You MUST disconnect the fuel lines from the bottom of the tank prior to pulling the tank out of the trunk. Drive it until it’s under a 1/4 tank for an easier job. When you disconnect the evap hoses on the top of the tank, extreme caution to gently lift the hoses up from the plastic pipes and spray a lubricant so they’ll be easier to slide off without breaking the pipes.

 

I'm sure those lines are fun to get to...Would definitely do it with the tank as low as possible. I just replaced a fuel pump in my 96 Dodge Ram and of course it died with the tank full. I pulled the bed rather than dropping a tank with 30 gallons in it.

You know, I didn't realize the XJR has 2 fuel pumps. Are they both the same? I saw the Denso pumps on RockAuto but they make no mentione of 2 pumps. If I end up doing it just buy two of the same?

 

The supercharged cars have two fuel pumps. Even the supercharged X300’s had two. Yes, buy two of the same pumps with two socks and do the fuel filter while your there.

 

Congrats!! Looks clean

 

Yes sir, one of the guaranteed issues with these superb automobiles is…the fuel pump.
surely the last thing you want, is to be out and about, then suddenly stranded by a fuel
pump that has decided to make your day. The Denso pumps seem to yield the best life.
I can not seem to find the reason fuel pumps fail so often on an otherwise very sophisticated
vehicle. I get the nagging idea it has controls which cause start/stop commands which
are never good for electromechanical devices.

 

number 2 only kicks in under load and to prime

 

Randy, age and/or mileage are 2 reasons to a pump failure. Another one is when a submerged pump that is cooled by the fuel is ran so low that the pump is no longer cool. I personally don’t go under a 1/4 tank if I can help it.

 

Addicted2boost, yes I am certain those factors contribute to failure as they would
in any vehicle. There seems to be a higher incidence of failure in these cars when
compared ones with similar fuel delivery systems. Take my Buick LeSabre for
instance; it has almost 300,000 miles and is 23 years old with no failure. Likewise
my Ford Flex with 14 years and over 300,000 miles with no failure. Both of these
similar "in-tank" designs have no issues and are not anticipated to have similar
issues in the future.

 

because the oe ford fuel pumps they used in the 308 were just not very good and neither were the genuine replacements.

the 300s use the same tank and rarely lose pumps

 

I agree with all of that Xalty.

 

I find it rather strange that the quality of the pumps was at odds with the level of the
vehicle it was to be installed within. Perhaps the engineers felt the desired lifespan of
our beloved Jaguars would reach 100k and then phase out. Of course, we know that
is not the case. I suspect “Denso” is as good as it gets for now. Maybe I should keep
one ‘on the shelf’ in case Denso decides to quit making them.

 

I've made a habit of never running any of my cars too low, learned that years back and it just stuck. Just filled up the R tonight at a half tank (boy she's thirsty!) and for now everything is working fine. Changed the oil and went on a nice 40-50 mile cruise and car was flawless. Even with the date coded 2005 tires it drives beautifully. Wanted to get a nice drive in before I pull a valve cover and check out the tensioners. Hopefully I'll get around to that early this week. Also going to pull the rear view mirror and send out for repair, only about half of it is visible at the moment as the internal "auto dimming juice" has leaked.

New tires showed up yesterday, but waiting to put them on. Holding out hope I find a decent set of Asteroids or Pentas that aren't chrome. If I don't find anything by the time I'm done with the engine then I guess I'll stick with the stock wheels. I was staring at the car tonight and realized its the combo of the stainless trim and the chrome wheels that's just too much. I think they would actually look good if I blacked out the trim. I'll give it some thought. Would prefer not to permanently modify the car so might look into vinyl wrapping the trim so it can be removed if necessary. I know a good vinyl guy so maybe I'll have him take a look.

 

Finally had some time and pulled the PS valve cover today - plastic tensioners of course! They actually look to be in perfect shape but parts are on the way to replace them. I know this has been covered ad nauseum on the forum and I've read most of the threads, but if someone can confirm my method will work I'd appreciate it:

1) Rotate engine until cam flats align on both banks and lock using cam locking tools (all 4 cams would be locked at this point).
2) Mark exhaust cam sprocket to chain position using white out or paint pen.
3) Remove 10mm Hex bolt securing exhaust cam sprocket to cam.
4) Remove and replace old tensioners with new, re-install sprockets in exact same locations using paint marks, then pull pins on tensioners and re-assemble valve covers.

