It followed me home. Can I keep it?
 

Picked up the 2000 XKR I had been looking at, and trailered it home yesterday. She has engine problems that I will be digging into, and fix if possible, or replace the engine.

It was quite an adventure, and with engine parts filling the trunk, it will take some time sorting things out.

I am finally a Jaguar owner! (I am embarrassed to say how cheaply it finally went for.) Pic will be added shortly.

Let the fun begin!

TC

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1396390732

Awesome, welcome, and keep us posted! Pics or it didn't happen... :)

welcome indeed!!! Recommend adding the How to's/downloads and Gus's site to your favorites - also recommend downloading the JTIS

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-videos-77768/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ts-data-29800/

JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

Welcome to the forum TC,

Congratulations on becoming a Jaguar owner.

When you get a minute, please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see.

In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

Kitty Pic Added
 

Updated the original post with the XKR as picked up. It may be a while before she sees anything other than the garage, but we shall see. This being my first post-retirement project, I do have some time available. No idea until the heads come off how bad things are, or if the whole thing needs to come out.

Fingers crossed!

TC

Looks great! can't wait to follow the progress.

Welcome and congratulations,
"I am finally a Jaguar owner! (I am embarrassed to say how cheaply it finally went for.)" No need to be embarrassed,I won't tell anyone else.

Keep track of the time you spend and multiply that times half the going shop rate for mechanics in your area. Once you have your vehicle properly running, then you let us know what your acquisition cost was + labor + parts. Welcome to the club :-)

Welcome indeed! Picking up a beautiful project like that is nothing to be embarrassed about at all. I've only owned mine for less than a year and have already caught the fever.. adding another cat to the garage this summer I hope!!

Keep us all updated on your progress, too :icon_beerchug:

Welcome!

This might be an interesting thread to flip through. Similar project and maybe even in worse shape to start but he brought her back from the dead.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...project-77642/

Progress
 

Things are moving forward on the XKR and one head is now off. I am discovering I need more tools, in spite of years of accumulation.

Here is what the passenger bank looks like:

[IMG]https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1397396452[/IMG]

We shall see how things look on the drivers side this week. The head bolts were a challenge so I am getting a bigger breaker bar.

Any thoughts or impressions are welcome.

TC

Also, I would like to do some additional clean up on some of the parts that are off. Has anyone bead blasted things like the front cover, etc?

Scrubbing doesn't seem to get those things as sparkly as some others I have seen on the forum.

Thanks

TC

Where the engine problems related to a failure of the secondary tensioners?
Regards,
White Bear

Tensioners
 

Supposedly, this was the problem according to a mechanic who looked down the plug holes with a borescope. I found the primary chain on the passenger side was a bit slack, but no evidence of valves hitting the pistons, as you can see by the photo.

I pulled the drivers side head today, and again, no direct evidence of valves into pistons, but have yet to disassemble either head to check for sure for bent ones. One interesting find once the drivers side head came off was an entire bicycle inner tube crammed down the plug hole!! The mechanic told my the previous owner's friend had tried to effect some sort of repair found on the net. What that was to accomplish, I have no idea.

The next thing will be to rotate the crank to see if anything is amiss down below. Pulling the oilman is a possibility just to take a peek at the rods and crank. The cylinder walls seem fine with no perceptible ridge, and crosshatch still visible.

Fingers crossed that things look OK, and the real issue was the timing chain.

TC

Bringing a beautiful car like an XKR back from the grave is God's work but once you get it running, you will be in heaven. I get great joy out of driving my 2002 XKR and I am certain you will from driving yours.


Mark

Haven't tried bead blasting, but would expect it should work pretty well. Or one of the softer media blasts like soda or corn husks. Careful with something as harsh as sand on aluminum parts.

Carb cleaner works pretty well at de-crudding smaller parts that you can immerse in it but be a little careful as it will take the paint off of things like the intercoolers.

Simple Green does a good job too. I used it to clean up the valley and had it looking new again before putting everything back together. A little of that and an old toothbrush works wonders on electrical connectors and other crevices.

Good luck!

PS. It's advisable to change those valley hoses while you have everything apart. They aren't too expensive and are a PITA to get to. Also a good idea to buy the plastic fitting piece too as it's common to break at that age when you remove the old hose.

Hoses
 

Changing the valley hoses is on the list of tasks. Speaking of hoses, the "friend" of the PO who tried to work on it managed to break the tiny plastic fitting for the hose at the top left corner of the radiator. I would rather not replace an entire radiator to make up for his ham handed work, so if anyone has successfully substituted another type of fitting at that location, suggestions are appreciated.

Cleaning things up will continue. I have been using Simple Green and the Awesome! (brand name) cleaner with some success. What I am looking for is a bit of underhood dress up, as well as clean parts to work with.

I think the next order of business is to turn the crank to be sure things are moving in the bottom end, and then perhaps it goes up on the stands to pop the oil pan cover. Then the heads will come apart to inspect the valves for any bent ones.

Speaking of the bottom end, has anyone on the forum pulled the structural pan (not the bearing cradle) to redo the rod bearings? I want to avoid pulling the motor and trans, given my limited space to work on one side of a double garage.

Where does one get hold of the tool I have seen to compress the valve springs?

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Keep them coming. :icon_banana:

TC

Interesting stuff - will watch progress with interest !!
Just a guess but ............. I think the inner-tube was used to lock-up the engine in order to (try and) remove the crankshaft pulley bolt. I have seen rope recommended - push as much as possible down a spark plug hole - but not a bicycle inner-tube although I guess that would have the same effect.
Cheers,
David.

I love the title "it followed me home" it's on a trailer:icon_clapclap:
I am a mechanic in my past life and this would be the perfect project! As you said the price was right so nothing ventured nothing gained.I once had a twin turbo 380 nissian? can't remember now but it was early 90's towed into the shop and it was brand new the owner had drove into a flooded road and ingested enough water to bend a rod stopping the engine from rotating.Of course no warranty but he took it to the dealer anyway,they stripped it down to nothing.I'm not sure what happened but when we got it there was box an
after box in the trunk and the trans was held up in place with a piece of angle iron. I don't think I made book time putting it back together but I had fun and it run fine after.I am sure from your comments you know what you are doing so good luck and keep the pics coming!

Randy

An update
 

It has been a while since my last post in this thread, as I have been gradually pulling things apart and cleaning. After disassembling the heads, I am happy to report there is no evidence of any valve contact with he pistons, not one bent valve or any damage one would expect from a chain tensioner failure.

It was clear the primary tensioner on the passenger side bank was inoperative, and the chain slack. Perhaps it skipped a tooth or two, and enough to make the car run badly and stall. The mechanic said the bottom end needed work, but it doesn't seem likely. Perhaps the noise they were hearing was the primary banging on the case. That would get my attention.

The heads are apart, and once cleaned up, I will put them together with new seals, etc. it is nice that all the valves look good, and the guides seem OK.

The poor folks who had this car thought it needed a full rebuild, and sold it because of that advice. It will probably end up where it really only needed the chains and tensioners done.

It's time to order parts and get it back together.

One question I have is concerning evidence of Nikasil issues. The car has 93k, and clearly still has the original engine. Should I see something in the cylinders that shows that specific problem? I would have thought it would have raised itself before that mileage.

Thanks!

TC