Yep

 

I'm thinking now that it must be that I've disturbed/disconnected something on the wiring harness somewhere, I've eliminated everything else?

 

Yesterday, removed and cleaned all five sets of electrical earthing contacts under the bonnet/hood, not made any difference. Tomorrow, local auto electrician will call to check over what I've done over these last three weeks and hopefully identify a fault, after that I will finally have to bite the bullet and transport this beautiful machine to the nearest Jag specialist with Jag diagnostics. Either way I will post the results here for all to see.

 

Hi All!,
Just got the message from Preston Jags, from their inspection, it seems I damaged my flywheel when loosening/removing the crank pulley bolt... hence the crank sensor wasn't sensing... bugger!!
So, next question, has anyone replaced a flywheel in situ?

 

No, it's gearbox out for clearance. Didn't the specialist tell you this? Shame about the flywheel. At least you know what the score is.

 

Any update to this Warrick?

 

Hellooo everyone!
Collected my beautiful machine from Preston Jags this morning on the transporter trailor and delivered it to my friends workshop here in my home-town, where I will borrow his vehicle lift and replace the the flywheel/drive plate myself.
I would like to commend Preston Jags for their service. They have been very friendly and very informative about the work involved in my replacing the flywheel myself. Typically they gave me advice about unscrewing the transmission cooling pipe banjo connections, ie. be gentle and slow and apply lubrication to the threads, there is a danger of pulling the alloy threads out of the gearbox... beware of breaking studs in the exhaust flange...etc.
I've now retired to my shower after conducting 4 hours of work and have removed gearbox and am ready to replace the flywheel tomorrow.
I will supply photo's and my conclusions to a job well done after tomorrow (god willing!)
Warrick

 

Thanks for the update!

 

+1 good stuff

 

Hi Everyone!!
Feeling so good today. I finished the job yesterday when the engine started, first touch of the key at 15.17hrs!
It feels like I haven't slept for two weeks... all down to this mistake... please see photo attached.
The problem for me has been that only an experienced repairer with knowledge of the risk of jamming the flywheel in the wrong place to remove the the harmonic balancer, would check it. Preston Jags say they have come across this fault more than once.
They also told me that they have only ever replaced head gaskets on supercharged Jag engines ... interesting!
The job of replacing the flywheel/drive plate, took me approx. 10 hours. I worked on my own and maybe two people would have reduced this time somewhat. I had the use of my friends vehicle lift and a transmission jack.
I would say the most frustrating and difficult part was wrestling with a corroded and heavy exhaust system. The front section was corroded to the intermediate section and the cats were seized to the down pipes, so I had to disconnect from the manifolds and work around a half floating set of pipes... reconnecting to the manifolds after disturbing the system wasn't easy!
The gearbox was therefore tethered to and suspended on the jack and removed into the transmission tunnel about a foot to the rear... just enough to manoeuvre the replacing of the drive plate.
When disconnecting the gearbox fluid cooler pipes, I was expecting a potential flood, however there was only a very small, negligible trickle.
I was advised by Preston Jags to beware that if I should remove the positioning dowel in the crankshaft boss, for the drive plate, that there is a possibility of two positioning holes spaced at 180 degrees within the crankshaft boss ... so 'unless I wanted to repeat the ceremony thus far', I should mark the old drive plate and ensure the replacement was in the same position when re fixing so as not to have the timing 180 degrees out.
I unfortunately bent the gear selector lever when disconnecting the selector cable from the side of the gearbox, it's only a very light metal bracket and easily bendable, the result was that when I did start the engine, in the 'Park' position ... the gearbox was in fact in 'Reverse' and nearly ran myself over (a fitting end to a short but illustrious career?)... By 'unbending' the bracket until the gear selector slotted correctly into the indents, all was well.
My feelings, after this epic is that I've learned a helluvalot about the Jag V8 Supercharged Engines. I respect the design of this power unit and I've come to love my machine even more... I hope that you who are reading this, feel as I felt when eventually driving this 'purring' entity! That she? is more than just 'metal' she has a soul and a character. Jaguar, for me, have always been more about 'character' and 'feeling'. I've tried the Germans and the Japanese, the Swedes, even the French... nothing compares!!!
So, thank you my friends for your advice and support during these lonely times of not knowing where to turn! I hope that I'm also available to others when the time comes!
Cheers, Warrick.