Yes, the crankshaft pulley locking tool is the one I was talking about, the one I didn't have, not the the crankshaft locking peg which goes in where the sensor goes. The workshop manual explicitly says not to use the locking peg to immobilize the crank, for the very reasons you stated above.

 

So now I'm stuck on removing the actual pulley. I've gone to auto zone four times and checked out 7 different loaner tools from pulley pullers to a 3 jaw puller and every tool has either been already broken or won't fit on my engine. So frustrating, I can't even stomach the thought of going back to auto zone another time so I'm calling it quits for the day.
I think I can manage to use one of the loaner tools I had today if only I go out and get some longer bolts to screw it into the pulley. I wish I new the pitch and thread of the holes.

 

When I go to work tomorrow, I'll get you the info you seek. Granted, you'll have to go to ACE hardware to most likely get the bolts in a grade 8 or higher preferably. Seeing that you also have a S/C'd car, you'll need to get longer bolts with wide thick washers. There is no room for cheap whimpy bolts. I've even had to go as far as getting an air hammer in there to break that collar free. Do you have the radiator and condenser out of the car?

 

8mm x 1.25 pitch
Total bolt length 4.50"
Mine has an Allen head on it which helps with overall more room and has a strength grade 12.9. I got it from McMaster Carr.

 

Well I've finally got some progress to report. It's been slow going taking this thing apart, time being my biggest enemy never seeming to find enough of it to make some good progress, but I'm finally about to pull off the head.
I've got the head bolts removed and the cams put back in, I just need to unbolt the exhaust manifold from the catalytic converter on the driver's side.
Any one have any good tips for accessing these bolts?

 

^^^^
Never mind, i found those little torques head screws to remove the heat shield

 

By all means have the machine shop check the deck of your heads. When an engine overheats it usually blows the head gasket which in turn tries to warp the heads. Depending on where in LA you are I can recommend a couple of shops that have done the machine work on my race motors. If the heads have to be milled, a good machine shop will maintain the geometry with the valves which is very important with the tight valve clearance on these engines

 

Forgot to add when you turn the heads over check for the stains on the deck of the heads to see where the head gasket failed. I'm guessing not between the cylinders since you had compression in the other cylinders

 

So thought I should post a quick little update. The heads are off the car (finally). Got a quote of $1900 from one machine shop to rebuild them, this includes replacing every valve seat, which I was told was recommended instead of just replacing on the three dropped valves since after over heating its likely some of the other valve seats could drop.
Going to get a few more quotes as I need this job done for a bit cheaper since I spun a rod on my Subaru at a rallycross event yesterday

Anyone one have any recommendations for machine shops in Los Angeles with experience with the heads?

 

I experienced the same thing with mine, except no oil, turned out to be two faluts 1 bad thermostat 2 broken valve spring. You might also look at the coolant level sensor on the catch tank. The glue dryed out and it spewed coolant all over the left side of the engine

 

So with two other cars under repair, an engine rebuild on my MGB and a motor replacement on my rallycross car, the jag has just been sitting in the garage headless since my last post. I'm waiting to get the final bill on the MGB's rebuild before I decide if I want to spend that kind of money rebuilding the jags heads.
But out of curiosity, I was doing some searching today on re manufactured heads, and it seem I might be able to save a bit on money going this route. Has anyone had any experience with these?
I'm also wondering what other vehicles share these heads. I've seen some listed as for both the xj8 and xjr, do the non-supercharged xj8s use the same heads as the xjr? what about the xkr & xk8, or the lincoln ls?

 

I can't speak of the LS heads but, I get the impression that they're also the same. Yes to every other Jag V8 engine. XK8, XKR, XJ8, XJR and S-Type V8 heads will all work. Those are of the 4.0 engine. I can't speak for the later 4.2's though. $1900 is high but, it is L.A.!

 

the compression ratio is different between na and SC heads.