Am I missing anything here? Seems if all cams are locked and sprocket locations are marked nothing should change as far as timing.

Also - I pulled the passenger side cover and ended up just laying it back on so as not to leave the cylinder head open until parts come in. Question is, how do you properly re-install the valve cover & gasket with all of the other stuff in the way? My biggest pain seems to be the injector harness with those two clips that come out from under the intercoolers. I can't seem to get them completely out of the way and they will make it hard to line up the cover and keep the gasket in place. Is there a trick to this? Maybe RTV the gasket to the cover in a few spots?

Other than that seems pretty straightforward. Looks like on the driver side I'll have to remove the coolant overflow lines, but luckily I found what looks to be like the removal tool that the factory left on one of the lines.

Any advice/tips appreciated.

 

reuse the chain and sprockets don’t waste your time putting a chinese chain in it.

put the car in timing position then crank lock tool in. ziptie trick the secondaries now use the cam lockdown tool, disassemble everything you need now zap the primaries and guides off and then slap it back together

 

Definitley re-using the sprockets and chains, only replacing the secondary tensioners for now. Will do the primary guides and tensioners over the winter so I can enjoy the car for the rest of the season.

Thanks for the info, guessing as long as both sets of cams are locked and the chain stays in the same position on the sprocket all will be well.

 

I was looking at different procedures for this task the other day as a prospective buyer, came across this video, seems pretty straightforward.


Thoughts from those who know better?

 

I dont like the idea of disturbing the cam main caps, really no reason to do that. I know a lot of people have done that succesfully, but the cam holding tool is only $45 on Ebay and no risk of snapping a cam. It's also easier to do it the proper way, sprocket comes off with one H10 Hex bolt and you're done.

Either way a pretty simple job, just need to make sure everything stays in place and timing is not disturbed since these are interference motors. I actually think it will be harder getting the valve cover back in place with the gasket that replacing the tensioners. That stupid wiring harness under the intercooler is right in the way of sliding the cover back on smoothly.

 

Simple jobs have a way of becoming difficult when unexpected issues surface. I am unsure about the cam
main caps and like you Bensalem, feel the job could be done without that disturbance. I have always found
that getting the valve cover gaskets to remain in place was a challenge. My father, in the past, used a heavy
grease on the covers to get the gasket to remain in place, but that was a different day.

 

Yes, I know tons of people have removed/replaced the cam bearing caps to replace tensioners without issues, but have also read of a few broken cams and since I have the cam holding tools no reason to risk it. I think having new o-rings for the bolts will help hold the gasket in place, but still a bit tricky wiggling it in there with everything in the way. I current have the coolant hoses and wire harnesses bungee corded out of the way as mush as possible, so hopefully that will be enough.

Have everything cleaned and ready to go, just waiting on the parts now. I also decided to replace the air filter (it was original believe it or not!) and spark plugs. The plugs did not even want to turn when I put a socket on them, so soaked in carb cleaner overnight and they came loose. I was a little worried at first about pulling the threads of of the aluminum heads, but seems they're all going to come out without issue once the new plugs arrive.

I did notice a lot of oil in a few of the plug holes. Is there any reason to try and clean that out, or just remove the plugs and let it go? I assume whatever drips down into the cylinder will just create a bit of smoke on the first start, but shouldn't cause any problems. Let me know if that is incorrect and I should clean them out...

I had some time today and remove the rear seat, rear package tray, and rear speaker since it was vibrating horribly. Going to see if I can fix it rather than replacing. I assume buying another 20+ year old used one would have the same separation issue that mine has, so will try to repair this one. Not much fun getting it out and managed to break the center seat belt trim, outers came out OK. Guess I'll have to find one of those. When reading previous threads about removing the rear speaker I was warned that those broke often and sure enough I barely breathed on the center trim piece and it snapped right in half.

 

Oil residue around the spark plug area has always been a mystery to me. I am certain the only way for it to get there
is from a failing gasket, however I have never witnessed that as it occurred. I used to have a spark plug (with the ceramic
knocked off) that I would fit into the hole while cleaning the spark plug well with carb cleaner and stiff rags, however my
current cars don't seem to have the problem. The only issue one would expect is the odor when it heats up.
Those inner seat belt cap covers are fragile and expensive to replace. ($45 for 2 on Ebay)