If Decatur isn't too far, Bob is your man

 

I hope everyone will bare with my story, but here it is.
When I was a teenager and my father ran a service station, the old garage with a pit was so small all we could get in was a Volkswagen, so my Dad kind of became the local expert. Out of that I ended up building dune buggies and got into foreign cars.
One one day a women came in for gas, the days when we checked your oil, washed your windows and chatted.
Her Volkswagen bug had a bad squeal when it was running, and she said that the dealership said she needed a new engine. This lady was a French teacher from the high school across the street so we were familiar with her car.
My Dad said just let me check something, he sprayeD a little belt dressing on the alternator pulley, the squeal went away.
Dad went into the shop got a wrench and a big screw driver, loosened of the pulley, took out a spacer and what do you know, squeak went away and no new engine on a just out of warranty car. Belt tensioning was done by spacers in a 2 part Pulley.
Never trusted mechanics and still don't.

 

I have the car here at the shop and I am diagnosing the problem(s). The fuel pressure sensor reports 483 KPAG (70 PSI Gauge) while the fuel rail reading ZERO with a mechanical gauge. I need to do some digging into the fault.

bob

 

I have DATALOGGER pulled up on IDS and the Fuel Pressure is LOCKED on 483 Kpag. The fuel pressure is ZERO in the fuel rail as measured with a mechanical gauge.
The FUEL TEMP is correct. I unplugged the pressure sensor and there is NO CHANGE to the 483 reading.

My buddy reached behind the fuel rail to unplug the temp sensor and the fuel PRESSURE started moving all over the place. The reading started to drop, then climb, then drop again.

I asked what he was doing and he said he was trying to unplug the temp sensor. He was leaning his hand on the engine harness and the pressure was changing as the harness was moved.

This car/engine is not happy. I still get low compression readings and 3 cylinders were FULL of gasoline (Hydro-locked).

Drained fuel from cylinders and added engine oil to lube rings/walls. Retested the compression, not much change. 80-100 PSI in a few cylinders. (did not check all)

Did perform a pin-out/continuity test from sensors to ECM and had good readings.
No short-to-earth or short-to-positive. Not sure about short-to-OTHER WIRES in the harness.

This is a strange one.

bob

 

Keep us informed, Bob. This is getting interesting. And to think what that dealer was going to do to that car.

 

Since my last Jaguar Forum entry I have had the Jag trailered up to Bob Gauff’s shop for diagnosis and repair. He found potential problems with the engine but a problem with the engine’s wiring harness precluded any additional diagnosis. You can read his findings in this post.

What I need is an engine wiring harness in order to proceed with any repairs. Finding a stand-alone engine wiring harness, not to mention the labor involved to change it out makes this questionable especially when you still have yet undiagnosed mechanical engine problems. Therefore it has been recommended that I try and source a good used engine complete with wiring harness.

All of this leads me to the question I am asking of those who are reading this. Does anyone know or know someone who knows of a source for a 2004 XKR engine with super charger with intact wiring including firewall harness plug for sale? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

As a side light to the above I have found such an engine for sale at a salvage yard but the problem is that it is located in Brooklyn, NY. I am leery about investing the money required in an engine located in a parts supplier so far away. And then there is the question of transportation. If it arrives damaged who is responsible in the game of finger pointing. If anyone knows of the business “Brickyard Imported Cars” located in Brooklyn, NY I would appreciate your comments on their business practices?

Lastly, I wish to thank all of you for your assistance and comments regarding this ongoing post.

Cordially,

 

I would be looking to separate the engine and the wiring. I would be looking for a company that can rebuild your engine and find a yard or ebay that has the wiring harness for your car.

 

There is a Dismantler by the name of Pacific Motors in the Detroit area. In addition there are at least two in Southern California whose names escape me at the moment. Also there is a firm by the name of Coventry West. Here is their url: Coventry West - Jaguar and Land Rover Parts. They do rebuilds. You should also speak to SNG Barrett they have operations in several different countries including the United States. Finally there is Welsh Enterprises in Steubenville Ohio. Good luck.

 

Update on the XKR.
I got another engine from a salvage yard that 'rikki tikki' found. The engine was delivered with the engine/harness all intact. Transferred all the ancillary parts/brackets etc.



New gaskets here and there. Bolted back up and running!!!!

bob

 

I would do the same!!

 

A follow up for all the kind people who offered me assistance with their suggestions. As can been seen by the "motorcarman" post the jag is up and running. The entire engine along with the cable harness was replaced with a used engine of the same specifications. While I have only put a few miles on it the performance has been flawless. I will be going on a short road trip later this year and will update everyone on the engine's performance.

