Hello all, I am in the process of replacing the engine in my 99 VDP. I would appreciate if anyone has any suggestions on what I might do as pre-flight checks etc before the inital turn over of this engine. I know the trick on older pushrod engines to pump up the oil pressure with a drill in the distributor, was wondering if there is anything like that to be done before the initial turn over of this "new" engine. I do not like the thought of all the dry parts moving about with very little lubrication at first. Of course my first step will be to just turn the ignition on and see if the codes have all been cleared. If I can get past that point I will be very grateful. Obviously with the removal of the old engine and the installation of the new, I have had to unplug many electrical connectors. I was fairly thorough with picture taking of all plugs so that I would get them all back in the right spot and reconnected. There are several plugs that came to my attention at the back of the engine, just above the bell housing of the transmission. I have pictures of these plugs with nothing in them when I was taking the car apart. I was hoping that someone could confirm that maybe these are for an option that this car does not have. There is a metal stand that these plugs clip to just below the loose plugs. The car spent some time at the Jaguar dealer before I picked it up and I was thinking that the Jaguar techs might have removed some relays etc. If anyone could shed some light on that, I would be grateful. The picture of the plugs can be seen below. Thanks again for any help and suggestions.

 

If you pull the fuel injection fuse, you can crank to your heart's content without the engine starting.

 

Jeff, I'm pretty sure they're for the 4 O2 sensors, 2 upstreams, left and right bank, 2 downstreams, left and right bank. You can check your catalytic converters have these by looking down at the cats, they should be there. If not, there should be 2, the downstreams?

On initial start-up, it's advised to do as plums suggests, unplug the fuel pump. Either by removing the fuse, or unplugging the harness at the fuel tank.

The timing components work on oil pressure, so your gut feeling is bang on. A dry start with the engine firing before the chains are fully tensioned can lead to skipped timing and bent valves. Run the engine without the fuel for at least 20 seconds. This ensures the oil pump has primed, and the oil galleries have filled out, along with the chain tensioners.

Once this is done, reconnect the fuel and go for it.

I would limit the revs to 3000rpm for at least 2-300 miles to settle the engine - just my personal feeling, if it has new piston rings they'll need to get intimate with the bores. After this mileage, drop the oil and filter, replace with quality oil, and you should be good to go.

Good luck.

 

The fuel injection fuse is a little bit better because it prevents any fuel from entering the engine even if there is residual pressure in the fuel rail. This is a consideration in those situations where the engine has been in service and you don't want that initial start before it runs out of rail pressure.

It might also be a bit safer because the injectors do not have to operate without the benefits of cooling and lubrication normally provided by the fuel flow.

 

Thanks Sean, I am sure you are right now that I am thinking about it. I am sure I would have figured it out when I was installing the cats and looking for a place to plug in those O2 sensors. It has been quite some time since I did the tear down and I believe I did lose some of my pictures from the tear down process unfortunately. Knowing where those plugs go makes me feel a bit more at ease. Yea definitely do not want to dry fire the engine, just was not sure what the best procedure to go about it was. I already have the fuel pump relay pulled, think I will locate the injector relay and pull that as well and crank it and get the juices flowing. Still have a bit to go before I will be at that point, but figured I would get some input while I could. Still have exhaust system to install, and many of the engine components to put on. Its getting all new water pump, tensioner, t-stat and new aluminum housing, crossover pipe, lots of new hoses, knock sensors (old ones were melted). Thanks again for the suggestions.