1979 Daimler Sovereign restoration
 

Hello everyone, i am new here and new in Jaguar/Daimler world, so as you expect i have tons of questions. :)
The short version of my story is that i was half-tricked into buying a blown head gasket Daimler Sovereign 4.2 from 1979, got the head gasket job done alongside reconstruction of the steering rack, custom exaust and cleaning of the refrigeration system. The bodywork it is in a very very good condition and the interior pretty decent as well, i got the Spanish historic license plates on her now but i have still an annoying problem: the engine rattles when accelerating and it always smells as if it does not burn the petrol properly...
Currently the third mechanic, after the one that did the rebuild,is... "checking" what might be the cause. The first one aligned the crankshaft and verified the compression on all cylindres with a ALL GOOD AND IN WORKING ORDER REPLY, but the need of more hours of investigation needed(altough when i left the car with him, he promised after these operations the engine will sound "like a violin")... The second changed the sparkplugs and the ignition cables that i provided him with(he is a friend) and honestly told me it is beyond his skills to do more and redirected me to the third that is actually..."still investigating".
Does anyone have a sugestion about what might be the cause?
Been told: airflow meter, ECU and/or changing to High-octane Petrol instead of the 95 that i am using now might solve the problem.
Any suggestion is more than welcome.

Thank you all in advance.

Mario.

Mario,

I've just noticed this buried in Europe Region forum and moved it to XJ6 & XJ12 Series I, II & III forum. Members here with the same model will be able to help.

Graham

Mario:


Welcome aboard.


1. I would suspect the "mechanic" that aligned the crankshaft. Weird, a misnomer, or an outright scam.


2. Rattles on acceleration. Ignition timing too advanced. Or very possibly, the 95 octane is inadequate for compression ratio in the engine. Try the high octane, if it quiets down, that is it. If you can live with the higher cost of the fuel, solved. If not,
verify the static timing and advance after.


3. Fuel odor. Common in these cars. The many hoses in the boot can weep and yet one sees no evidence. Or the carburators are leaking or in needed of service. Carbs in all critters are susceptible.


4. We always enjoy pictures of other cars.


Carl

Hello again, i managed to find the issue with the rattling and the unburned petrol smell:two injectors were broken, actually one of them was barely holding on in one piece, so you were right the first mechanic that "restored" my Daimler was a scam.
now i have two new issues on my plate:after a long trip of aprox 400 miles done in one day, two issues came up:one of them the oil pressure light goes on when the engine goes below 1.000 revs, and the second, when driving for about two hours straight, twice in the same round trip the car stopped whilst driving, as if there was no petrol in the tank.
After leaving it "rest" for about 4-5 hours i could drive it again as if nothing happend...
What could be the cause?
Maybe the aftermarket petrol pump that I fitted won't work for more than two hours in a row?
thank you in advance for your time and advice.

Well, the good part is the nice 400 hundred mile trip. Great.


1. Oil pressure light. What numbers did the OP guage show? A rough standard is 10 psi per 1000 rpm. If the guage goes to "0" when the light comes on, that is a cause for a bit of alarm. Two other thoughts come to mind. The oil viscosity is too low for this engine in that clime. For the most part a good brand 20-50 does the job just fine.
No real need for other than mineral.


2. The shut down is temperature related. Fuel as you suspect, sure. But ignition can also fail. The first step is to see which. Testing at the time the engine is in the failed
mode. My preference is to first verify the presence of a hot crackling blue spark at the plugs. Wimpy yellow not good enough.


3. If spark is good, then go to fuel. PSI from the pump and after the regulator at the rail. Any? If so, how much???




Still want to see pictures....


Carl
Car

[QUOTE=JagCad;1690994]Well, the good part is the nice 400 hundred mile trip. Great.


1. Oil pressure light. What numbers did the OP guage show? A rough standard is 10 psi per 1000 rpm. If the guage goes to "0" when the light comes on, that is a cause for a bit of alarm. Two other thoughts come to mind. The oil viscosity is too low for this engine in that clime. For the most part a good brand 20-50 does the job just fine.
No real need for other than mineral.


2. The shut down is temperature related. Fuel as you suspect, sure. But ignition can also fail. The first step is to see which. Testing at the time the engine is in the failed
mode. My preference is to first verify the presence of a hot crackling blue spark at the plugs. Wimpy yellow not good enough.


3. If spark is good, then go to fuel. PSI from the pump and after the regulator at the rail. Any? If so, how much???




Still want to see pictures...

The pressure gauge not showing anything at the moment, i have a mechanic working on wiring and sensors.
but it only happens when the engine idles, when it goes a little below 1.000rpm the light goes on, when i rev it above it turns off.
You can see photos on my profile, i uploaded a small number of them there.
Regards and thank you for the reply.
I will check the things you talked about.

Hello again,
the last news in my rebuilt saga is that the Cylinder block it is cracked, there is a fissure between cylinder 4 and 5 that was there (SIC) when the first "mechanic" changed the Head Gasket at a cost somewhere North of 1.500...
I found a new engine, with 3 months warranty coming from a 1984 Jaguar XJ6 4.2, but my next big question and worry is: WILL IT FIT my 1979 Daimler?
I have the donors car VIN but I do not know how to contrast the information, if it will be a perfect match or not.

PLEASE HELP!

The 4.2 engine from the later cars should fit without any problems. However, some of the external items bolted to the engine might be different....in which case you'll just transfer those parts off off your old engine. Fuel rail and various cooling system parts come to mind.

Cheers
DD

Jr. member myself, but this forum is the absolute best on the internet. Some real experts here.
Hydrostatic Lock (sic) is what the fuel issue is called. I have a 79 Jag. XJ6 (saddlebag tanks love it). Happens mostly when the underhood heat affects the fuel line, bubbles then a problem.
Realign a crankshaft, yep a scam. When I was young and good looken the guy that owned the gas station I worked at made money (unethical guy he was) from aligning a crankshaft. Fact, if the crankshaft was not aligned it would not have started to begin with. No starter anywhere would turn that engine.
I had a Chevy 350 installed in my 79, worked well with it myself.
Paul