What "motorcarman" did not mention was that when the original engine was initially check he found it awash with gasoline. It literally spilled out of the cylinders, their was a heavy layer in the oil pan, in short it was everywhere. Coincidentally he found a problem with the engine harness. Depending on how parts of it was moved the various test readings went crazy. This necessitate finding both a replacement engine with an intact wiring harness. That is to say one that had not been cut to expedite removal of the engine.

As luck would have it I eventually found an engine that met the expectations of "motorman" in Dallas, only 20 miles from where I live and some 75 miles from "motorcarman's" shop. The frosting on the cake was that while my original engine had 73K miles on it the replacement had 75K miles. A match made in heaven. I also had him perform a 50K mile service on the transmission at the same time.

An off shoot of my disastrous vacation was that I found a full size front or rear tire will fit comfortable in the wheel well used to hole the factory donut spare. So I am currently trying to find a cheap, the operative term here, full size rim and decent spare in lieu of the donut tire which used only once in 13 years before coming apart. As mentioned earlier I plan on a short vacation later this year and I do not want to do it sans a spare tire. Any suggestions or full size rim and/or spares someone wants to sell? Given my druthers I would perfer a rim and tire off of the front end due to the size mismatch.

Again my thanks to "motorcarman" for all his patience and excellent work.

Cordially,

Rikki Tikki

 

oops didn't see last post. Glad you got your jag sorted.

 

Once more I come to all of you hat in hand hoping for some assistance with still another problem. Forgive this as a reply but I cannot figure out how to start a new Post if that is actually necessary.

I have had an ongoing problem which has been occurring for some time prior to the aforementioned engine failure which Bob did a terrific job of getting me back on the road again.

Perhaps one in 5 or 6 or 7 startups of the engine when I turn the ignition key all I get is the sounds of silence. All of the preliminary check engine gauges light up as during normal starts. I have found that if I remove the ignition key and wait for 10 to 20 seconds before attempting another start it will usually start up on the 2nd or 3rd try. It seems to have gotten slightly worse of late taking 3 or 4 attempts before starting. I am going on a short road trip soon and I would hate to find myself again stranded in some small town miles and miles from a Jaguar dealer or competent Jaguar mechanic.

Any thoughts or suggestions would really be appreciated. I can live with the starting idiosyncrasies I just do not want of get stranded once more if this is a potentially serious problem. I am afraid that at that point I would probable be given the choice of my wife or the Jag.

Cordially,

Cecil

 

Have you tried to start it in “N”? If not give that a try. It could be a simple shiftier cable adjustment.

 

I did reinstall your original starter. Sometime a lazy solenoid on the starter will cause this.

I would do as GUS has suggested and try to start in Neutral to see if the selector assy is faulty or out of adjustment.

Try pulling the selector out of PARK and back, try again. Maybe it does not recognize IN PARK???

Let me know.

bob

 

Hmm, redo this startup procedure this time without pressing the brake pedal and see if it does the same thing. If so, your brake switch is likely the problem. Conversely, when the problem happens, lightly activate the brake pedal a few times (no need to jam it, just enough to activate the switch on and off, you should hear a faint click). This might (temporarily) bring some life into the switch and let you start the car. Seems easy enough to test and rule in or out.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

I know that the fault is NOT the key/immobilizer because when I read/printed the DTCs from your car there was nothing but P1111 (NO P1260) in the ECM and NOTHING in any other modules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You could try another key for 'peace-of-mind' but if it was a key transponder issue, the P1260 would have been flagged/logged in the ECM.

bob

 

Thinking back I printed out ALL the DTCs from all the modules and you should have a print-out. Contact me if you find the print-out of the 'BEFORE and/or AFTER' module readouts.

You should have the stack of papers with the info you got in the manila envelope.

Maybe there was a DTC for P1260 in the original scan???

bob

 

Good morning and at the risk of being to wordy here is an up date to the engine starting problem.

Let me first apologize for the long delay in getting back to you regarding this problem. I received your responses the day before my wife and I took off for what was supposed to be a 10 day trip in the Big Bend area of west Texas. Once again, long story short, where as the Jag tried to self destruct on our previous mini vacation it was now my turn. Equal amount of vacation followed by equal amount of hospital time. My daughter has informed me that for now I am not allowed to drive more than 4 hours distance from home. Ha! Ha!

I want to thank all of you for your suggestions. As it turns out FMERTZ appears to have had the answer to my problem. I have found that if I first lightly tap the break peddle 3 or 4 times and holding it down on the last tap the jag starts up every time. This procedure has yet to fail me. I know I will need to have the problem eventually corrected which will be another trip up to MOTORMAN early next year. In the interim, to put a positive spin on it, I am viewing the new starting procedure as a back up anti theft system.

Again thank you for all of your assistance, it is greatly appreciated.

Cordially,

Rikki Tikki

 

Well???? What happened??

How did you like Big Bend country?