Hello folks I'm new to this website and I just wanted to get some advice from some other Jaguar owners I've been a mechanic for 20 plus years and I've worked on all kinds of different vehicles over the years but this one is kind of odd to me a friend of mine bought a 1999 Jaguar XJ8 with 67,000 mi on it for relatively nothing and asked me to get it running after he took it to a shop and they gave him a high quote to put a fuel pump in it the gas tank was in the trunk I finally figured out how to put it in once I got going it was relatively easy. I got fuel pressure and then I checked it for spark I had spark but notice the motor was turning over kind of fast so I checked compression and average compression with all the cylinders was about 35 lb and I knew that that wasn't enough also I noticed that the air box was full of oil and the air filter was soaked with oil through my experience I knew when you have oil in your air cleaner it has to do with something with the PCV system so I know that there's a part load and a full load breather tube in the valve cover and the part load breather tube was clogged on the valve cover side so I got it unclogged in the vacuum line going to it was clear and I noticed that the oil had a very strong gas smell to it and it was way over full so I've drained the oil and put the proper amount of oil in it pulled all the plugs out and put a little bit of marvel miracle oil and each cylinder and rotated it over by hand three or four times hoping that the rings are stuck due to carbon buildup my question is am I wasting my time with this in the motor needs to be condemned any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you

 

Sounds like a bore-wash situation. Remove all the spark plugs again and disable the fuel pump by removing the relay. Crank the engine for 15 seconds three or four times, then try adding a small amount of engine oil through the spark plug holes and retest the compression.

If you still have low compression, remove the cam cover(s) and inspect the cam timing is correct. The flat part of the cams should be parallel when the engine is rotated by hand. Rotate it only in a clock only direction using a 24mm socket on the crankshaft pulley bolt. Check to see if the secondary timing chain has jumped, which causes the exhaust cam to become out of phase.

 

So is it located likely that it could be salvaged? The car only has 67000 miles on it. It's been dealer serviced it's whole life it's just sat in a garage for 5 years. Do the rings just need to seat in again in their bored? I noticed a lot of carbon on the plugs when I pulled them

 

It may be able to be salvaged, but first the cause of the low compression must be determined.

 

If it were me, I would simply peddle the car, and search for a far more newer Jaguar vehicle (~2010 or later) that is at least in running condition (more or less). I mean, given that car's age, who knows what else is wrong with the vehicle (besides the extremely poor compression) as it hasn't even been on the road yet?

 

Your car is an X308 series of the XJ saloon, so get this post transferred to the forum for these models made from 1997-2002.

 

Good advice on cam timing (and the timing chain tensioners) and bore wash, but next, can you do a leak down test? Valves could be pitted up pretty good at this point if run for a long time on low octane or with the PCV system compromised. Valves are only like $9-$15 each on rockauto, but of course it means pulling the heads. The rings are probably fine.

 

Thank you for the response and advice I appreciate it this afternoon I was able to go back over to the guy's house and take a second look at it I pulled all the plugs again and 6 in thick motor oil mix it with some transmission fluid and put in each cylinder I pulled the fuel relay and turn the motor over then I put the plugs back in it and put the fuel relay back in I crank the motor over for about 10 seconds then it suddenly fired right up after smoking like a freight train for about 20 to 30 minutes it ran great now I'm going to drain all the fluids and replace them with new I'll keep you posted on the progress thank you into the guy he wanted me to move my post if you don't like where it's at you don't have to respond to it thank you to everyone they had positive things to say

 

Good job getting it running. Since it’s a 99 with pretty low miles you’ll probably want to change out the cam chain tensioners before you get it back on the road.

 

Hi Scott,

Welcome to the Jaguar Forums! It's great to have you with us.

Congratulations on getting the car running, thanks to NBCat's quick suspicion of bore wash.

Your original post was made in an incorrect forum for earlier XJ6 cars. Norri, one of our moderators, moved your thread to the correct forum for the X308, which is the Jaguar factory project code for your friend's 1999 XJ8. Feel free to thank Norri for his kindness.

One other tip: it helps if you add some line returns to your posts to break up the large blocks of text, which are hard on the eyes and discourage others from bothering to even read your posts.

We look forward to your future updates.

Cheers,

Don

 

That's an "interesting" attitude. Fraser Mitchell posted his reply before your thread was moved to the correct model forum. He was being helpful.

You can make a choice whether to have the good grace to apologise to him or ignore it. However, if you decide to make any further replies like that to long time members I'll make a very simple choice about your future on the forums.

Graham

 

The vehicle doesn't belong to me. I don't like these cars that much. I'm a mechanic that takes on projects on the side that most shops would charge more than the car is worth. I've made alot of headway with this car. The customer has fallen in love with this vehicle. In his defense it is in good shape 67000 miles one owner and dealer serviced its whole life. Only problem is that the lady died about 5 years ago I think and it say since then.

 

Yep, I bought a 99 XJR for $650 that the guy had been told had timing chain problems. Squirted oil in the bores (Nikosil) and away she went. Drove it for 18 months, then the head gasket went so I parted it out.

 

I think I'll keep it right here
Ok.... I posted in the wrong place.... BIG DEAL WHO CARES... for one thing no one can stop me from posting anything. I can just make a new profile new name and new IP address if I wanted to, however it's doubtful I will I've never met a bigger bunch of ****** in my life. You must have a lot of time on your hands to sit around and wait for someone to make a little error and then make a federal case about it. Man you ****ers mist not have any friends at all.
And another thing these cars are junk anyway I've read some of the advice people have gotten on here and I can tell you folks are just a bunch of weekend warrior hacks. I mean who would cut up the body of there car because they are not smart enough to pull a gas tank. Whoever gave that advice should be ashamed of themselves. I'm sure there are some good technicians on here I'm just saying I only have talked to 2 the rest of you can suck my *****.

America rules and So does DONALD TRUMP
😅😂🤣😭😅🤣😭😭😅😂🤣😭😅😂😭😭😅😂🤣😭😂🤣😭😂😭😭😭🤣😂😅😅😅😅😭😭😭

 

Scott,

You are failing to comprehend what happened here. When you uploaded your original post, you posted to the forum for XJ6 Series cars, which were produced from 1968 to 1992. That is the WRONG FORUM for your friend's 1999 XJ8. You made an innocent mistake. No big deal, new members do it all the time. Fraser kindly suggested that you would get better replies to your questions in the forum that is correct for your friend's specific Jaguar model. Norri subsequently MOVED your post to the CORRECT FORUM, which is here, in the X308 forum, where your thread now resides. It is here not because you got it right, but because Norri corrected YOUR mistake. Fraser was just being friendly by suggesting your thread be moved to the correct forum.

Do you get it now?

If not, we can easily terminate your relationship with the Jaguar Forums. We don't have much patience for new members who insist on being rude to long-term members like Fraser, who is a gentleman and has been a great friend and wealth of information for many years.

I suggest you not post again unless you have something of constructive interest to report about your friend's Jaguar.

Don

 

You can keep your head in your butt.
You don't like Jaguars!
I like Jaguars!
Being a jackass is no way to ingratiate yourself into the community.
I hope your customer realizes his mistake in bringing his business to your shop.

 

@scott1997, I'm very pleased you got the vehicle running. Whether or not you like the Jaguar marque is a subjective choice, which you should keep to yourself on this forum.

I'm not a fan of many of the popular brands that people bow to their 'engineering' because it's a myth. But that's my personal feeling.

Let us know if your customer needs additional assistance with their X308 and we're pleased to help.