Bought a 1997 XK8 for peanuts with a blown gearbox , the car is in lovely condition with XKR badges, wheels, kick plates grill etc.

It looks lovely, doesn't go anywhere but it looks nice

I may have discovered another problem today, the previous owner gave me a huge wad of bills one of which was a gearbox repair bill so I gave the garage a ring to see what had been done.

He knew the car well and told me the gearbox was goosed , then he asked if I knew about the engine problem, er what engine problem, it seems the big end bearings are on the way out , the engine sounds fine to me, 100k with full jaguar history up to 2007 then one independent service.

Is 100k all these engines are good for, is it worth reconditioning or should I look for a low mileage secondhand replacement.

I got it for a bargain price so even if I have to spend £2000 on it it'll still be cheap i'm just a bit surprised it has major engine and gearbox problems at 100k

 

Pretty much any time you buy a sportscar with over 50K on the clock there is a chance that a previous owner drove it like a lunatic.

There are quite a few older XK8s going for very little money at the moment. Which is somewhat illogical if you recon that the XK8 is every bit as much a classic as the highly soughts after XKE and has the significant advantage of actually being capable of working reliably. The E-type is many things, reliable was never one of them.

The 4.0l engine is the same one that went in the S-type so you have a good chance of finding a second hand unit that works for not too much money.

Another option would be to take it to a non-dealer garage and ask how much it would be to rebuild your existing unit. Its not like the cost of replacing the bearings is the parts, its the cost of stripping the engine down to get at them.

 

Hi Wack61,

If you do go the re-conditioned engine route, make sure the one you buy has had the cam chain tensioners replaced as well as the water pump. These were two trouble areas in the early 4.0 engines. You may want to try to find a 4.2 engine since that has had some more development on it, but will most likely command a premium price. Since you are in England, you can most likely find a transmission place that will re-do your trans for a reasonable price. You may want to check out the ads in Jaguar World.

Good luck,

Mike

 

It is my understanding swapping a 4.2L into a 4.0L car requires extensive changes. IMO it would much easier to stick w/ the 4.0L.

RE: Your question. IMHO it all depends on how much you paid for the car in the first place. If you got it cheap enough, then you can invest some money and have a great driver. If the rest of the car is nice, then I'd at least have a mechanic tear it down for a look at the crank, and rod bearings. If its too far gone button it up and get rid of it.

If its just cleaning up the bottom end, then go for it. A good used or rebuilt trans shouldn't be that big of a deal to find and install.

 

Thanks for the advice things may have taken a turn for the better, I was looking online for a gearbox , I found a few for between £600-£750 then I found a 4.0 engine from a 2001 XJ8 with the gearbox still attached for £700, 88,000 miles with full jag history so i'm going to have a look at it on Friday.

The XK8 is beautiful, it's a steel blue metallic , the bodywork is in very good order, a previous owner has made it look like an XK-R with all the badges, XK-R bonnet (hood) with the vents, 3 piece grille and door kick plates.

I'm reliably informed the engine from the later car will go in the only problems may be some sensor issues but hopefully they shouldn't be insurmountable so it's watch this space.

I went to the garage to have another look today, even sat on a ramp it puts a smile on my face.

My wife Lynne takes her 83 year old mother shopping once a week, Lynne hasn't seen the car yet, she said will my mum be able to get in it, umm

 

My 85 YO mom gets in it just fine. Getting out is the issue. I always go around an help her out of the car with no problem.

 

Well it's been a couple of weeks now so an update is in order I think

I picked the new engine and box up, a 400 mile round trip, I know 400 miles is a trip to the shops to you US owners but in the UK it's hard to drive 200 miles without hitting the sea

The old engine and box are out of the car , what a mess,there's no way the seller didn't know that engine had problems, the head gasket had blown but they kept driving it which is why the engine had a knock, 50% water, 50% oil doesn't make for good bottom end lubrication.
It's also been standing for a while, there was that much water in the engine the tips of the cams have gone rusty

In comparison the new engine is gleaming, spotless inside, it still has the plastic tensioners and guides which will be getting replaced as the cams have to come out to be replaced with the old ones as the new engine has VVT cams and the old one doesn't .

