Because I don't have enough Chaos in my life, I've picked up another Jaguar XJR!

This one is a super clean Black on Black one with 209k Miles. It's been very well maintained overall, no rust or major body damage, though looks to need some serious engine work.

I was able to limp it to the wash that's close to me, and give it a scrub down and it looks great! Interior is also in great shape, so it's pretty solid to. build off of.

Pros:

• Clean rust-free body
• Great paint with no clear coat peel
• Interior is in fantastic shape with no major rips or tears outside of the Arm rest
• Timing Tensioners were upgraded to newer style
• Suspension was upgraded semi-recently and seems to be alright

Issues:

• It has a pretty bad misfire issue with intermittent restricted performance mode
  • Codes are showing P0302 and P0304 Codes (screenshot below)
  • I've swapped out a number of coil packs I have on hand to test, but no change
  • Performed a smoke test, and no leaks were found on any of the vacuum lines or intake gaskets
  • No "Milkshake" in the engine oil that I can tell
  • Has strong smoking on idle and while driving
• Was getting some leaks post MAF
  • Put the Gallery Intake on that the seller included (THANKS!)
• Seller said that he wasn't getting any compression out of Cylinder #3
  • Not getting any knocking or lower end noise
• Battery was pretty flat, so went ahead and threw a new one in
• Needs a timing cover gasket / front main seal
• Needs a few cosmetic things when mechanics are sorted
  • Powder coating wheels factory color and finish
  • A good detailing session
  • Non-US fender marker lights
  • Tint removed and re-applied
  • Driver side fog light

At the very least, I think this may be a head gasket issue given the behavior and smoke when running, but I'll need to do a bit more digging to see where we're at.

Link to this projects Imgur Album

Link to my 2001 XJR that I've been daily driving for the last year

 

Started a bit of work on the Jag today to see what may be going on. First things first, I pulled all of the plugs, and they were each covered in oil. The valve cover gaskets definitely failed awhile ago. On the plus side, the tensioners are the new aluminum style, and the chain appears to be in great shape with no play, so I'm not thinking it skipped any teeth.

I went ahead and performed a compression test and here's what I got:

1. Cyl 1 - 135 PSI
2. Cyl 2 - 130 PSI
3. Cyl 3 - 0PSi
   1. Absolutely nothing, with or without a bit of oil
4. Cyl 4 - 135 PSI
5. Cyl 5 - 140 PSI
6. Cyl 6 - 145 PSI
7. Cyl 7 - 140 PSI
8. Cyl 8 - 145 PSI

The car didn't seem to have any lower end noise, but at the very least, the heads will have to come off. There's a fair bit of oil in the engine bay, I'm assuming due to the state of the valve covers, but that is easily enough handled. Given the state of the number 3 plug (it looks practically new) I'm wondering if I have something going on with the corresponding valve.

From here, I figure spend the weekend in disassembly and find a shop to rebuild the heads and refresh them due to mileage and age.

While I'm that deep, I'll probably replace all of the hoses / O2 sensors / Knock sensors / etc to give it a new lease on life. The transmission seemed to shift great, and the oil as well as coo lent looked normal which should be another plus. Overall, the car has been super well maintained, and I'd like to keep it on the road as long as possible.

 

Before you remove the cylinder head pour seafoam in each cylinder leave it for few days you may have stuck piston ring hopefully it release the rings I don't think it valves problem
Then test again , the misfiring probably bad coil or bad spark plugs anyway get new set of motorcraft spark plugs and inspect the coils manually later but first soak the engine it will save you lot if it work

 

Hey Silver, thanks for the heads up! I'll give that a go and let you know what I find.

 

Congrats on the new (to you) Jag! I suspect your acquisition was cheap enough
to contend with the engine issue. Zero compression in just one cylinder, while the
adjacent cylinders are fine, usually points to a broken valve or spring...which means
there is probably piston damage. However, you will discover what is needed after
you get that head off.

 

Likely overheated and dropped a valve seat.

 

This is where my money is to A2B.

