Hi, I am new to the forum and would like to get some advice from the group to help me get this Jag running. first a little history.
I purchased my xj8 not running and the original owner made reference to the dreaded timing chain and tensioner's.
I took a chance and had the vehicle towed home.
I opened the engine up and inspected the position of the cams in relation to each other, the passenger exhaust cam was one tooth out of time and all the rest were ok.
With a bore scope I looked into each cylinder through the spark plug hole and found no damage.
I borrowed a set of timing tools from a friend and installed the kit.
After installing the timing tools and replacing the cam and primary tensioners and guides, I put the motor back together. when trying to start the car, there was no indication that it was trying to start even with starting fluid.
When checking for fuel there was no pressure at the shrader valve in the engine bay, the fuel pump was running but when checking for fuel at the filter there was none.
At this point I removed the fuel tank and replaced the fuel pump.
I could see that the tank was exceptionally clean and the fuel pump had worm gear clamps on it making me believe someone had recently replaced the fuel pump.
I replaced the fuel pump and filter and still had the same problem no fuel at the shrader valve in the engine bay. conclusion the lines must be swapped. they both measure the same size .310 so it is possible.
I swapped to fuel lines and now have fuel at the shrader valve.
The engine will still not start.
I will be checking spark tonight then a leak down test on each cylinder.
Any other suggestions?

 

If you do have spark do a compression check. It's possible that you have a case of bore wash from unburned fuel in the cylinders. If so compression will likely be 50 lbs. or less. Add about 1/2 tsp oil to each cylinder if that's the case and expect a lot of smoke.

 

Just to caution you, there are some posts on the forum advising against using starter fluid because it may cause damage to the plastic intake manifold. Bore wash is something I would consider.

 

Great suggestion! Rj237 I started checking the compression one cylinder at a time leaving the others with the spark plug and coils installed. as I checked each cylinder the compression was low (30 to 50)after adding oil (80 to 120) the closer I got to finishing all of the cylinders the more the engine tried to start. I connected all parts the intake and map sensor, started the engine. lots of smoke for about a minute. then it settled down to a smooth idle. It sure is great to see the big cat run!

 

The next step is to clear all of the codes. I am sure I caused most of these during the Trouble shooting process, but if there are some that I cant clear I'll let you know. Thanks to all!!