I occasionally smell gas in my 2003 XKR convertible. Not constant but occasionally



I checked the fuel pressure regulator on the passenger side fuel rail but did not see any leaks

are there any known areas that are prone to leaking?

 

Unfortunately yes. Check the dampeners, there is one per side, midway along each fuel rail. The dampener (or seal) seem to deteriorate with age and occasionally leak, especially on colder days. PITA to fix.

There is a fuel temp sensor on the other rail that is worth checking as well, but I don't believe they are a problem part.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Mechanic just called

says it needs new fuel rails. Only one leaks but have to buy pair

furnish and install $3000

For sale sign on it at car show this weekend

 

2 of us had the same problem and resolved without any negative effects. 1 removed the dampers and soldered plugs in the cups and I removed the cups and had the holes Tig Welded closed. Either way works but in same situation, I would have plugs machines and soldered into the cups. The dampers are not required for proper operation and there are no ill effects for removing them. The rail material is difficult to Tig Weld due coating and composition. The O-Rings that appear to cause leaks are the same size as the lower injector O-Rings.

 

This is an incorrect assessment. Jaguar does not offer dampeners for XK8/Rs, but offers them for the S-Type 4.2L, same engine. For the XK8, they say you need a new set of rails, but they are no-longer-available AFAIK. There are a few options:

• See if you want to take a chance with new o-rings. It is a tricky situation as these dampeners are reputedly hard to press back on the rail.
• Find new (or reconditioned, check eBay) dampeners with new o-rings and see how that goes.
• Have a skilled shop weld the (stainless steel?) openings to the dampeners shut. Apparently hard to seal off on the first try. Might require several iterations of plug, cap, etc.

There are several threads of discussions/pictures/results on this forum. This is a frustrating issue without a "simple" resolution, but that many have resolved.

 

You are correct According to the repair shop the file rail is not available from Jaguar. They located a used one so I am going tp proceed with the repair.

 

Is it worth it to put the defective fuel rail on eBay? I am not sure of the mode of failure ( I'll ask the shop when I pick it up) but from above replies looks like it may be repairable. If no longer available from Jag maybe be worth something to someone.

 

The shop said the old fuel rail is not repairable. Each rail has an oscillator or dampener about the size of quarter. The are not removable and leak. Therefore I trashed them rather than offer on eBay

Randy