 

The different compression ratio comes from different pistons and not the heads.

 

So I thought it time I add a quick update to whats been going on in the past year. I took the heads to the machine shop and it turns out the were warped. Weirdly they warped on the cam side not the deck side. Anyway, I decided to not rebuild those and instead sourced a pair of used heads from a local jag dismantler. I took those heads to the shop and had them rebuilt and got them back a few months ago but only just this week set to work installing them. I've got both driver's and passenger side heads on and torqued as well as installed the cams and locked them down with the timing locking tools. After installing the cam gears secondary timing chain and secondary tensioner I reached a bit of a stopping point. It turns out one pair of the two sets of timing chains guides was showing cracks and will need to be replaced. I've ordered a replacement set and am awaiting their arrival. Until the get here there is not much further I can go.
I've also replaced the "octopus hose" and the two coolant hoses that run under the super charger. I never actually pinpointed the source of the coolant leak that caused the overheating in the first place but they fact that I could not see a source of the coolant leaking leads me to suspect it was one of these hoses or their connectors.
So that's were things stand. More to come in the next few weeks.

 

Impressive work to undertake on your car for the first time!
Glad to see you saved it instead of scrapping.

What year is your car?
While you have things apart wouldn't be a bad idea and inspect any other hoses that could be easier to reach now, with some parts out of the car. Save the hassle

 

Glad you replaced the timing chain guides while you had it apart. Timing chain guides are a failure point not as serious as the secondary tensioners but get the metal replacements for 100K of worry free operation. I have seen oil in the spark plug wells in multiple XJs. Not always from bad gaskets, sometimes the cam covers themselves start cracking and oil seeps in. Check your cam covers for cracks around the seal points, used covers can be found for $100-200 and will save you from future leaks and misfires.

When tightening the new damper bolt once you have the timing cover back on make sure you remove the cam locks and flywheel lock. I always did this as a two man job bracing the flywheel (not on the teeth of course but in a slot) using a blunt pry bar while a buddy torqued down the damper bolt to the very high rating required. Removing the locks and bracing this way prevents stretching the timing chains by accident.

 

So I thought I'd put an update here. It's been awhile I know but I finally got the engine all put back together. I topped off the fluids and started it up. She started right away, unfortunately she was knocking right away at idle. It seems that the bottom end of the motor did not survive the overheating. I was working on the assumption that because the bottom end of these motors is rather robust and because there was no warping of the deck surface that the bottom end would be ok. This seems not to be the case.

Here is a quick video of the car at idle:


Thanks to everyone here who offered help and advice. Unfortunately I think this is the end of the road for this Jag.

Update: So I did a compression test on the engine the number are as follows (from front cylinder to back): Driver's Side 120,125,130, 115 Pass Side: 125, 135, 135, 120. So the car has compression thats good, but all for spark plugs had carbon build up on them. These were brand new spark plugs and this was only from a few min of idling. Also I've got CELS for misfires P0300 P0305 P0307 and a pending P1000 as well as a transmission high temp warning that has thrown it into limp mode.
I'm slightly more optimistic given how the compression test turned out, but need to figure out why the spark plugs foul so quickly, which I'm assuming is the cause of the missing.

 

That is a shame after all that hard work. In my experience fouled spark plugs are usually the result of the engine running too rich. Definitely something knocking around in there but with compression numbers that high prob not piston slap, have you gotten it up to running temp to see if the noise lessens? lower bearing damage usually is accompanied by low oil pressure. However be it lower bearings or connecting pins something isn't right, prob means crankshaft machining and new bearings or starting with a used replacement block, which is likely cheaper if you can find it. I hope you can find a way, I want as many XJRs still on the road as possible but not at the cost of your bank account.

 

But things back together after the compression test with 4 new spark plugs to replace the fouled ones. Now it cranks but won't turn over. In addition to the transmission temp too high the dash is also now displaying engine fail safe mode.