So, down to brass tacks. I seek info on engine replacement for what I believe is a 2001 XK8 convertible. I know little about the car, as it actually belongs to my father's lady friend. My understanding is she let a relative drive the car who had no more sense than to continue driving with little to no oil. At this time, extent of damage is not known, as the car has been sitting for over a year (Having just had it towed here, we haven't had an opportunity to try to crank it, as the battery is toast).

Basic research indicates there were two engines available -- supercharged and N/A, and I gather that there was some sort of mid-year change, possibly due to the cylinder lining problem I have read about, not sure if that applies to this model. Not 100% sure it is a 2001, just going off of what I've been told about it. At any rate, the mid-year change apparently makes it necessary to source an engine based on the engine block numbers. This car in question, is N/A, have not found the engine numbers yet to determine early or late production. Can anyone help with locating them?

This car is absolutely beautiful even with the dinginess of sitting in the weather for over a year. I can certainly understand Jag afficionados' appreciation for them. I wouldn't mind having one myself. It's certainly worth fixing, but therein lies the rub. I have heard and read plenty about vehicles such as the likes of Jaguar, Mercedes, etc., being specialized and requiring special tools for certain jobs. Also, my father is used to pulling engines out the top of the engine bay, and this thing looks like it is crammed in there way too tight for that. Looks like a drop-and-swap bottom-loader to me, but I could be wrong.

At any rate, if the subframe and transmission must be removed with the engine mounted through the bottom, this may not be a DIY job. Hopefully I'm not overthinking this, but I would hate to see my old man get well into the process and get stuck, and unable to find anyone to help finish the job. Would like to know if any special tools or equipment are required that would not be necessary for your average Ford, Chrysler, or GM. (My father hails from the days when you could sit down in the engine bay next to the engine and work on it, his forte is Detroit's finest with American V8s. I am hoping that his thought process of 'an engine is an engine' is not flawed in this situation. I know that some applications and manufacturers require special tools for such jobs.

I also would like to familiarize myself with this engine, as it reminds me somewhat of a late-model Ford modular of that vintage, though I doubt they are related. It only crossed my mind because as far as I know, Ford and Jaguar were pretty entwined back then, making it a reasonable assumption that some interchangeability was engineered.

Any answers to any of these and any other related questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Anomaly,

Welcome to the forum. Lots of info on the AJ-V8 Engine here on this forum. Check the permanent Stickies threads at the top of the list of threads. I advise you to start with the Excellent Car Bible (link below) which is for the whole car.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-bible-177827/

There are so Engine Guides and workshop manuals in the Stickies.Pay particular attention to the finding the right Electrical Guide for your MY car as wiring varied between the 3 Generations of the car. I suspect you have Gen2.

With your MY 2001 I suspect you have the AJ27 NA engine model, which is a fuel injected DOHC engine with VVT, steel cam chains and a serpentine belt for ancillaries. The engine label number is next to the cooling tower or on the side of the engine block on one of the ribs (not visible so will need a camera etc).

Key question - Are you going for a engine tear down and rebuild or are you thinking of installing a reconditioned engine?

On my 99 XK8 NA, I haven’t had to remove the engine, so can’t advise on the best approach. However it’s possible to inspect a lot of things in situ, so maybe start there and later consider Engine out if needed.

Some pictures would help fellow forum members who can chime in and you can upload pictures to this thread. Wait until the upload is 100percent and upload button turns black before pressing.

 

Yes, as David said above, why do you want to drop a new engine in ? Have the secondary chain tensioners gone and caused traumatic damage ? Has a loss of oil caused damage ? The Nikasil engine is really not a problem unless some damage has occurred. If the secondary cam chain tensioners have not been replaced then that is definitely something to be done, but the engine replacement might not be necessary.

 

You could find out more about the specific car from its VIN. (Post it if you like.)

 

As someone who has fairly recently pulled the transmission and did the timing chain work, I was probably another hour away from having the engine out if I so desired, I am sure your fathers skills are transferrable here.

This is my first car that I have worked on that was fuel injection, prior to this I had always worked on something from the 70's.

There were a few new connection types that I had not seen before for fuel lines, A/C lines, and electrical connections.
But other than that, very few things have changed over the years.


DOHC had existed for all of his life and saw increased adoption rates in the 80's.
Same can be said for fuel injection, it is not new technology, nor has it been recently adopted.


I was able to just dig into this engine without any guides and just make sense of it by guesswork and transferrable experience from working on other engines.
I have no doubt your father will likewise be able to figure it out.


