This doesn't seem to be a common problem on these cars as I can find no info from anyone who has had to remove one. Anyway, mine is shot and I have to put in a new one which I will do myself. It is a 2009 XK.

Anyone here ever done it or have any insight? That SOB looks really buried and a lot of stuff will have to come off before I can get to it.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

Just curious, how did you determine that your compressor is defective?

 

My 2012 had to have the compressor replaced due to failure. Fortunately for me it was done under my CPO so the dealer handled the repair, I have no input on a DIY.

Good luck.

 

Pressures don't move under any circumstances. Power to compressor but doesn't engage. Have had sporatic, gradually worsening AC over the last few months. Sometimes flooring it would make it come on. Now nothing.

 

That was the exact issue for my AC, would not kick back on unless I was under hard acceleration...which is pretty much every light for me.

 

Whoa!
Just looked at the service manual, and thats a task I won't be doing myself.

According to the manual, you need an engine support bracket and engine lifting brackets.
So you need something to hang the engine from (the engine support bracket, which holds it from above), while you remove the left hand engine mount, and the A-frame under the engine.
Then you can remove the compressor.
Yikes!

 

Can look daunting but engine support brackets are cheap and easy to use. I think the OP is a DIY'er and this shouldn't be an issue for him. The lifting brackets can usually be substituted but I believe a gent on the X350 forum made his own. I could try to find his name for you 1999XK8 if you'd like.

You will need to download the manual. They are free here but do be kind and donate:
JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

That would be awesome if you could find that fellow on the 350 forum.

I have the car on a lift and just realized that the sub frame needs to be dropped. You guys can't believe how buried this compressor is. I will take some pictures because you have to see it to believe it. Right below the PS pump and just inside of the subframe.

 

What service manual did you look at? Is it online somewhere?

 

I bought one of those PDF downloads on eBay for about $15. So far it has had everything I needed.
Just went to eBay and searched for '2007 Jaguar XK Service Manual' and lots of them show up.

 

http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Auto...150Service.pdf

I'm not sure how much different your 09 is from an 07 but here is the manual for the 07.

 

Well, there you go!
Seems to be the same one I paid $15 for.

 

Thanks a bunch. Everything looks about the same on mine. Happened to have just gotten the compressor out before I saw this and I can offer some help to the next guy. You don't have to remove the engine mounts or lower cradle. I will update when I get the new one in.

This is not a job for the faint of heart

 

So you don't need to brackets?

 

Nope.

OK, the job is done and I will give an account of how I did it. I preface this by saying that I have a car lift in my garage and I think that would almost be a necessity. If you attempt this job, it is doable by someone with DIY ***** for working on your car. 10 years ago I wouldn't have attempted this but after working on quite a few cars over the years my confidence has increased dramatically. This description applies to a 2009 left hand drive Jaguar XK. It may or may not help with other models. I recently replaced an AC compressor on a 2008 BMW with the twin turbo motor and the job was about the same difficulty level.

Once on the lift remove the left front wheel. Remove the lower front cover to access the underneath. Disconnect the front swaybar link on both sides; It will move a little up or down and you will need every smidgen of room to get the compressor out.

During this job I DID NOT use engine brackets but really took my time making sure that the motor didn't fall on my head or screw something up.

Remove the 2 bolts holding the "A" brace that goes from the sides of the frame forward to the engine cradle. I left it attached to the sides. Next identify the 4 bolts that attach the engine cradle to the car. Although you can't tell, they are about 8" long with about 2" of threads. The two in the front take a larger socket and the two in the back take one about 15mm. Start lowering the cradle at each corner a little at a time. On the side (left) with the compressor I loosened them until they came out. During this time I had a car lift with a support under the cradle to keep the motor from dropping out. Turns out, it won't with just the left two bolts removed.

As you are lowering the cradle you will have to loosen the two rear engine mounts from the bottom to allow the cradle to lower. At this point you will be able to get to the compressor enough to loosen it IF you are good at working in tight places. Getting the attachment bolts out is the easy part. Getting the AC lines disconnected is a totally different story and there is NO WAY to access them from the top as the compressor sits directly below the PS pump. You will have to remove one of the PS pump bolts to allow the compressor to come out. You will know which one it is (bottom). Taking the compressor mounting bolts (3) out will allow you to lower the compressor just enough to reach up and disconnect the AC lines. This is not easy as you can only do it with a wrench and you will have only the leverage of your fingers. The first one I removed was the large line and that bolt was very tight. Had mild corrosion on part of it. The smaller one came out a lot easier and that was good because it is even harder to get to. To make reinstallation a lot easier I took out my tap and die set and cleaned up the threads on both bolts and also on the holes of the compressor.

Once everything is disconnected, odds are that it still won't come out without some prying. There is a bracket on the compressor that will have to be removed. It's the one that holds the electrical plug. No big deal and it will gain you enough room to remove the comp. I pushed the compressor forward and then rotated it until it came out, *** first.

Sit down and have a cold beverage because the hard part is over. Between looking at everything and going REAL slow, this part took me about 4 1/2 hours because I had no info to go on. As a comparison, installing everything took just over an hour. I guarantee I could do this job again in only about 3 hours total.

Add oil and new O-rings to the new compressor and install it. Re bolt everything up and vacuum down your system to evacuate moisture and check for leaks. The system holds 1.54lbs of freon and make sure you add it by weight.

I hope this helps the next guy because search as I might, there appears to be not one DIY about this job on the net. The first picture is what you first see and the second is what you will have to get to to remove this SOB. Sorry they are turned sideways. The pulley should face left.

 

Wow. Ok, so I hope my AC compressor doesn't fail, as I might be tempted to try this, but without a lift, maybe not...
Congrats! Hope you had another cold one, while sitting in the cool breeze of your now functioning AC!

 

Nice work. Glad to read that it's not too difficult, even without the engine bracket. 4 1/2 hours isn't bad either.

Curious, did you get an estimate? I'm wondering how many hours the shop estimates for this job.

 

Not yet but I will call and find out. On the BMW, the local dealership quoted me $2,012 to replace the compressor. 6 hours @ $150/hr and $1,100 for the compressor. Took me 5 hours to do it and I had no idea where to start. They probably could do it in 3-4 hours.

 

How did you recover the refrigerant prior to removing the lines from the compressor?

 

I have the recovery machine that puts it in a tank. If you don't have one you can have a local indy shop do it for you.

Sean W, just to clarify, it took me 4 1/2 hours just to get it out then about an hour to get the new one back in.