'99 xk8 engine swap into 2000 xkr body
 

I'm new here. Crashed my low mileage '99 XK8 this past Tuesday and took out the entire front end, thanks to the very heavy rear bumper of a 24' box truck, took out the front like scraping butter off a hot piece of toast!


Anyway, I have located a near perfect 2000 xkr without it's engine. My original intention was to use the front cap parts to rebuild my car. But, here's my question: can I put my n/a engine into the xkr car? Will the xkr electronic control unit work with my engine?


Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm suppose to pick up the xkr this coming Monday, Nov. 24, thanks.

Simple answer is no....... You would have to change the loom as well along with all the modules

That's what I thought. Turns out that the man has a 30k SC engine he bought 3 yrs ago. His business took off and he never had the time to make progress on it. So, the engine is available and he says he will sell it to me for $2,000.


How difficult is it to install that engine? Thanks!

Not difficult at all if you have done it before. A learning experience if you haven't. Lots of electronics that have to be exactly as the ECM expects.

You didn't mention the MY of the engine and that can make a difference.

You didn't mention if this a daily driver that needs to run next week or a hobby car that you can take your time on.

Lots of good folks around this forum willing to help.

Good price on the engine if it is as described.

MY?????

^ model year

I didn't ask him for the motor year, should have. I'm picking the car up Monday afternoon and will know then. He's a pretty smart guy so for now, i'm going to assume he bought the right one for the car, which is a 2000 xkr.


What motors will work with no worries about electrical issues, ecu, etc? What do I look for on the block, in case he forgot and can't locate the invoice?


Thanks!

Narrow window. 2000, 2001, 2002

The engine serial number which is on a milled area below the water pump. The number encodes the date of manufacture of the engine i.e.: YYMMDDHHMM

All 4.0 AJ27 XJR/XKR engines will bolt in without modification. (2000MY>)
This also includes 2003 4.0 XJR engine.

bob gauff

We used to joke in the UK about cars built on a Friday afternoon - now it would appear we can find out exactly. :)

Well you can determine the ENGINE manufacture date and time.
When it was placed in the vehicle is NOT THAT date.

bob gauff

For the first website that I had developed, I asked the developer if a certain thing could be done and he said, "We can do anything you want to do, it is just a matter of how long it will take and what it will cost." $50,000 later, it came to cost about another $20,000.

It is not whether or not something can be done, it is whether or not it is feasible, money and time wise. Those are the things that need to be considered.

Maybe a silly question, as an option, to get back on the road, I have shallow pockets, would it be possible to put my '99 xk8 motor in the 2000 xkr and transfer the wiring harness & computer or ecu over to the car?


I need to do one of the feasible options very soon, for several reasons, thanks a million!!!


frank

If I had BOTH cars side-by-side and wanted it to work, then I probably could do it. I don't think I would waste my time. If it were a long term project and it was my hobby and time really did not matter, then it would not matter if it was practical.

I have been working on Jaguars for about 40 years and have gone to Jaguar training classes so I am very familiar with the XKR/8.

You will have to determine if you have the skills and perseverance to finish a project like this. I really don't see the point of taking out a 370 HP engine and trans to install a 290HP one. Lots of people are always asking if it is possible to go the other way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think you will have so many hours and 'OH I FORGOT TO SWAP THAT' situations that you might give up and have it towed away in disgust????

It's so much easier to get a good-used replacement engine, install it and go on with your life.

It might be rather difficult to sell the car someday 'down-the-road' because when someone wants a supercharged Jaguar, they probably won't settle for a 'fake XKR'.

Kinda like putting a giant tail pipe & TURBO stickers and badges all over a base model Honda.

Just my opinion but you could SELL the NA engine/trans and buy a good used SC engine for about equal money.

bob gauff

Many thanks! I picked up the man's 2000, 53k black xkr, beautiful car, without motor/trans for $3,000. The front bumper cross member/radiator support infrastructure appears to be compatible with my 1999 xk8, black, 49k, very clean and was issue free before front end collision. My intentions now are to rebuild my front end with this R unit and then part out the rest of the car.

If the body man says no, I just might sell my xk8 motor/tranny and look for the correct sc motor/tarnny. the man has one, but from what little research I did, I think he bought the wrong motor, got it installed and it didn't work. He says it's a 33k motor and paid $5k for it. I've asked him to look under the thermostat housing for the year/date and let me know, he will sell it to me for $3k, including the tranny. I could have bought it today but was hesitant and didn't know/wasn't smart enough to know where that date was located, until I got home and found it on the net.


I'll keep ev1 posted as to how it turns out.

Don't really want to do that, but a friend made the suggestion. Thanks!

You may find the motor he has bought was a AJ27 but being a 2000 may of still had the AJ26, comparing these engines even though they look similar, one is analogue and the other is digital so the older ECU will not run it...... It is possible but you would need AJ26 electrics and ancillaries, so coil packs, throttle body etc......

Easiest way to check is look at the coil packs, the AJ27 has 4 wires the older has 2

Good info here guys.

Is there a VIN changeover point (for XKR & XJR) &/or engine number where the changeover from AJ26 to AJ27 took place? I also seem to recall Count Iblis said something about some AJ26.5 engines where some changes were implemented but not all...

The AJ27 engine will have CMPS on BOTH heads!!!!!

bob gauff

I'm sure XKRacer has worked on more Jags than I've seen, but, at least on this side of the pond, the 4.0's back to 99 have 4 wires on the coils.

That is true 99 was theoretically the change over year but what happened quite often in the UK is you would have a 99MY but it might of not been registered until 2000, this is why the edges get a bit blurry for engine identification....

I have had 2 2000 XKRs with AJ26 engines in them....... The XK8 got the AJ27 before the XKR as my 98/99 vert has the AJ27