It's only taken me 4 hours to undo the Crank Sensor on my XJS 4.0L Facelift

But it isn't over yet, as now I have to unplug it, which looks deceptively simple except of course it isn't, as there seems to be some sort of catch on the Electrical plug

Where having got this far I don't want to mess it up now

So please could somebody tell me how you undo the catch on the plug, so I can pull the plug out of its socket

 

I always thought this is a 5 minute job on the side of the road? Like every other connector on an AJ16 it has a little tab that you push and then both sides should just come apart, same way as the coil plugs.
Again the bracket is secured with two bolts, where they rounded? Why it took you 4 hours to remove it?

 

Hi Katar

Having undone the 'Crank Sensor' the next job is to undo the Plug to take it out of the Car

If you take a look at the Photo, the only thing left to remove is that Yellow Plug which seems to be bolted to a metal bracket with 2 Bolts, so do I have to undo the 2 Bolts on the Bracket and then remove the Bracket and the Plug

Or leave the Bracket where it is and take the Plug off the Bracket, although there doesn't seem to be any way of removing the Plug unless the Bracket is also removed



How do I remove this Yellow Plug? do I have to undo the Bracket which is secured by 2 bolts
Or is there a way of removing this Plug without removing the Bracket?

 

That has a spring clip. Feel beneath it. The cable side/end. You'll feel towards the mounting side a little tab. Either press it towards the plug or away and it will unclip by pulling it down. That is one of the standard Nippon-Denso plugs, as used on later XJ models (X300, X308).

Once you see it, you'll understand it...

 

Oh its this bracket. Its a hellish Jaguar contraption, there is a plastic bit at the rear of the socket that needs to be lifted before it can be pushed off the bracket. Access is minimal and I normally bend the whole bracket in a way to get to the rear of the socket, then remove it and bend the bracket back how it was. It can be particularly difficult to remove first time as the plastic is hard and its usually proper stuck.
The same brackets are used for some relays and oxygen sensors in case you ever removed these.
Good luck!

 

Hi Katar

That 'Clip' is a fiendish contraption!

I've never done a 'Crank Sensor' before but as for that 'Clip' you just cannot see what you're doing whether you are working above or below the Car

In the end I unbolted the Bracket and even now being able to see how the 'Clip' works, I still have not been able to separate it from the plug and so its going to need some Penetrating Oil to free the Plug from the Bracket as it is stuck solid

When I put in the New 'Crank Sensor' should I wire brush the Toothed Wheel beforehand or would it not make any difference?