Can anyone give me some extra advice on changing the lambda on the left hand bank (when sitting in the car- the difficult one!) on a1998 XJ8 with vacuum throttle body. This model only has one upstream sensor on each bank.

I have read the excellent advice from Icebreaker but there would appear to be not enough room to remove the heat shield to expose the sensor or is it just pushed to one side?

Is there less room on my model due to the vacuum which makes it more difficult or am I just not applying myself enough?!!

 

What is a vacuum throttle ??

So you do not have an O2 after the Cats ?


If you do a search you will find discussions on this -- I did that one on my 02 XJR - if they are the same.


It is difficult - you need to drain and remove the small overflow tank and then move the shield out of the way - it was tight -- but I was able to do it using a O2 wrench -- the kind with the flexible handle attached - not the kind that attaches to a socket set.

Get the direct fit O2 over a universal - you don't want to do it twice. Took me a while to route the wires also.

Good luck

 

Hi yeldogt,

Thanks for your response.

Early V8 cars were fitted with a vacuum throttle body but that was changed to the electronic throttle body which you have on your car. There were some issues with the early unit many of which were replaced by jaguar. In essence it is the butterfly that controls airflow into the engine.

I just have one sensor on each bank which is pre cat.

I have already bought direct fit sensors one of which I have already fitted to bank 1 which works fine.

I don't know if the pipe layout in that area was different on my model in comparison to your model as it looks very tight and I did not think that I would be able to remove the heat shield and get my hand through the pipes to actually be able to place the new sensor in position.

 

Well I am pleased to announce a successful passenger’s side (bank 2) lambda change. For those who have not done one before this is what I did. Thanks to all the bits I took from other threads.
I pushed ¼ inch pipe down through the hole in the bottom of the water reservoir and siphoned out coolant. Undo two nuts securing reservoir.
Remove bottom hose to reservoir and remove water level plug connector. Unclip small hoses along bank 2 and move reservoir out of the way.
Remove reservoir hose also from Solenoid (?) fixed to side wall under reservoir.
Carefully move all flexible hose including wiring looms out of the way towards throttle body and secure.
Around all tools and the bolts on the heat shield when they were loose I attached some 15lb fishing line via a slip noose so that I would not have to fish around trying to find bolts/tools if I dropped them also it made it easier to extract my hands from tight spots.
Remove the three bolts holding heat shield. ¼ inch socket used but ratchet ring will do Carefully extract heat shield as the edges can be sharp and I didn’t want to cut any pipes. Any sharp edges were removed ready to put back.
I used a 22mm crow’s foot lambda socket placed at 9 o’clock when looking towards the front of the car. I placed a wooden dowel on the arm of the socket and tapped gently. Once the socket had moved to 7 o’clock I turned the socket by hand.
I cut tie holding wire and unclipped plug under the throttle body and removed sensor.
Installation was the reverse of the above. I folded the lead in four so I could turn the sensor and wire together - saves turning the sensor one turn and then trying to unwind the wire one turn.
I tightened the sensor in the same way as I undid it but you can use a 22mm open ended spanner if you wish.
I used an 18 inch long kebab stick to help move the plug into a position where I could clip it onto the bracket.
The same stick I placed into one of the bolt holes when I had aligned the heat shield to keep it in place whilst replacing bolts. I snapped off the fishing line when bolts were in place.
My car is a 1998 with just one pre-cat sensor on each bank. Vin 835935. I replaced both sides with Part no LJA 1682 AE . Parts bought from Just Lambda (no personal connection) Cost £150 including crow’s foot socket and 2 sensors. Arrived next day.
I hope that this information helps helps some one if they are thinking of doing the job. Once I got going it was quite easy and took 3 hours including stopping for lunch to rest the back of the legs!