Hello,

I have a 05 Jaguar S-type 4.2 with 79K miles on it. I took it to the mechanic and I was informed that I needed new coils and spark plugs. The mechanic suggested that I change all the coils and spark plugs just to prevent from having to come back again. Regarding the overheating he suggested that I change the coolant tank. The total damage is about $1,300 (New York). I looked on Youtube and this seems simple enough for me to do it myself. By no means have I ever changed anything like this in my life but it seems simple enough (not rocket science). I would like to know if anyone had any suggestions on what else to change since I will be opening up parts already. I have a list of things I wan't to change please let me know if you agree and if you suggest a certain brand. Please note that I have no experience in this at all.

Spark Plugs - Denso Iridium Spark Plugs Jaguar 4.2L or NGK??
Coils (all 8) - suggestions on brand??
Coolant Tank - suggestions on brand?
S-type Genuine Engine Cylinder Head Gasket
Jaguar Low-Temp Thermostat Performance
Jaguar 4.2L V-8 Water Pump & Gasket
K&N Air Filter
Mina Gallery Performance Intake Kit

 

I would do a bit of search on here to get more familiar with what's needed. Look up DCCV you might be interested in changing that?
.
.
.

 

Welcome JMR. Relax, we'll get you through this as economicall and accurately as possible. Ditto, replacing the coils and plugs doesn't require rocket science, pretty straight forward I might add. You can use Lincoln LS coils, as thay are less expensive and thought to be less problematic. The coils are COP (coils over plug), meaning, they are directly attached to the plugs and pull off after removing the wire harness from each one. From here a plug socket with extension is inserted down the plug well to unscrew the plugs. A mechanic performed this for me, so I'll allow others to help from here. If you can turn a wrench then this process will be a reasonable place for you to begin in your Jag's upkeep.

 

I just did the;

sprak plugs
DCCV
Valve cover gaskets, kit and bolts
Cabin Air
KNN
Serpentine belt
Supercharger belt
Cabin air filter
Front brakes
rear brakes
oil change
and a few other things, I will be updating my thread tonight and put in parts and prices where I got everything.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...s-belts-70853/





So u have never worked on any cars?.
Do you have any tools available to you?
Have you turned a wrench or done any type of work on your car?
Do you fix things around the house; are you pretty good with your hands?
Have you every done an oil change on your stype or any car?

The answer to these questions will give you as well as us and idea of your background with cars/mechanical repairs.

As everyone else said it is easy to do, and straight-ford, but many of us have been working on our own car for years, and are car enthusiast.

Not to scare you but here is a quick/long story, A friend of mine who never worked on any his cars or anything for that matter, except for one time he and I worked together to change a sink out in his house, I walked him through it, we used my tools everything went fine.

Then one day he tells me he thinks it is time for him to do the front disk brakes on his Acura, I tell him it is pretty straight forward job, I sat by and watch him and I guided him through the process on one side, he did one side prefect, as I am talking him through each step, so I tell him to go ahead and do the other-side(which was almost done). I walk into his house, about 20 minutes later he comes in and tells me there a problem.. I go outside to see he snapped the caliper bolt by over tighten it. When I asked him about it he said he just kept turning it becuase he thought it would go tighter. I should have had my torque wrench out for him, and gave him the run down on it, but i didn't. Anyhow, of course the caliper bolt was very special bolt design, and was metric. I send him to the local hardware store to see if he can get a bolt that will work, he could not find one. The next day I look in my extra metric bolt bin and find one that will fit the bill, so he did not have to go to the dealer to buy one. Anyways long story short, if he had to do his plugs and coils he could probably do it, but there is always a chance to messing something up.

You have already checked out the youtube video on changing out the plugs take, depending on how you feel about doing it, I would say go for it, just take your time and if you have questions, post a quick message to members here and we will do our best to help you.

 

I'd want to investigate the overheating. Easily my #1 concern. Changing plugs etc is not going to fix it. Could be the thermostat (but need not be). I wouldn't fit a low temp one. If it's not the thermostat then I'd really worry.

I'd also read the codes (*). A cheap OBD tool will do that. Much cheaper than changing lots of parts. The codes may help with why it overheats.

(*) well, the ones of immediate concern here, which are in the PCM (there are about a dozen more modules but for now ignore them as you need a fairly expensive tool to read those)

 

Regarding the overheating is the fluid level in the coolant tank low does it lose water, I agree with JagV8 this is the most important task to be done first, he suggested the thermostat, but the mechanic you took the car too, said coolant tank, so I was trying to find out if it was overheating due to water loss or not

 

I'm going to guess that your mechanic picked up on that and presumed that the bulge in your pants was a fat wallet that was ripe for the picking.

At 79K miles you don't need or want new plugs or coils. They're good for at LEAST 100K unless one of them has suffered a premature failure. You made no mention of any engine ignition difficulties other than a 'misfiring'. More details please.

You also don't want or need any of the other engine related things like gaskets and water pumps, unless there's additional issues that you haven't mentioned. The 'performance' items are a waste of money IMHO, but there's some that disagree.

Concentrate on the overheating issue for now by determining which component is at fault (possibly the coolant tank) and go from there.

 

^ what he says

But when you get a chance find out the codes.

 

I had it looked at by another mechanic. He cleared out the 11 codes that appeared and the check engine light went away and the codes have not come back yet (he kept the car for 3 days). He looked at the plugs and coils and he said there was no problem with them and that sometimes the computer will try to overcompensate in some other areas because it believes it has a problem and therefore causing other codes to fail. He also thought it was weird that both banks 1 and 2 would fail (he said that it wasn't common). He also said that the coolant tank was fine (no leaks). This garage did not charge me a thing because no work was done (got very lucky). The mechanic did suggest that if the codes do come back on or the check engine light to take it to asap or a near autozone and have the codes jotted down. He said he would be able to determine what the real problem is by seeing the first two codes that failed and then go from there. I am glad I had a second opinion done.

Thanks everyone for all your help and guidance on this issue. Engine is running well right now with no issues.