Aluminum distribution pipe/thermostat housing
#1
12-26-2012, 11:03 PM
Aluminum distribution pipe/thermostat housing
Hi all,
I have a Dec 98 MY99 XJR, it has the aluminum distribution casting / thermostat housing installed.
I have been looking to see if can find out if it was plastic and was upgraded or did XJR's come this way.
Also can anyone tell me if its an AJ26 or an AJ27 motor, It did have plastic tensioners, since replaced with the newer metal ones. how do you tell the difference.
I have a Dec 98 MY99 XJR, it has the aluminum distribution casting / thermostat housing installed.
I have been looking to see if can find out if it was plastic and was upgraded or did XJR's come this way.
Also can anyone tell me if its an AJ26 or an AJ27 motor, It did have plastic tensioners, since replaced with the newer metal ones. how do you tell the difference.
#2
12-26-2012, 11:28 PM
Veteran Member
Hi all,
I have a Dec 98 MY99 XJR, it has the aluminum distribution casting / thermostat housing installed.
I have been looking to see if can find out if it was plastic and was upgraded or did XJR's come this way.
Also can anyone tell me if its an AJ26 or an AJ27 motor, It did have plastic tensioners, since replaced with the newer metal ones. how do you tell the difference.
I have a Dec 98 MY99 XJR, it has the aluminum distribution casting / thermostat housing installed.
I have been looking to see if can find out if it was plastic and was upgraded or did XJR's come this way.
Also can anyone tell me if its an AJ26 or an AJ27 motor, It did have plastic tensioners, since replaced with the newer metal ones. how do you tell the difference.
You have an AJ27 engine in your Dec. 98 car.
The engine update came at VIN NO.878274 This equates to around Sept. 98 if memory serves......(some one will correct me)
As for the alloy dist. tube and thermo housing, this was standard on all XJR's....wish it was on all AJ engines! ;o))
The AJ engines in the XJR were all 4.0 litre without the VVT's (variable valve timing units) that are stamdard on the NA (naturally aspirated) 4.0 litre engines.
You will also find that all X308 supercharged XJR's have the Mercedes based W5-850 5 speed trans. and not the ZF 5HP24E box fitted to all NA cars.
Thius box has a long trouble free service life...IF it has it's oil changed ay around 80-100,000 miles...depending how the car is used and you can gaurentee most XJR's are 'given the berries' fairly regularly ;o))
The following users liked this post:
Roger77 (12-27-2012)
#3
12-27-2012, 12:38 AM
Great I bought it new and was wondering about it after reading some posts.
I will now start looking at sourcing an AJ27 motor as a replacement, (I have 202,000m on mine)
Luckily I have a great independent mechanic who looks after it for me and has keep up on all the little stuff like trans oil changes and tensioners etc.
My next big jobs are suspension related.
There are some interesting posts in the XKR forum area about relining Nikasil blocks
I will now start looking at sourcing an AJ27 motor as a replacement, (I have 202,000m on mine)
Luckily I have a great independent mechanic who looks after it for me and has keep up on all the little stuff like trans oil changes and tensioners etc.
My next big jobs are suspension related.
There are some interesting posts in the XKR forum area about relining Nikasil blocks
Good evening ladies and Gents and a Marry Christmas to all.
I have been gone from this board for a while working on may different things.. some of which i will share with you. In the process i have started my own company to harness the knowledge i have learned from the process for the betterment of all on the Jaguar world.
First off, i my engine decided to call it quits... so i was forced with a decision..
Option A: Stock re-manufactured engine
Option B: New Engine from Jag at a absolutely laughable price.
Option C: Rebuild my engine with performance mod's and reliability improvements.
Well i decided on Option C.
