I just wanted to share my experience with the forum; I finally got "Craigslist Cat" (2001 XK8) back together without issue (edited videos to come) minus it denied me the first time start. (I had forgotten to connect the valley vacuum line to the throttle body; it was 1am) It started and idled great; I reset the ECM by touching both battery terminals together, and reset the TPS by turning the ignition to Position II without the engine on, and pressing the throttle to the kickdown twice slowly and holding for 5 seconds each.

Now, this car has had a rougher life. It only has 18,000 on the odo, and I can assure you of that after seeing the inside of the timing cover, cams, etc., but has obviously had a lot of sitting in its life. I took it out for a spirited drive, and it started choking on itself when I would give it a good amount of throttle, kicking down to lower gears or pushing it harder. I would say it would hesitate around 4,000 RPM or 60-75% throttle, start popping lightly and then just coast/maintain speed. It then threw codes P0171 and P0174 (lean banks 1 and 2) and the restricted performance message came up. It was on my list to change the fuel filter so I did, and the fuel filter was definitely original and was definitely difficult to blow through compared to a brand new one. I plan on driving it around much more this weekend but I'm pretty sure the filter did the trick.

Took it back out for a drive and was able to give it a full Italian tune up without any hesitation, choking, etc. Just thought I'd share to anyone that hasn't changed their filters! Definitely something to do, cheap insurance, and kinda scary to think it could lean out your engine...

 

I was watching then, I remember seeing you start it and it repeatedly stalled. Congratulations! How's the condition? That millage is insane.

 

Thank you, that was cool you were watching the live video. It was after 1am so I was sad it didn't fire right up, but as I was cleaning up, I remembered the vacuum line.

The engine runs great now with a new fuel filter. It needs some paint in areas and some of the interior bits worked on, but it drives nice. "Craigslist Cat" will probably never win any concourse show as the previous owner let it sit in the sun 24/7, but the mileage is truly insane. I will be editing a video together of all the content later.

 

Glad to see that the "wrong" filter I got for my 2004 was put to good use.

I gotta come by sometime to get a drive in this one.

 

Haha you know it; almost as if you knew a car that had been sitting that long might need a filter. The filter job is always fun as you have to catch a good amount of gas when switching over, but it went well.

It purrs like a Jaguar should now, still needs some "beautification" and some love to various other bits like alignment, a proper brake service and bleed, etc, but for what it is, super happy with my purchase!

We need to get them all together again!