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Made some progress today, in between the autumn rains. l noticed a few things that may assist those that follow.
Before you put the cam clamp bars on, put a dab of grease or assembly lube on the cam flats, with the spread you can be sure that you have them flat.
Your kit will probably contain 4 bolts, these are for the primary tensioners as the mounting tower is shorter. DO NOT USE the originals they are too long.
The safety pins on the secondary tensioners are plastic, i can see them breaking so take some load off with a lever while pulling the pin.
Found out that there was a different bolt size used for outer chain guide securing bolt on bank A, The 1999 XK8 is a M10, some of the later heads are M8. The good news is its tapped into a closed void so you can drill and tap it in place, not ideal but not the end of the world.
l noticed that the chains are very very snug in the aforementioned outer tensioner width wise, it may be due to the aftermarket parts it dont think its the end of the world i will just do another oil change after a couple hundred kms on top of the shortly after it runs again one.
All things being equal it will be back together tomorrow.................................running and or running right on the other hand
Well that didnt last long. After siesta, and fully understanding the risks of bore wash my curiosity got the better of me;
Car started within a couple of seconds (it had already had 4 x 15 secs of cranking for oil and 3 fuel pump cycles) ran it for about 20 seconds and gave it a couple of tiny blips to about 2k rpm runs great, which did get a howling YESSSSSSSSS from me.
Went for the first long/ish drive this morning about 100kms. Yesterday i got the P0706 code on the first drive, i then found the battery was very low, battery was charged code was cleared and has not returned. Today on the homeward 50kms the Traction control/abs warning disappeared and a while later a P0455 appeared. So currently im not going to get too excited beyond fiddling with the gas cap and doing the ABS module repair as the car sat for years and hopefully this is sticky rather than stuck and may disappear with use ahahaha, only to be replaced by others.
The motor seems fine at the very least after 130kms the oil and coolant are separate and living inside the engine. Going to change the oil again as see what we see.
A little more progress.
l repaired the ABS module by re soldering the ABS motors power poles. Mine was a little different and seemed to have a protective rubber coating that needed dealing with. The lights and warning messages are now gone, and i have operating abs and traction control systems. Being that i had messed with the integrity of the system it seemed like a good time to flush the brakes and whilst the wheels where off a good time to service the calipers and lube the half shaft UJs.....a gentle day later.
One thing i did notice was that under magnification the soldered joints on the power poles where not fractured like the pictures online, more a very feint grey tide mark.
Next on the list, hood, the full ''Renovo treatment'' a light cut, polish and ceramic coat on the body
Re finished the hood with 3 stage ''Renovo'' system from the UK, very happy with that, followed by very light cut and polish. l figured out why the hood latch light was on, a washer was in one of the latch wells, left there by the ''shop'' that dealt with the initial burst line, i love these sort of things, makes me wonder what other Mickey Mouse repairs have been done. Having done around 500kms i did a compression test and all within 12psi of each other, good enough.
Anyhoo, the reward, no lights of misery and imminent fiscal pain. Next trans and diff fluid swaps.
l thought i would take a leaf out of the Jon89 and crbass book and do a little preventative maintenance on my earth points in the boot. Having taken all the carpet out i noticed that the void near the vent baffle behind the rear wheel on the left side was completely full to the bottom of the baffle with dust as fine as cement dust (baffle removed in pic)
lts not the first time ive come across something like this, going through the recipts of the car the second owner 2006-2010 lived on a RR (range road) in Alberta which here in Canada are compacted clay/gravel/dirt. The corrosion is a result of the damp air in southern BC where it lived for 10 years. lve cleaned it out and chemical treated it. l will repair it properly in the winter when i pull the car apart a little for some cavity wax treatment.
So, if you are in Canada, US, South Africa, or New Zealand and dont know the history of your car it might be worth a check, probably not going to happen if you live in deepest darkest Sussex for instance,
Took the Jag out for a bit of a proper test of highway and city with a lot of stop start in the middle, about 340kms in total. Car ran well temp floats between 86 and 90c on the highway. 90 and 93c around town and at 95 at a very long light the fan kicked in and stayed on until 88c. Happy with that.
Did a ATF exchange, that had never been changed, the difference was noticeable. The car is now in sport mode, and J gate used on occasion for some gentle hooning, i do think though that the displayed 29.6mpg is a little on the hopeful side.
Differing to my parts guys book i ended up with plugs gapped at 1.1mm, i found my idle to be a bit lumpy so i re gapped them to 1.3mm, problem solved.
lm not getting any EVAP codes anymore but it still isnt 100%, the best way i can explain it is that it will run smooth as silk for 8kms or so and then for a km or so it will be every so slighty off, the only similar feeling ive had was in my 2005 Jeep GC with a 5.7 hemi, that used to go into fuel saving mode, like that, but not enough to throw a code hateful. Soooo, theres no avoiding it im going to have to ''explore'' the EVAP system, starting at the back with a pipe inspection and replacing the 2 o rings at the canister ends. Oh Joy.