First off, i do not like the idea of steel liners. The nikasil liners are in my opinion a much better fit for our cars and without high sulfur fuels which are now standard in the states, in my opinion the cost of relining is far out shadowed by the benefits. The engine had 105,000 miles on it at time of rebuild.I teamed up with US Chrome for the job. This turned into a bit of a challenge for both of us as this is uncharted territory and required the block to have several return visits to US Chrome. This requires extensive preparation of the block and is not a easy send it off and its done kind of thing.... In the end I am vary happy with the result. Below is a before and after pic. Block was decked after relining (not shown).
One of the results of this was the need for custom rings due to the variations in cylinder wall thickness that cannot be avoided due to the relining process. I teamed up with Total Seal to create a properly sized set for this one of a kind engine. To make it even more fun.. I decided to throw in the mix ceramic Gold Coat by Swain Tech on the pistons tops and side skirts. This made for precision tolerances. Lets just say it was tight!
The cylinder heads were in a for a refreshening as well.. Valves were retained, guides, seals, springs, and keepers were replaced. Combustion chamber was ceramic coated by swain tech as well as valve faces and exhaust ports. This allows for maximum heat control and heat direction into the combustion. And of course we had to top them off with Cometic MLS head gaskets. I also had the stock exhaust manifolds White Lightning coated by swain tech as well.
As for the bottom end.. I ran right into one big issue.. the stock connecting rod bolts are stretch type one time use units. Jag wants WAY WAY to much money for these... with some assistance from ARP we came up with a good solution.. how about some ARP2000 bolts.. The Next issue was the oil pump. The stock pump was ditched by Jag for failure issues. Proceeding models also included spray holes for spraying oil on the timing chain assemblies. Installation of a 2009 4.2 oil pump is not only possible, it works! It does require modification to the upper oil pan/sump as well as the block itself.
This engine is not only complete but runs fantastic. I ran into many many obstacles with this rebuild.. And there is many many details i have not said in this post. In the process I have unlocked a few closed doors that jaguar has locked on us. In 2013 my company will be applying for vendor status on the board and will be making several exciting items available for sale including the following...
ARP rod bolts
Nikasil block reline with matching custom total seal rings.
And much much more..
After the rebuild was complete... she made the stock rear differential go BANG before she made it to the dyno. Sooo... I am working on some exciting things for that as well... stay tuned..
I have been gone from this board for a while working on may different things.. some of which i will share with you. In the process i have started my own company to harness the knowledge i have learned from the process for the betterment of all on the Jaguar world.
First off, i my engine decided to call it quits... so i was forced with a decision..
Option A: Stock re-manufactured engine
Option B: New Engine from Jag at a absolutely laughable price.
Option C: Rebuild my engine with performance mod's and reliability improvements.
Well i decided on Option C.
First off, i do not like the idea of steel liners. The nikasil liners are in my opinion a much better fit for our cars and without high sulfur fuels which are now standard in the states, in my opinion the cost of relining is far out shadowed by the benefits. The engine had 105,000 miles on it at time of rebuild.I teamed up with US Chrome for the job. This turned into a bit of a challenge for both of us as this is uncharted territory and required the block to have several return visits to US Chrome. This requires extensive preparation of the block and is not a easy send it off and its done kind of thing.... In the end I am vary happy with the result. Below is a before and after pic. Block was decked after relining (not shown).
One of the results of this was the need for custom rings due to the variations in cylinder wall thickness that cannot be avoided due to the relining process. I teamed up with Total Seal to create a properly sized set for this one of a kind engine. To make it even more fun.. I decided to throw in the mix ceramic Gold Coat by Swain Tech on the pistons tops and side skirts. This made for precision tolerances. Lets just say it was tight!
The cylinder heads were in a for a refreshening as well.. Valves were retained, guides, seals, springs, and keepers were replaced. Combustion chamber was ceramic coated by swain tech as well as valve faces and exhaust ports. This allows for maximum heat control and heat direction into the combustion. And of course we had to top them off with Cometic MLS head gaskets. I also had the stock exhaust manifolds White Lightning coated by swain tech as well.
