Originally Posted by tampamark

Bottom line is you saved money by doing it this way. If you don't mind me asking, what was the total out of pocket for the DIY repair?

Originally Posted by 1999XK8

Nope.

OK, the job is done and I will give an account of how I did it. I preface this by saying that I have a car lift in my garage and I think that would almost be a necessity. If you attempt this job, it is doable by someone with DIY ***** for working on your car. 10 years ago I wouldn't have attempted this but after working on quite a few cars over the years my confidence has increased dramatically. This description applies to a 2009 left hand drive Jaguar XK. It may or may not help with other models. I recently replaced an AC compressor on a 2008 BMW with the twin turbo motor and the job was about the same difficulty level.

Once on the lift remove the left front wheel. Remove the lower front cover to access the underneath. Disconnect the front swaybar link on both sides; It will move a little up or down and you will need every smidgen of room to get the compressor out.

During this job I DID NOT use engine brackets but really took my time making sure that the motor didn't fall on my head or screw something up.

Remove the 2 bolts holding the "A" brace that goes from the sides of the frame forward to the engine cradle. I left it attached to the sides. Next identify the 4 bolts that attach the engine cradle to the car. Although you can't tell, they are about 8" long with about 2" of threads. The two in the front take a larger socket and the two in the back take one about 15mm. Start lowering the cradle at each corner a little at a time. On the side (left) with the compressor I loosened them until they came out. During this time I had a car lift with a support under the cradle to keep the motor from dropping out. Turns out, it won't with just the left two bolts removed.

As you are lowering the cradle you will have to loosen the two rear engine mounts from the bottom to allow the cradle to lower. At this point you will be able to get to the compressor enough to loosen it IF you are good at working in tight places. Getting the attachment bolts out is the easy part. Getting the AC lines disconnected is a totally different story and there is NO WAY to access them from the top as the compressor sits directly below the PS pump. You will have to remove one of the PS pump bolts to allow the compressor to come out. You will know which one it is (bottom). Taking the compressor mounting bolts (3) out will allow you to lower the compressor just enough to reach up and disconnect the AC lines. This is not easy as you can only do it with a wrench and you will have only the leverage of your fingers. The first one I removed was the large line and that bolt was very tight. Had mild corrosion on part of it. The smaller one came out a lot easier and that was good because it is even harder to get to. To make reinstallation a lot easier I took out my tap and die set and cleaned up the threads on both bolts and also on the holes of the compressor.

Once everything is disconnected, odds are that it still won't come out without some prying. There is a bracket on the compressor that will have to be removed. It's the one that holds the electrical plug. No big deal and it will gain you enough room to remove the comp. I pushed the compressor forward and then rotated it until it came out, *** first.

Sit down and have a cold beverage because the hard part is over. Between looking at everything and going REAL slow, this part took me about 4 1/2 hours because I had no info to go on. As a comparison, installing everything took just over an hour. I guarantee I could do this job again in only about 3 hours total.

Add oil and new O-rings to the new compressor and install it. Re bolt everything up and vacuum down your system to evacuate moisture and check for leaks. The system holds 1.54lbs of freon and make sure you add it by weight.

I hope this helps the next guy because search as I might, there appears to be not one DIY about this job on the net. The first picture is what you first see and the second is what you will have to get to to remove this SOB. Sorry they are turned sideways. The pulley should face left.