Just a start im new to foreign cars with a bit of training in 20th century american made vehicles. Got this vaden plas for a steal 2003 4.0. No manual . Couldnt get it to go faster than 25 mph first time i drove it. Shut it off and reshifted and it was a beautiful thing. Had some issues one being trannt i believe so ordered shop manual factory tech manual and owner or electric manual online and received a 250 manual on the radio. Never got response back from company. Let it sit a couple years and battery was dead so rechsrged it but could only get 6 volts. Thought maybe those crazy brits put something in system unheard of that only lets battery fully charge if its in vehicle so reinstalled and recharged iunfortunately i kind of forgot i was charging a battery and didnt remember until a few days later when i walked by it and smelled unistakeable odor of cooking hydrogen. Pulled the battery and tried deepceli had sitting around and nothing. So a couple years go by and i really would like to drive this beautiful car. Bought new battery and it would bately turn it over. Chraged it a few hors over and all the bells and whistles when i turned it to on. Cool.cranked it over. No fire. Too many projects going so another year passes. Decide i have to get that car running.charged battery . Crank it over . No start. Sign up for jag forum to try to learn a little about this gem. Holy moley. Separate fuse for everything and moltiple fuses for some. No fuse panels in any standard places so started reading forum messages. Finally found relays and fuses in trunk. Watched a dozen videos til i found one that identified fuel pump relay and fuse. Then found out fuel tank was in trunk behind back seat. Surprise surprise. Jumped relay . No fuel pump sound . Checked for power at connection. One continuous and one short term so at least that was nirmal for me. Then the nightmare started. Where are the fuel lines. Cant get what i assumed was fuel pump out of tank because rear deck was covering it. All the lines went to a fat steel line which didnt make sense. Crawled under car and found filter and traced the lines as far as i could and all went to evap box or disappeared above differential. Back to another dozen videos and half dozen procedural ideas. Tried them all to a point i feared damage and went to next plot. Finally ended up reading about dropping subframe. Easy . 7 bolts and four on driveshaft. I had managed to get my arm and hand up to return line and attached line disconnect tool but really didnt have the reach to exert a lot of pressure but jiggled line anyway. Of course no luck. Connector still stuck on probably buried in what i perceive as antirattle foam surrounding both lines. Tried pushing on connector with tool praying for a cluck sound. No luck. Lines appear to attach vertically but im beginning to suspect they angle off horizontally rearward. Thats my first question. Are tank fitting horizontal fronward or verticle downward. Yried the tank twist to see about the ease out theory without damaging lines and that doest seem feasible as return line sticks out an inch past recessed area. Busted off studs holding filter in place to see if that might give me room with the added flexibility. Yeah right. So now im down to the sub structure removal. Mine must be a prototype because it really doesnt match up to everyones easy version of their technique. Closest i can fathom i have to remove three bolts in y shaped flamge on side frame rail and one from large body bushing also on that assembly and frame . Do this on both sides. All on ends if b2 bomber shaped plate undeneath suspension also lovingly termed flying wedge or wing. Triangle shaped. Made with delaminating steel. If that is the correct assessment am i correct in praying thT they are bolted into threaded orifices or welded on nuts or do i have to also figure out some divine method to get a wrench to hold the nut somehow. Thats question two. Question three involves disconnecting the driveshaft. Ease of access. 4 bolts. I have a plate that mounts from yoke through differential that has 4 bolts. Driveshaft has 6. If i remove those four bolts will drive shaft slide forward enough for differential to drop down without snagging. I have to assume diff has to drop down because e brake cable and exhaust resonators prihibit drive shaft to drop down. Driveshaft removal looks very time and work intensive . If it just comes to lowering diff i have to conclude subplate and diff come down together and hang or else i have about 20 more bolts to undo. Or maybe im looking at the wrong item and theres some other thin that has 7 bolts to come out instead of 8. . I dont have a computer to dl your manuals and am evaluating most of this old school with assist from vids and your forum tips which seem pretty right on with wxception of clarifications on these points i expressed concerns about. Heartfelt apologies about length of this considering my passionate hatred of typing but i didnt want to leave anything i may or may not have done out nor omit options for solutions to the roadblocks i have encounteted. My buddy needs to sell the shop im using and i dont want to leave this gem behind. Love the forum and electronics brains and hope you xan help me get this baby running so i can bug you with the obvious problems the dash display is suggesting. Thank you all for past posts that got me this far and in advance tons of thanks for anyone who can help me finish this fuel pomp nightmare

 

it’s hacky stuff but if you don’t have time just take the back seat and shelf out cut an access hole.

i can do it 1.5 hour start to finish

if you really want to drop the rear sub it’s very easy just take the two bolts that hold the “monostrut” bar to the top of the body, two bolts on the bushings, top shock plate bolts, undo ebrake cable, three of the driveshaft bolts and exhaust hanger. leave calipers with the body

 

It appears there may be sheet metal access covered by heat resistant material below and a ton of noise reduction material inside which i really did not want to disturb. I was able to wiggle certain areas of the metal from underneath most notably just to right of fuel lines. It appears to be fastened by two screws coming through back side of lower end of back seat metal. Not being certain i figure i tore enough stuff out on my own and would find out what you guys had to offer. Mine is quite different from vid and makes me wonder if its 02 accidentally dated 03 because vcat has modules with 06/02 date on them. Im just going by title but there are no bolts holding tank in unless they were removed prior. Also i have 2 lines and they definitely go up but possibly go horizontal after the foam rubber. Fill hose bolts from inside. Just letting you know about discrepancies. Car has 170 thou on it and im sure someone has been in here before.

 

I failed to mention this is a michigan car. Lot of surface rust underneath. Some not so surfacy and im leery about snapping too many bolts off. I did contemplate cutting out the shelf and have not shelved that idea. I had already sawzalled the hoses between evap fitting and tank lines figuring they come off easier as 6 individuals rather than a trinity. Hose is easy to replace. Little vaseline and easy to install. Or sylglide. Ill have to compare mine with your pic and determine if its compatible. Thank you

 

Did you get this sorted out?
I wish I had seen your post couple months ago.
You do not have to disconnect the fuel lines under the car.
Is this a 1997-2000 Jag XJ8?
If it has the tank behind the rear seat in the trunk you DO NOT have to remove the fuel lines.
Remove all the carpet that is covering the tank in the trunk, floor and spare tire. Disconnect the fuel filler neck and the electrical connectors. As I remember they are on the right if you are sitting in the trunk. Undo the tank straps and then GENTLY rock the tank backward and undo the locking ring. Pull the pump carrier and replace the pump and replace. Reverse and put the tank back in and reconnect as well as replace the carpet, etc.
Make sure you have the pump and tools close at hand when doing this as there is usually fuel in the tank (why can't they go when the tank is empty.....?) and can be heavy. Extra hand would be good. Daunting but really not horribly hard.
Let us all know what you did.
Cheers
Walter Hubicki II MD

 

this is a decent cheat method but if you screw it up and break the lines you’ve opened a 16 pack can of worms

 

It seems a bit risky, however the expertise of the individual varies immensely. What really
matters is the comfort level of the one doing the work and the tools/environment available.