As for the bottom end.. I ran right into one big issue.. the stock connecting rod bolts are stretch type one time use units. Jag wants WAY WAY to much money for these... with some assistance from ARP we came up with a good solution.. how about some ARP2000 bolts.. The Next issue was the oil pump. The stock pump was ditched by Jag for failure issues. Proceeding models also included spray holes for spraying oil on the timing chain assemblies. Installation of a 2009 4.2 oil pump is not only possible, it works! It does require modification to the upper oil pan/sump as well as the block itself.
This engine is not only complete but runs fantastic. I ran into many many obstacles with this rebuild.. And there is many many details i have not said in this post. In the process I have unlocked a few closed doors that jaguar has locked on us. In 2013 my company will be applying for vendor status on the board and will be making several exciting items available for sale including the following...
ARP rod bolts
Nikasil block reline with matching custom total seal rings.
And much much more..
After the rebuild was complete... she made the stock rear differential go BANG before she made it to the dyno. Sooo... I am working on some exciting things for that as well... stay tuned..
The following users liked this post:
Red October (12-27-2012)
#4
12-27-2012, 12:54 AM
Veteran Member
Great I bought it new and was wondering about it after reading some posts.
I will now start looking at sourcing an AJ27 motor as a replacement, (I have 202,000m on mine)
Luckily I have a great independent mechanic who looks after it for me and has keep up on all the little stuff like trans oil changes and tensioners etc.
My next big jobs are suspension related.
There are some interesting posts in the XKR forum area about relining Nikasil blocks
I will now start looking at sourcing an AJ27 motor as a replacement, (I have 202,000m on mine)
Luckily I have a great independent mechanic who looks after it for me and has keep up on all the little stuff like trans oil changes and tensioners etc.
My next big jobs are suspension related.
There are some interesting posts in the XKR forum area about relining Nikasil blocks
Full marks to use with the Nikasil thing which i have always thought to be superior and my engine is still running statndard original engine at 200,000klm which a bit shy of 200,000 miles ;o)=)
In regards to variations on wall thicknesses due to plating, would it make any difference to 'size' the bores before plating to gain some uniformity?
#6
12-27-2012, 05:30 PM
Senior Member
#7
12-27-2012, 08:02 PM
Trending Topics
#8
12-28-2012, 02:08 AM
Veteran Member
That's still mighty impresive....and as i have always said, frequent oil and filter changes plus other fluids will prolong the life of any vehicle plus heating it therough properly...not constant short start stop sequences, they are the biggest killer of these cars.
#9
12-28-2012, 09:55 AM
Senior Member
I've got 150k on my own 2001 XJR & it's always allowed to warm up thoroughly before switching off again. Once the temp gauge is in the middle then the hammer goes down & the revs rise, to blow off the cold-start cobwebs.
I once bought an old sqaure BMW 325i with 142k on it & then put almost another 100k on it in 4 years-finally sold it with 237k on it & still on the original engine, gearbox, diff & steering rack.
As you so rightly say, the cold starts & short journeys are the biggest killers of these-or any-cars. I've always believed & found that engines get better the harder they're worked, with regular oil changes & maintenance.
Here in the UK the biggest cause of MOT failure for modern cars is the emissions gear sooting up, with DPF's & catalysts failing prematurely due to the staggering plodding driving habits that are becoming the norm over here...
I once bought an old sqaure BMW 325i with 142k on it & then put almost another 100k on it in 4 years-finally sold it with 237k on it & still on the original engine, gearbox, diff & steering rack.
As you so rightly say, the cold starts & short journeys are the biggest killers of these-or any-cars. I've always believed & found that engines get better the harder they're worked, with regular oil changes & maintenance.
Here in the UK the biggest cause of MOT failure for modern cars is the emissions gear sooting up, with DPF's & catalysts failing prematurely due to the staggering plodding driving habits that are becoming the norm over here...
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