I didn't actually go through with pulling the engine, I was looking at replacing the engine mounts, but it appeared that you could just lift it up and out the engine bay with no problem. Just need to remove the hood and pick the spots that you bolt the chain to carefully.


Can anyone who has actually removed the engine chime in on whether my suspicions are correct or not?
If i remember correctly the whole game would be whether or not the headers would fit by the shock towers.

 

Thanks for all the replies -- keep them coming!
SAJDA42C41NA15154. I am familiar with the typical US 17-digit VIN structure and decoding, but I am not sure if Jaguar used the same system.
As I said in my initial post, all I know is hearsay at this point. At this time, we've only looked the car over to look for the battery so we can try cranking to assess the damage. We don't even know at this point if the engine will even crank over, much less start and run. My understanding is this lady let her grandson drive the car and he not only never checked the fluids, he continued to drive with the oil warning light on. That is the extent of my knowledge of serious engine damage or lack thereof. I am aware that some Jags had timing chain and tensioner problems, seems to be a trend with OHC / DOHC engines that have chains, no matter the manufacturer. Maybe the Japanese were on to something with the idea of belts, though it doesn't make me hate timing belts any less. LOL.

Hopefully, replacement will not be necessary, but with my understanding of the car's history, it is quite likely. No engine goes for very long without oil pressure, even a pricey one. And while it is common for engine problems to develop that aren't so serious as they seem, I can tell you this from experience. I once bought a car that the previous owner gave up on for a song. It ran poorly and had been run over by a semi trailer. I figured f I couldn't fix it, it was worth the $75 I paid for it in scrap. The engine fired and ran with a dead miss, but it drove home, leaking coolant the whole way. However, an afternoon with a tree and a come-along, a front clip from a junker, a cheap DIY putty kit to repair the radiator, new plugs and wires, and I drove the car for 2 years.

Another non-runner I picked up, the owner indicated it had 'a cracked head gasket', so I presumed from that stage the engine was no good. While I was picking up the replacement engine, the mechanic I was using called to say the original had seized. Once the original engine had been replaced and refilled with coolant, he discovered the heater core was leaking, which had caused the overheating. So with a car you've never laid eyes on before, you really don't know what you're going to find. Sometimes the deeper you dig, the more problems you find.

But I digress. We are in the unique position of not only having limited intel from the owner, they weren't even the one driving the car when it developed problems, nor are they necessarily savvy to what noise means what, or what could or could not have happened just yet. Unfortunately, all bets are off until the trunk is opened to replace the battery so the engine can be spun over. Would this car have a remote release that isn't electric, and if so, where? My father had the key the day it was towed here to make sure the windows were closed, but he seems to have forgotten where he put it.

Your final statement here is exactly the kind of thing I'm concerned about. Many vehicles built since the 1980s are much easier to remove the engine out the bottom, if it will even come out topside. I once had a friend who drove himself insane with a Honda for hours until I looked at it and realized what he was working on was not coming out the top. And that was a simple alternator replacement. An Impala I used to own required dropping the power steering pump out through the wheel well. I'm not second-guessing my father's skills here at all, he's certainly proven his knowledge and ability on many a vehicle, including a few of my own. I am simply concerned that he is going to get in the home stretch and realize it's not coming out the way he thought. It's likely to be difficult to find someone else to touch it after it's been pulled apart by someone unknown to them.

The latest model engine replacement my father had to deal with was an '87 Chevrolet Blazer and the last one was an '84 Buick Regal, as far as I know. So while this engine's technology probably has not changed much from that era, cars certainly have, and this thing appears to have been installed from the bottom as part of a sub-frame / powertrain assembly, which usually makes it easier (or necessary) to remove it in the same fashion.

So, just to clarify, no specialty dealer-only tools required for any part of the job on this car?

 

Basic research on the forum shows this thread https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...emoval-167036/ which indicates that a couple of forum users have pulled the engine from the top, and someone has also done it from the bottom as wel.

The only "specialty" tools that i needed but didn't have for working on this engine was a set of hose clamp pliers, crankshaft locking tool, and camshaft locking tool.

Crank and camshaft locking tools used for setting timing if you are to service the timing chain tensioners.

 

You can lift the engine out from the top. Tight but very do-able. Did one on a 2000 xk8 convertible. It took a day and a half to complete. We did have a lift to be able to do the underside work.
They are worth saving if you are going to keep her. You will not recoup the investment. Do it for love or give it up.
Good luck

 

When you did that one, did you unbolt the exhaust where the headers join the pipes, or where they join the head?

Obviously those would not be necessary when putting a complete used engine back in, but I presume it would be smart to service the tensioners on a used replacement. Should this be done before it goes in the car, or does it have to be in the car to do it right?