The next question is how far do I go, i'm replacing the chains, guides, tensioners and gaskets etc with the kit here

http://www.britishparts.co.uk/.sc/ms...0SERVICE%20KIT

I have 2 of everything starter A/C pump water pump alternator so do I replace any of it with brand new parts, the water pump on the old engine looks new so i'm tempted to leave it alone

thermostat, are these troublesome on V8s , the starter looks a pig to change with the engine in the car but I know the one in there works

hmmm what to do

 

I would still replace the plastic impeller water pump w/ a metal one. Also it is not the thermostat itself which is a problem, but the t-stat housing. Again it is plastic and the after market upgrades are aluminum. Doing both with the engine out would be very easy indeed. gordo

 

Thanks Gordo, I've taken your advice and ordered a water pump and alloy thermostat housing as well , another £100 but it's worth it to know they're done

 

Please post some Pictures, before - during and after. Sounds like you are going to have a GREAT cat when you are finished....Good Luck

 

I'm afraid the before ship has sailed we're at the during stage now, i'm taking the camera to the garage tomorrow to photograph it as proof it's been done should I sell the car in the future.

It's not all plain sailing though, I ordered a full tensioner kit this morning , an hour later I got a phone call saying some parts are out of stock so I canceled and started searching elsewhere, one of the suppliers told me I may struggle to find all the parts in one place as jaguar have fallen out with the company that makes the parts ,they're not making any at the moment over payment issues with jaguar, phoning a couple of other suppliers I found the same story .

One guy gave me a phone number and I found a kit in stock 250 miles away, the original kit was £380 inc gaskets , this one is £460 excluding gaskets but at least it's coming tomorrow

Good job I bought the car cheap as it's starting to rack up now

I could have saved £500 by not doing the tensioners as the ones in there aren't cracking but then there's that nagging doubt every time you drive it

 

You'll want to do the Secondary Tensioners. Both sets of chains and the Primary Tensioners are less important.

 

I don't believe it, I just ordered the parts needed for delivery tomorrow, the 12 piece tensioner kit was £395 + vat @ 15% roughly £460 + £12 delivery , I just looked on ebay and found the same kit , genuine jaguar parts for £280 inc delivery, there was an option to make an offer so I offered £250 and won the auction.

Luckily in the UK we have something called the distance selling regulations, I have 7 days to return the expensive ones for a full refund so i'm now £220 better off.

 

Very fortunate, sounds like your plans are coming together nicely. Keep us updated please.

 

I will

 

US owners have discovered that the Jaguar 4.0 engine was used in several years of Lincoln LS production. Therefore, parts are available from the local Ford store at prices half of online Jaguar prices. The parts come in Ford boxes with 'Jag' after the Ford part number.

I ordered just the secondary tensioners and the associated bolts for about $120 shipped. The valve cover seals would add about $120 shipped.

Here is the list of Ford part numbers for both primary and secondary that has been circulating for about a year:

PART NUMBER
1 2W9Z-6268-AA BELT (chain)
2 2W9Z-6268-BA BELT (chain)
3 2W9Z-6L266-AA TENSIONER (primary)
4 2W9Z-6L253-AA TENSIONER (primary)
5 2W9Z-6K254-BA TENSIONER (secondary)
6 2W9Z-6K254-CA TENSIONER (secondary)
7 2W500301-S300 SCREW
8 2W9Z-6K297-AB GUIDE
9 3W4Z-6584-AB GASKET
10 3W4Z-6584-BB GASKET
11 2W9Z-6700-AA SEAL AS
12 2W9Z-6020-AA GASKET
13 2W9Z-6020-BA RING

 

I've decided to go the whole hog, tensioners, guides, waterpump, alloy thermostat housing and new thermostat and all new seals.

I hope it runs OK after all this

Bit of a mess


The enine is mint inside, the mechanic had another engine on the bench but I had to find out if it had the plastic tensioners so took the covers off where it sat.



he'll be removing the cams from the old 1997 engine and putting them in the 2001 engine so everything works, I know there's a cam setting tool which cost about £60, will he need this if he's swapping the cams or is this just for when you're changing the chains and tensioners.

I could do without spending £60 on a tool I know i'll never use again but if I must then i'll have to.

It looks really simple, are the dimensions available, has anyone made their own

 

i know this is off subject but how hard would it be if you put a 4.2 motor in?
http://www.britishparts.co.uk/.sc/ms...ENGINE%20MOUNT
if i understand this right the engine mounts are the same? i know there is alot more to take in hand but it seems if your going to put another engine in why not just put the 4.2 in your going to go through all that work anyway?

 

I have heard the issue of replacing a 4.0 w/ 4.2 is related to engine control and transmission electronics. The physical replacement of the engine would probably be straightforward with only a few differences easily remedied with substitute parts.

 

I bought the 2001 year 4.0 engine and gearbox for £700 which was an absolute steal, they usually make in the region of £1200 for the engine and £600 for the box , if I started looking down the 4.2 route I think id be looking at £3000 for an engine and box , it also makes it a non standard car which leads to loads of insurance woes.

As it stands now I should have a running car for very little money, in the UK the plates date the age of the car, I have a dateless plate , with that on it the car looks like 20K worth.