I have a 99 xj8 with a knock in engine. I found metal fragments in the oil pickup. The pieces are magnetic. I have a 98 xj8 engine that I can exchange with the 99. The problem that I see is that the 99 has vvt and the 98 does not. Will the car show a fault with the donor engine. If it does is there a way to bypass the fault. Or can I put the vvt on the donor engine or do I need to exchange the heads.

 

There is a lot more than that. Use the search, as I believe a complete list was provided by one of the members recently.

 

And, unless the engine without the VVT is a SC version (or a Non US 3.2 liter variant) , they both have VVT, the solenoid just moved.

And, RJ is right, there are a heap of changes you need to worry about. The MYn98 is an AJ26 engine and the MY99 is an AJ27.

 

If the heads and cams are in good condition, (and have them professionally cleaned to avoid any metal flake intrusion) I would swap them over to the 98 engine and have MLS head gaskets in place of them. The shortblock themselves would essentially be the same, it's just a difference in the heads, timing cover and sensors.

 

The AJ26 engine lacks the OIL TEMP SENSOR so be aware of that!!!!!
The LOWER oil pan can be swapped to incorporate that into the 98 engine IF it is the old style oil pump like the AJ26.

The later V8 engines had a newer style oil pump and pick-up tube arrangement.

bob

 

Thanks for the information and Happy New Year to everyone. I've got another possible alternative instead of breaking down the 98 xj8 engine that already has the tensioner update. I have a 01 xjr that overheated and the valve seats in the head dropped on a couple of cylinders. Can I use the lower end of the sc engine or is there a difference in pistons or other parts.

 

The pistons are lower compression. There may be other problems, but that is the one I'm sure about.

 

Will the heads from the 98 work on the sc engine.

 

I am getting forgetful of all the things I used to know/remember (I don't do this everyday anymore).................. but the 1998 only has a CMPS on the left bank with a 'one lobe reluctor' on the intake cam and the 2001 XJR has BOTH heads with the CMPS holes and intake cams with the '4 lobe reluctors'.

The intake cams can be installed BUT the valve lash will need to be set with shims and the hole will need to be drilled in the right head for the 'A'bank CMPS. You MIGHT be able to swap the reluctors in the cams???????????????

I have probably written this same conversion a dozen times over the past several years so you might try a search for past threads.

bob gauff

 

Thanks Bob for the info. If I have to break down the 98 for the 99 I'll have the heads from the 98 that I can hopefully use for the 01 xjr. That way I can save 2 cars with one donor motor. I won' t be able to start this project for about a month. I get a knee replacement surgery on Thursday. So while I recover I can do some research. Any information you or any of our fellow members might have would be appreciated.

 

Okay so reading this thread helps me out a bit but I am curious why swapping the computers and or engine harness is not talked about. Let me just do a copy and paste so you guys know my situation.....



I have a wrecked 1998 XJ8 that has a screaming fast engine in it. It was my daily driver until I bumped all for corners into a concrete divider. The trunk folded up like a soda can.

I picked up a 2000 XJ8 L for a grand that is an immaculate car but it looks like one of the passenger side cams has come out of time enough to cause valve interference. So I am trying to decide if I should repair the engine or just swap it out for my 98. So far I have noticed that the coils are 4 wire on the 2000 and 2 wire on the 98, and that the 98 doesn't have camshaft position sensors in the plastic cam covers like the 2000 does.

Okay so my question is if I put the 98 N/A 4.0 into the 2000 N/A 4.0 body what is the easiest way to connect it to a computer? Swap computers and engine wiring harness? Is it a pain? or something else, I know I can bolt the 4 wire coils onto the 98 engine so that is no big deal but what about the camshaft position sensors and is there anything else you think I will come across that is different between the two?



Currently driving my 2001 XJR R1 black/black.

 

You should check the archives. There are a number of differences between the AJ26 and AJ27 engines:
For starters:
1. The VVTs are proportional on the AJ27 - leading to the requirement for 4 lobe cam reluctors on each cam.
2. There is a fuel injector air induction system on the AJ27
3. The TBs are completely different'
4. The fuel trim system uses wideband sensors for the AJ27
5. CKPS and flywheel ring are different

So, the strategy that has been used is to keep the heads and intake arrangement in place when changing engines.
I suppose you could change the computer, but there are lots of issues with that, including wiring harness, sensors and compatability with all of the other dozen or so modules.

BTW, I think you must be mistaking the VVT solenoids for "cam sensors". The cam sensors are on the back of the heads, through aluminum, not plastic.
Let us know how it goes if you embark on that adventure!

 

I have some popcorn and am watching this thread!!!!!!!!!!!! I think there is some sort of little graphic icon for this??????????????????

bob gauff

 

I have done a little research thanks to info on the forum. I plan to take the engine out of the donor car. I will do a compression test on it before I strip it down to the block.( I never got the car started. I bought it for $600 with aparent a drum issue. Also he lost the keys. At the time I didn't know what was involved in getting them made. Register the car took it to jaguar and there was problems with the computers so he couldn't program the key. Didn't want to keep throwing money at it so I made it a donor car which has been very convenient.) I will put the heads to the side to see if I can adapt them to the XJR later. I will then remove the engine from the 99 xj8. I'll put the heads, throttle body, intake, injectors, wiring harness, upper oil pan, flywheel, etc to the donor engine. Install engine into car. Start it up and then have a glass of red wine. Today I am taking the engine and transmission out of the donor car. I have a 2 post lift. Is it easier to remove from the top or take it out from the bottom by lifting car.

 

What are you referring to when you say drum?

 

He meant A drum in the transmission, a common failure for the 5HP24.

 

Decided to remove engine and transmission from the top. If I take it out from the bottom I won't be able to steer the car when I push it out of my shop.

 

You can pluck the engine/gearbox from the subframe and re-install the subframe in the car.

I always drop the front subframe complete with the engine/gearbox onto steel tables.

Less chance of body or radiator damage. No need to remove bonnet.

bob gauff

 

Got the motor and transmission out today. Thanks for the response Bob. I already had it out by the time I got your post. It came out from the top with no problem. I removed the radiator so I had no problem there
I took a couple of photos but I'm not smart enough to figure that out tonight.

 

Oh Goody, look what I found:

http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Trai...ual-9-5-01.pdf

so nice.

So I am now trying to determine exactly what difficulty I am going to have when trying to connect my 1998 AJ26 computer (and engine harness and engine) to my 2000 XJ8 L AJ27 body. So if anybody has any info or experience about/with that then please send it.