So, for the week I've been contemplating on what route to take the car once I validate things this weekend, and would like to hear your guys' thoughts:

1. Use an XKR 4.2 as a replacement
   1. I'm assuming 2003 through 2006 would be best?
   2. Would an 07-09 be viable?
2. Rebuild the original XJR Engine
   1. It does have 209k miles on it
3. LSx Swap
   1. My last choice, only because I feel the jag would lose a bit of its identity
   2. Replacement parts would be available forever

 

The tensioners still are all orange looking plastic. If replaced they should be white. I would be afraid those orange plastic parts will come apart. The color change is due to engine heat baking the plastic over time.
How many miles ago were the tensioners done?

Here is what a new one looks like installed.



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In my mind, the lowest cost option may also be the best for this situation.
Finding a low mileage 2003 XJR that was totaled by body damage. Of
course, you would need to verify the engine operation before commitment.
I believe all your current engine connectors would work.

Something like this one 00-03 Jaguar X100 XKR XJR 4.0 Supercharged AJ27S Engine Motor Assembly OEM 70k | eBay

 

Hey Randy, my thoughts were going potentially to the 4.2 from an XKR motor since the cost is roughly in line. From what it looks like, an XKR 100 4.2 motor should be pretty close with a few sensor swaps. Still weighing all options!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/326270839220

 

Quick update for the day. Yesterday I was able to get some time to go into the engine a fair bit to see what may be going on with that Cylinder.

It doesn't appear any of the valve seats were dropped on rotation, and the valves themselves seemed to open and close just fine on engine rotation. Additionally, I don't see a high level of damage on the top of the piston where a valve would have intersected it.

There definitely is a large chunk missing from that cylinder and some pretty bad scoring against that wall, so the block is going to need to come out (as if that was ever in question). Not sure what happened, maybe oil starvation on that cylinder that heated the piston?

From here, I'm still weighing options, though the LS swap is creeping higher on the list, just from a future parts and maintenance standpoint.

 

Yeah that bore looks pretty ruined doesn't it?

 

get this block and use the heads from your engine good machine shop can renew the cylinder heads get new gasket new chains and tensioner and car will be good to go

 

A good indy with a machine shop can rebuild that engine to like new. To my mind, the best solution at least price. All other choices are more expensive or a crap shoot (likely-hood of a replacement engine having issues is quite high).

 

This is a route I was heavily considering, though the the top of the that cylinder wall looks pretty gnarly. I've decided to go with the 4.2 that @Silverjag0 suggested as it made a ton of sense. What I'd like to do is some general maintenance (new rings and caps) as well as all new gaskets and seals. That should be a heck of a base to be as reliable as possible. I'm not going to look for any real power adders for this build, but just focusing on keeping it on the road and reliable.

The LS route, while benefiting from simplicity gets a bit cost prohibitive as I've been adding things up.

So, we're off to the races!

 

I believe the 4.2 has an improved blower too, so if you can pick up one of those to nail on too it'll get your figures up a big higher as well.

 

Quick question. I'd like to replace at the very least the rings and bearings on the inbound block.

Any issue with these rings: Link. If not, any suggestions? Lastly, I'd like to get the Main bearings replaced as well, any suggestions on replacements?

Figured better to do it now, then deal with it later.

 

Made some good progress on tearing everything down while I had the time





Ordered a slew of replacement parts such as all new cooling hoses, O2 sensors, timing chains which should arrive over the next few weeks. Would like to have the block out this weekend and do new rings and bearings in it so it's all a known quantity. Most likely I'll send the heads off to be redone as well once I find a place to have them sorted.

After doing a bit of research, it looks like the OEM Rod Bearings for the 2003-2005 XKR 4.2 block I purchased are AJ83902 (Link) and the piston rings appear to be C2C28473 (Link)

It would be about 500 for the bearings and around 1100 for rings, which seems extraordinarily high. Any ideas of a comparable replacement?

 

Probably worth adding knock sensors to your list of things to replace, being as it takes so long to get to them.

 

Yep, already on order as well. Most likely I'll do the driver side O2 sensor with the Bosche replacement since I'm there as well. Still no real lead on alternatives for rings and bearings though!