EDIT: apparently, the engine noise is normal cranking for the XK8 and isn't the issue. But I'm still stuck with an engine that cranks, but won't start after replacing my power steering pump.

ORIGINAL POST: I just finished changing the power steering pump on my 97 XK8. No pleasure, but finished. Car ran OK, other than the failure of the power steering pump main gasket, when I brought it into the garage. After 3 weeks of working a bit at a time and waiting for parts, new pump is fully installed, fluid at proper level after moving wheel lock-to-lock with engine off several times, and I have double-checked serpentine belt routing and that the new pump pulley/belt are spinning. Tried to start the car (battery fully charged by trickle charger while the car sat), and it won't turn over. Attached audio recording is the unusual sound that the engine is making while it cranks. Other than the power steering pump, I've not touched anything else under the hood, so I'm stumped. Any suggestions would be much appreciated because, lacking a good idea of something to check, I'm going to have to tow it to a shop.

 

When I read "unusual sound" I was expecting to hear the clatter of valves meeting pistons from a failed tensioner.

Fortunately that simply sounds like an engine almost firing and then failing. It's either not getting fuel or it's got too much and the plugs are wet. If you have a code reader, this could show some relevant codes. If not, check for fuel pressure at the rail and then check plug(s).

Put the tow on hold for the moment. You should be able to resolve this one.

Graham

 

Jeff, did you hit the fuel pressure valve on the fuel rail to check for pressure?
If it hasn't been changed the fuel pump would be my first place to look.

 

Your 1997 is a Nikasil engine and this information should help narrow the problem.

Link. JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

Gus
JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

First off...."won't turn over" means the engine will not crank. Your engine was "turning over" but didn't fire up. Maybe this is like the boot vs trunk issue and I didn't mean to sound like a **** jerk, but terminology helps paint the picture.
I'll suspect that you bumped a connector or something while working. TM

 

Thank you all for the responses. So, first off, I apologize for my use of "turn over" being inaccurate. I'm sure that TM is correct, and thanks for the lesson.

To me, the engine cranking sounded "off," but I've never had occasion to listen to this engine crank for any period of time without starting. Other engines that I've heard cranking without starting sounded quite different, but my other experience is mostly on a Pontiac and a Porche that I've owned and worked on extensively in the past. So, if this is a normal sounding crank for my engine, that's very helpful to know, thanks.

I should clarify that, unlike many forum members who are skilled mechanics with a lot of XK8 expertise, I would never begin to describe myself a car mechanic. Changing parts is within my expertise, but for anything beyond that, I usually won't do it without "adult" supervision by someone who really knows what they are doing. I've been pushing my limits a bit with some projects that I've undertaken with my XK8, a couple of which I've posted on the forum to help others, as I believe in paying it forward for all of the help the forum gives me. The power steering pump is something that I only decided to try after reading a few detailed procedural posts on the forum. I was actually planning to post my experience with this job for other novice mechanics because I wanted to share a few things that I learned along the way that might help others who decide to try this job.

Other than the almost impossible access, changing the power steering pump on this car isn't too difficult. But the almost impossible access is just that, and it may have been my downfall. To get the pump in/out and disconnect hoses, I had to move the wire shown below out of the way, and I put a good bit of tension on it when I pulled it away from the power steering pump area. I also disconnected the connector in the front of the engine so that I could pull the wire up above the valve cover, making the area in front and to the side of the pump clear for access (I did the entire job from the top of the engine). I'm not sure what this part of the harness or connector do, but based on the comments above, it sounds like it's directly related to the engine electronics and that I've likely damaged something by pulling on it since the connector at the front of the engine appears to be properly reinstalled. I'm now wondering if I put enough tension on that harness to have broken a wire or connection inside, and if so, do I need a code reader to diagnose that, given that I have no idea where the wire ends up on either side? I contemplated purchasing a code reader, but I've never been able to decide whether I truly need something that's got Jaguar specific codes vs. a generic model that I could also use on my other vehicles.

I tried starting the car again this morning, and I thought that it blew a fuse in the box over the driver's side front wheel (heard a pop and saw a small puff of smoke) while cranking. But, I verified that all of the fuses are still good, so not sure what caused what sounded like an electrical "pop." With all of this additional information, any help from a real mechanic would be much appreciated. If I need a code reader to go further, recommendations on one to buy?

 

On Fire (I hope that's just for fun), no judgement or criticism here. I was trying to clarify. No matter how much of a bada$$ someone is, there is always a badder a$$ somewhere. Same with mechanics. LOL I admire your diligence. We all learn something new all the time.
I'm sure someone on this forum knows exactly what that wire is and that will answer some questions. I'm still learning my car so I can't answer that one. Looks awful clean under that bonnet for a 23 year old car. TM

 

Borrowed a code reader from AutoZone and got the following codes:
P1396 Variable Valve Timing Solenoid B Circuit
P1336 Crankshaft/Camshaft Sensor Range/Performance

So, from a novice perspective, it appears that the wiring that I've apparently disturbed relates to VVT on the driver's side per the diagram below, which is generating the P1396 and the misfire/fail to start is generating the P1336 code. Wondering if the puff of smoke and pop that I experienced was the VVT solenoid frying or a short in the VVT wiring from the tension that I pulled on it. From this video it appears that I can disconnect the VVT altogether, and the car should still be able to start, and I can test the VVT solenoid with a 12v source applied directly to the contacts. Is that correct?

Assuming the VVT itself isn't the issue, is the next step in diagnosis attempting to remove the sheathing from the harness to inspect the wires and connectors for possible shorts or disconnects?

