Considering the age of the vehicle, I'd say you've done quite well!

NBCat

 

This car is just a joy to work on compared to many others that I've owned. I've never seen a car that was so easy to work on!

 

That is quite a refreshing comment on this forum! I take it you have better than average mechanical abilities?

NBCat

 

Re Why? - Ford 'Bean Counters' were in control of the purse strings, and to cut costs you have to cut corners.

Cheers,

Languid

 

Not true for the XK engine. The XK engine was long out of production by the time Ford bought Jaguar. In fact it was Ford that put right all the problems, and installed new production machinery to replace 1940s stuff, (some 1930s). In fact if it were not for Ford, Jaguar would have disappeared long ago. OK, Ford have bean counters like most manufacturers, but lets not demean the contribution Ford made to a Jaguar recovery. Of course, Tata Motors are now reaping the harvest sowed by Ford.

The history of Jaguar in the 70s and 80s is a very sorry tale.

 

100% agreed. He's about 45 years late, the XK engine was first released in 1948 and the XJ6s we're talking about are, in reality, 1960s cars with some EFI slapped on them. Sure there were a few mistakes under the Ford ownership, the Jaguar Monde.....I mean X type being chief among them, the S type is fairly nice though. But the XJs of the late 90s and 00s are probably the best cars (and great, great values today) that Jaguar has ever built from a quality and reliability standpoint and they are VERY much real Jags. Before Ford bought them they were using an assembly line and tooling bought second hand in 1957 after a fire destroyed most of the factory (and the tooling for and all but 16 XKSSs). There would be no Jaguar today if it had not been for Ford, I for one am grateful for the work they did and the company has moved on from the Ford era in great shape with Jag and Land Rover as the top earners for Tata and exploding in places like China right now.

 

Haha maybe more like average. The only other cars that I've really done a lot of work on were my '94 Mazda Miata and a '97 Lexus LS400. Both cars have been long gone.

The Lexus I focused mostly on front suspension issues (all those dang rubber parts need to be near perfect to stop that car from making all sorts of clanking sounds) plus all those things were so expensive! The Miata I did all sorts of stuff from brake pads, calipers, exhaust, fluid changes, driveshaft stuff, convertible top, belts, valve cover gaskets, etc.

I'd say my weakest points are internal engine work and fuel system stuff, although with changing the fuel filter and fuel pump and temporarily replacing the fuel tank changeover valve with a brass fitting on the XJ6, I think I've wet my feet!

 

Congratulate yourself on new skills learned, money saved and jobs well done!

NBCat

 

I'll bet you have a nice large and well-heated garage now, though !

I remember working on my Jaguar in an unheated garage and also outside, and it was not pleasant in winter, although eventually I pinched the wife's fan heater. I suppose when I was younger, I just laughed off the discomfort. I don't now !!

 

Haha, absolutely not! I have a carport that is open on 3 sides! The night I replaced the upper shock mounts, it was 32 degrees outside and quite windy! My friend and I were literally freezing our butts!

 

If the car is still making a groaning noise, it may be coming from the transmission.
If it has been 30,000 miles since trans overhaul, it is due for oil and filter change.
The trans can make groaning noises if it is sucking air, either because of old oil or the filter has dropped, or the o-ring is perished or missing.
Regarding the lack of performance sometimes, the XJs with 3 speed auto trans were very high geared, so acceleration off the mark is leisurely. It may not be kicking down into first gear, due to mis-adjusted kickdown switch. Yours is probably attached to the accelerator cable, just where it passes into the engine compartment. It is a small box with an arm and roller on it, which is activated by the movement of the cable. Standard switch, available from electronics places. You can test its operation with a meter.

good luck
Pete

 

Well, I believe I have found some evidence that suggest that the head/valves are damaged. The exhaust is very erratic. The flow at idle will generally be out the tailpipe but a few times a second, you can hear a "huffing" sound out of the exhaust.

I don't know if this is worth fixing. What do you think? How much would it cost to install a new/rebuilt head? I think CoventryWest offers rebuilt heads for around $1000, but I have no idea how much installation would cost.

 

Before you condemn the cylinder head, you should see what the compression reading is in each cylinder. If the valves are suspected of having a problem and the compression test is inconclusive, you can perform a leak test to determine if the valves are sealing correctly.

 

As NBCat says, do the tests first, then spend money if necessary and for the right stuff needed.

If you find the compression is seriously down on one or two cylinders, and there is a lot of top end clattering, it indicates a bent valve or two, so the head needs to come off to replace them. You may get away without too much piston crown damage. I did.

 

Yeah, I will do the tests and report back. What causes bent valves? Carbon buildup on cars that aren't driven hard enough?

 

Normally if the car is not used very much so the valve guides are dry, and/or if the cylinder head has had one or two many skims making it on or below the height limit. The inlet valves are bigger on Series 3, so less forgiving if a valve is a bit lazy in coming back on the compression stroke. This happened to me when I finally got my car started after a 2 year rebuild. I should have put plenty of oil into the cam covers around the valves before I attempted a start.

One lives and learns, normally the hard way !!

 

Hmm... well now that just makes me feel bad. Perhaps I caused this issue myself?

 

You can imagine how I felt having at last got the car ready for the road after nearly three years to have a bent valve on start-up. SO bad did I feel, that I rang the Scotsman who had originally sold me the uncracked block for my engine rebuild, and asked him to come and fix it. He arrived a couple of days later with an assistant, and had valve replaced and head back on, car started, in about 4 hours.

I thought his fee was well worth the money.

 

Well, I haven't really done anything to the car. I started it up this morning to see how it sounded when cold. When it's cold, the tapping sound under the engine is a little bit quieter. Also, the exhaust doesn't have that strange huffing/backwards flow issue--not even a little bit.

Does this perhaps mean that maybe it's not a bent valve?

 

Ok here is my latest theory. I have a clogged catalytic converter. I will provide you with some videos of what is going on.

I guess the exhaust never has backward flow--it seems to get stopped up, perhaps because of a clogged cat. It also seems to have trouble accelerating at first and then there is a pop and it goes faster.