Hi Folks, first post (other than my intro). I have a new to me 2000 XKR with 88,000 miles in nice shape. I just fixed the horrible fuel smell in the cockpit with the purge valve replacement and TSB procedure to vent into the engine bay. What a difference, the smell was gone immediately even on the 90+ degree day we had yesterday.

Next issue I need to tackle is the lack of power. I have not ridden in a fully functioning XKR but I do know that this car does not have anywhere near 370 HP. From a stop, at low RPM's it has a nice pull to it, very happy, but from the mid-rpm and up the power just isn't there, the motor is spinning but not pulling very hard. For example, hitting the gas to pass on the freeway is quite underwhelming, like driving an old minivan. I have no codes, nothing odd happening but here is what I do know:

1. The car has a lower pulley upgrade, Mina exhaust and Mina air filter so it should be a 400+ HP car. The air filter has no real heat shields or sperators and is pulling in hot engine air
2. The long term fuel trims are in the +12-17% range all the time
3. The intake air temp is always over 100 degrees (F) and I have seen it as high at 175 degrees.
4. The intercooler coolant pump is "running" (I hear it and feel the vibration) but the IC is too hot to touch after a normal drive (not spirited) pointed an inferred thermometer at it yesterday and it was well over 130 degrees on the top of the IC
5. I opened the large plug on top of the IC and there is orange coolant, not the smoothie I was half expecting.
6. The engine coolant never gets over 200 degrees per Torque Pro
7. I pulled one plug and it was the correct plug, clean and in good shape (only a few thousand miles on them)
8. I only see (2) O2 sensors on either of my OBD scanners (the back 2) but if both upstream sensors were dead I would be throwing codes, so a bit confused on that one.
9. The car starts up immediately every time so "thinking" the second fuel pump is in good shape (haven't physically checked though)

Sooooo, any thoughts on where to start? I'm not keen on throwing parts at the car without knowing what might be wrong. I want to get the engine running solid so I can be comfortable starting the other smaller fixes that I 'want' to do like the seat covers, nav system , etc.

thanks all

 

Hot air is not your friend.
The hot air drawn from the engine added to the extra heat from the supercharger will overload the intercoolers and sap all your power. The original air box draws cooler air from outside the engine.
Do you get pinking/pre-ignition noises under acceleration?
You can check the fuel pumps by removing the relays. It will run on either but needs both for power.
See here:https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...el-pump-85882/

 

First things first. Tighten up any slack in your accelerator cable. Easy to do in just a couple of minutes. Search the XK8/XKR section of the forum using "tightening the accelerator cable" as your search phrase and you'll quickly see how....

 

Thanks, good places to start. The throttle cable is in good shape as I am showing 100% on the tips at WOT.

I saw in the service history that the fuel pump(s) were replaced at one time but didn't notice if they both were replaced. I'll do the jumper check shortly when I get back out to the garage. I assume I can find the relays in the JITS and can figure out which terminal to energize. If anyone knows off hand feel free to share.

I'll report back

 

Both pumps jumped and working. I could hear the fuel circulating around the rails so the easier things are getting ruled out.

 

That is another thing you can check for, if you have the correct pressure at the rails and the regulator is working correctly.

 

I agree hot air dramatically reduced your power. Also see the attached TSB.

 

Interesting TSB. Fuel gauge is next (if I can find the darn valve!) and a smoke test to see any vacuum leaks.

All the while I'm noodling this intake issue and how to relocate the intake.

 

Quick update, jumped both pumps, both worked, moved on.

Today I hooked up my fuel pressure gauge, turn the key to on, nothing. Start the car and I have a solid 38 lbs, unplug the regulator and it jumps to 42+, all good there.

Now I Pull the relay for the primary pump, go to start the car and nothing, no pressure. I jump pump 2 directly to the battery (pump 1 still unplugged) and boom, starts right up with 38 lbs. so I have a good pump but it's not activating. I switched relays so the relay is good but what activates it is not. All fuses look good, thoughts on where to start?

 

Um....ok....that was interesting....so that is what 400 hp feels like

The relay was good, the pump was good even the fuse was good BUT there was no power getting to the fuel pump 2 relay and after further inspection with a very bright light I found a small piece of broken housing plastic between the fuse blade and the terminal breaking the connection. A bit of cleaning and tightening the fuse holder a bit I now have 2 functioning fuel pumps.

I took it for a drive and WOW this car came alive, it just claws and claws for more. Couldn't get to stupid because it was raining and the traction control was lightening up like crazy. I say problem solved and I'll give it a proper "test" tomorrow when it's dry.

Next up....long term fuel trims are still between +7 and 10 (short terms are +2 or less) so there is a leak somewhere or the MAF is failing. I did a quick smoke test and no leaks after the throttle body so I am guessing it's somewhere on the intake pipe. I didn't see any breaks but I am waiting for my box of 3" mandrel bends to arrive so I can relocate the air filter out of the engine bay and eliminate the intake tube alltoghether so if that is my leak it's days are numbered.