 

Wouldn't hurt to start with inspecting the suspect wires. From your description of events, I think you may have damaged those wires.
If it starts with a disconnected VVT then you're on to something. Go research. TM

 

First did you have the battery disconnected when you pulled the plugs? Is your battery fully charged?

The xk8 is known not to like the process of removing plugs without first disconnecting the battery and it likes it less when the battery is low this will cause false codes.

Your 1997 xk8 is equipped with a Nikasil block that it subject to cylinder washing when the car is started and shut down before it has time to go up to operating temperature. All of that is explained in the link I provided. I listened to your audio of the car cranking and it sounds to me that you have little or no compression and that is the result of cylinder washing.

I am not saying you might not have another issue due to your R&R of the power steering pump but chances are you may have more than one problem now.

If it were me I would charge the battery read and jot the codes down and not what your reader says they mean and clear your codes then try to start the car. If the same codes come back start checking your wiring.

 

No start without VVT. So, I'm looking towards camshaft position sensor wiring. I think wires at this location might have been pulled too hard, and the P1336 camshaft code might be the culprit preventing the engine from starting. I found a photo stating that it was of the camshaft position sensor on the XJ forum that looks very similar to what I'm seeing on my XK8 in the photos below. My photos below are taken on the left side of the car, looking below the oil dipstick. In the second photo, I think that a wire at the entrance to the device at the arrow on the bottom photo may have been pulled out. But, what I've read in other posts, indicates that the camshaft position sensor is on the front of the engine. This area is very difficult to access, so I don't want to go pulling anything else apart to get to it before confirming that it might relate to the camshaft position sensor code.

 

Thanks Gus, I did not disconnect the battery when I pulled the VVT plug (the only one that I removed), but I keep the battery on a trickle charger whenever it's in the garage, and it was fully charged when I tried to start it. I did look over the link that you sent (very informative), but perhaps too simplistically assumed that, because the car ran fine when I pulled it into the garage, it was likely something to do with the R&R I did on the power steering pump and pulling pretty hard on that wire when moving it out of the way. The "pop" and smoke that I saw coming from the vicinity of the suspect wire during cranking this morning suggests that my problem relates to my screw up by pulling the wires. Cylinder washing wouldn't seem to cause anything like that if I've properly understood what you provided, but I may certainly be proven wrong.

 

Jeff,

The following diagrams may help to identify the harness and connectors you moved and the sensors possibly affected:







As an aside, I must mention just how impressive the engine bay is for 23 years old - it looks like new!

Graham

 

I promptly printed those diagrams for future reference. Thanks, TM

 

It wouldn't hurt to dram the cylinders with a little oil and crank it. You may be over thinking this. Bore wash on Nikasil engines is not uncommon. BTW, it does look in good shape for a 1997.

 

Thanks for the diagrams. My Internet research has yielded quite a library's worth of info. on this car, and I recall seeing these at some point, I think the the full technical guide and the separate engine/transmission technical guide (I found a full .pdf copy that I've run through OCR so that it is word searchable that I'm happy to share via PM with anyone who wants it). Sadly, the diagrams you shared and the many others I've gone haven't shown any details on this part, at least not that I've found. My plan for today is to double check fuses in the other fuse boxes that are engine related, check the fuel emergency shutoff, and peel some of the wire loom heading to this connector to see if I can identify it by color against the wiring diagram.

Re the engine, this car has always been garage kept, and hasn't been driven in rain or snow in at least the 20 years that I and the prior owner have had it. I bought it a couple years ago when the prior owner, my neighbor who had it for 16 years and only put 20,000 miles on it, decided to add to his Corvette collection and ran out of garage space. I too use it as a nice day driver and have only put 1,000 miles/year on it. So, it's now up to 66,000. When I got it, I put it through a full-fluids maintenance, including the convertible top, changed the fuel filter, updated maintenance for everything else per the schedule, repaired a lot of loose upholstery on the door panels and windshield frame, rebuilt the stereo system, added bluetooth/backup camera and a bunch of other odds and ends. He told me that the tensioners and trans fluid were done when he got it at around 45,000 miles, so sans the latest debacle with the power steering pump blowing and not being able to start it at the moment, it's in pristine as/new condition. All of the other neighborhood baby boomers with collector cars have Mustangs or Vettes. But from my vantage point, the XK8 is like driving a Picasso, which stands out from the crowd and takes me to a "happy place" on a sunny day with the top down. So, yes, I've got the XK8 bug, and it more than fulfills my desire to tinker with a car now and then!

 

Hate to put a spanner in the works but I think this is something very simple. Under the car not too far from the steering is the earth strap. Remove the strap. Polish the connection/bolt points with some heavy glass paper and try again. Will see if I can dig out a photo.

 

Here you go. Close to the steering isnt it?

Click the link to jump to the photo.

https://www.jaguarforum.com/showthre...=1#post1064920

 

Here is my similar story of my non start................... https://www.jaguarforum.com/showthre...=1#post1064865

 

Thanks to all for the continued support by private messages and on the post. I'm buying into the issue of cylinder wash as being the possible cause because I did start/stop the car once quickly when working on the PS to move the steering. My plan is to get a loaner compression tester from AutoZone to check if compression is low on one or two cylinders. If so, I'll proceed with the cylinder wash procedure that Gus provided JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource. If not, I'll report back. I've never done a compression test before, but I'm assuming that I should pull the fuel pump fuse/relay to avoid putting even more gas into the cylinders while running the test. If that doesn't end up solving the problem, I'll pursue the other suggestions that y'all have offered. The support is much appreciated, and before this is done, you all will have helped me to expand out of my longstanding comfort zone with respect to my mechanic abilities!