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Fingers crossed for you, Pete. The main consolation for me, when I had to replace the XJ-S engine, was that 1) I'd kept an otherwise perfectly good car on the road when it would otherwise have been scrap, and 2) the £2k investment meant I got £3.5k for the car when I sold it, as opposed to scrap value.
The engine is coming from a 2007 XKR certified with 21,000 miles, and warrantied for 90 days. It had been in an accident not affecting the engine area and was written off as not being rebuildable. I will have pictures and VIN. I'm taking a leap of faith with Eurosport and I'll be effusive with either praise or criticism when the job is done. The engine will arrive from Virginia either Friday or Monday. They'll start as soon as they have it. The old core will be available. Thanks for all the suggestions and help. They are all being used.
From East Coast Autosource down in Bedford? https://www.ecoastauto.com/ I need to take a trip down there once the weeds stop growing to refurb my interior.
I'm not going to be a happy camper if the 2007 XKR shown on the East Coast Auto site is my donor car. 75,000 miles isn't 21,000 miles. I'm paying a premium for what I've been told I'm getting. I'll be calling them in the morning to see if their engine is available or if it is being shipped up here. Trust but verify. I've already handed over $4000.
They have rebuildable ones for sale and also stock unrepairable ones in the yard. Still doesn't hurt to call and talk to them. It'll help your confidence. I've never dealt with them personally but their reviews aren't horrible for selling rebuildables.
So here's the replacement engine. It didn't come with the motor mounts, so likely those will be replaced with new pending inspection of the old ones. Seems my old engine was cosmetically newer looking. The coolant piping came intact. I can live with 21,000 miles old on the engine and bits. Hopefully there won't be multiple expensive surprises with the install this week.
Looks like a decent swap. No visible leaks is a biggie to me. Maybe pick up a can of LPS3 and spray the aluminum bits before the install since you are close to the bay.
As a retired tech your doing the right thing short of a total rebuild or new jag crate engine$$$$ never would I repair an overheated engine as other posts have stated overheated rings loose their tension causing oil consumption along with a host of other problems. I bought my 07 xk convertible with 95000 miles only to have the engine overheat the very next day! Used car dealer was fantastic they had the engine replaced with a used one similar miles to yours and I've had 20,000 trouble free miles. My motor mounts were fine but I had them flush rad, new thermostat, fan belt, plugs etc at my cost while the used engine was installed. The thing to watch, and may have been your old motors problem, is the coolant hose that runs under the intake manifold close to the front of the engine. This hose is exposed to surrounding heat plus being oil soaked as it sits in the valley.Just my two cents but as our cars have no temp gauge I would recommend replacing it even with low miles as it's most likely been there since new.
So the good news is that the engine is in and running. The bad news is that both catalytic converters are clogged (melted components?) and need to be replaced. The left side isn't available through Jaguar, the pair if they had them would run $3,900. That ain't happening. Can anyone suggest a decent (near OEM spec or better) source or brands for these converters? The service writer tells me the engine could be damaged due to the back pressure with these clogged converters. Maybe I should have them grab the ones from the donor car?? Jaguar has paused production on the left side cat and may not have them for 1-2 months. I just don't see new Jaguar cats as a reasonable option. With new motor mounts, new starter, cooling lines etc. I'm now into it for close to $11,500. Suggestions? Thanks in advance!
I have reached out to Jeremy. Thanks for the link!
If this doesn't work out call the salvage yard and ask them for an exchange of your cats for the ones from this engine. They usually sell them to re-claimers who take out the platinum and rhodium. Tell them you expected the engine to be shipped with them. Also I believe it is against federal law to sell used cats. What ever you do don't throw your out as you can sell them to re-claimers.
