1999 xj8 VD
Hello All,

I just bought a 99 xj8 not running. Car is mint with 90,000 on it,
I have been inspecting the engine and have noticed oil in the air cleaner compartment and down in the throttle body, I tried to turn the car over by hand with a 3/4 drive 3' bar and socket but it would not budge, the old owner said that the ck engine light would be interminent and when it died on him it gave a low oil light. The oil is clean as is the antifreeze and has no odor out of the norm, I see no problems other then that mentioned and need some advice as to what to check next.Also can you even turn these over by hand?

thanks,,,,,gee

 

did you take the plugs out before you tried turning it ?
oil in aircleaner could be a worn engine pressurising case and blowing down the valvecover breathers which are connected into t.b and airfilter . or it could be the part-throttle breather blocked . easy fix , but wont be stopping the engine turning .
could be seized or could be tensioner exploded !!

 

i'm worried for you gee, low oil light... then stopped running? man I hope the previous owner didn't seize the engine.

 

I pulled the covers off yesterday and lubed everry thing up-(plugs out) and let it sit over night, i can get another motor from dallas for 1500 bucks if I go get. goimg to try and turn it over soon.

gee

 

Where is the tensioner? I have the cams exposed and all looks good.

gee

 

well I tried to turn it over ...NO JOY..Tried it in park and in nutural no luck, I think one of the pistons is melted to the wall of the block.. So I just bought a engine with the steel sleeves for 1900.00 shipped to me, my block has the coated cylinder walls and I dought that fix would be under 1900.00?

gee

 

sorry gee, but hope you're still well ahead of curve after you get it swapped over. Don't forget to make sure the new engine has all the required modifications and you should be good to go.

 

What do you mean by required modafacations?

 

tensioners and updated thermostat housing... two of the biggies

 

Is the replacement engine a '99 also? If not what year, or more correctly, what is the engine serial number?

 

engine is out of a 2000 XJ8 vin for car is SAJDA14C3YLF14528

GEE

 

I DO NOT HAVE THE BLOCK #'S YET BUT I DID GET THE VIN OUT OF THE WRECK, IT IS SAJDA14C3YLF14528

gee

 

forgot...it is out of a 2000 xj8

gee

 

For the price I got the car for I will be under the book for it , Like I said car is MINT, and I got it CHEAP because of the engine blowen., Just keepin my fingers crossed on the SWAP but you guys are helping me alot so far and I sure do THANK YOU!

gee

 

Based on your info, both the old and the new engines should be AJ27 units and the 2000 engine should be a direct swap. Since you don't have engine numbers yet, 3 quick checks. Make sure both engines have: (1) VVT solenoid connections protruding through top of valve covers at front of each bank (as opposed to connection on front of timing cover); (2) 2 camshaft position sensors (located towards rear inboard side of cylinder head) on the old and new engines (since you have the valve cover off the old engine, you can also look at the rear of the intake cam to see if both sides have 4-toothed sensor ring ); (3) throttle bodies do not have black vacuum pot. If all three checks are the same for both old and new engines, then it should be a direct fit and any parts swapping should be limited to accessories usually not sold with the replacement engine. I doubt it, but if they are different, let us know. I can help direct you through swapping out the necessary parts to make the replacement compatible, but easier to do while both engines are out (I speak from experience).

As H20 said, plan on changing upper tensioners, lower tensioners and guides, and thermostat housing while you are at it. I also suggest replacing other wear items (belts, hoses, water pump, fuel filter, etc.) and a good cleaining for the throttle body, mass air flow sensor, EGR valve, and part and full load breathers (breather cleaning should include the wire mesh inside the cam covers; I'm not sure how pros do it, but maybe a jag tech can fill you in on that procedure). Lastly, make sure any components staying with the car are in good working order, such as fuel pumps and lines, vacuum lines, Evap and EGR system components. I doubt problems with any of these lead to your engine seizure, but it sure would suck to replace the engine and it still not run right, leading to more diagnosis and repair.

 

Engine is in the back of my truck right now, I had to cover it up ASAP (rain) I will get the numbers off it tomorrow mid-day. Great post you did there! Thank you very much.

gee

 

update 1-29-10

Because of the chance of a freeze I left the engine covered and pulled it in my garage, And holy cow did it rain!. it will be very cold again today but I will see if I can get thne block numbers soon!

gee

 

The new upper timing chain tensioners MUST be the metal-bodied type, the plastic ones are no good, and will fail quickly.

I believe there is a US firm making new replacement aluminium thermostat housings - got to be better than the plastic one.

Water pumps were a regular failure point in the UK V8 cars - the pump vanes fell off, so eventually the pump did not actually pump anything. Where the pump vanes went nobody seems to know - into the block presumably !

As you have seen with the seized engine, it does not pay to ignore the symptoms of failure of the Nickasil bores !!

 

Well this engine I have now is NOT a Nickasil bore type engine that much I have found out, The weather here is not going to turn until next week in my favor, But cold or no cold the old will be out by monday, Do you have a link for the replacement tensioners?

Gee

 

good luck with the project gee, thanks for the diligent updates, love following a good reality show. Parts for the tensioners I am pretty sure I've seen before, try a global search and see if you can find them.