but I know the part number has been mentioned on here before & it's probably cheaper to find that way.

 

Will investigate where this routes, thank you.

Quote:

Coupler - a rule of thumb, if it moves further than a quarter turn it's worn and change, along with the belt - maybe the bearings in the pulleys also.

I'm nowhere near a 90 degree rotation of slack, more like just a few degrees, but its definitely got a bit of slop. I was under the impression that any slack in the coupler indicates a replacement is in order.

Quote:

Up to you on the SC ic pump - Bosch 050 upgrade

Another impression I'm under is that after a drive, the charge air coolers should be warm but not scalding hot to the touch. I can't rest my hand on them because they're that hot after a drive, but thats my only clue that the pump might benefit from swapping. Car is plenty powerful, so if they are heat soaking its not noticeable with my butt dyno.

Quote:

Check the hard bleed hoses that run from the expansion tank to the rad too. One of mine had a small leak in the join halfway down the side of the SC.

Thanks! Good advice!

 

I just saw this thread when I got my weekly update. Totally agree with the above responses. I did all the coolant and heater hoses from the front of the engine back earlier this year. I had to fix an exhaust leak on the left downpipe, so I figured "Why not" since I had the expansion tank off and the heater hoses were the originals from '02. I found that Harper Jaguar had the best prices; all of those hoses were less than $500. If the front hoses haven't been replaced in the last several years, 7-ish (?), I would do that, too. One thing that I found while researching the part numbers is that the SNG Barrett catalogue has a couple of the numbers duplicated, and when you go to the websites of the sellers, they have the same picture for all the hoses; I think it was the hose from the intercooler radiator to the pump. So, it was fun to figure out all the numbers. If I can find the list, I'll post them. I know it's around here somewhere ...

 

If you have the list pf parts used handy, it would be great. Thank you!

 

I found a THREAD from 10 years ago that lists all the hoses and part numbers for all X308s. Since it's 10 years old, some part numbers may have changed, but usually the current part number shows up as a
"superseded " or something. The poster said he used a lot of aftermarket hoses which I don't recommend, as well as Sean B. Also, Harper Jag's prices have gone up considerably since I ordered from them back in February; the main "Octopus" hose, MNC6733AE, is now $289, and I paid $223. So, there goes my. "Less than $500" statement.

Here are the cam cover gasket numbers:
RH - AJ88400
LH - AJ88285
Spark Plug Seals - AJ87206 (8)
Center Seals - AJ87242 (4)