I've been considering this car for a while. I knew the engine didn't start, but it seemed like it was in fairly good shape other wise, and the price was fair. I finally pulled the trigger and brought it home today. It has been sitting for a while, but not a really long time. It had an oil change sticker recomending the next change in Jan 2010, so I guess it has been down about 6 months or so.

I started looking into the no start issue, and here is what I found so far.

First I checked all fuses, all are good. Then I checked for fuel pressure at the fuel rail. It seems OK, but I didn't put a gauge on it. Next I decided to run a compression test.

Pulling it apart I found something that was quite a dissapointment. The air intake tube was dripping with oil after the PCV inlet. Next I pulled the plugs from the Driver side. The wells where the plugs reside were filled with engine oil. It looks like it was blowing out of the oil fill cap, and running down the cam cover to get into where the plugs are. I assumed that amount of blowby means most likely shot cylinder walls, and a new engine. Two of them had enough oil that the plugs were completely submerged, The other two about halfway.

I pulled the passenger side plugs, and they were all dry, but pretty coked up, and definitely worn. These may be original plugs, the car has 96k miles. With the plugs out the compression test of the passenger bank was another dissapointment, 20 PSI, 40PSI, 30 PSI, 50 PSI. I squirted some oil in there and tried again, 80 PSI, 100PSI, 100 PSI, 90 PSI.

The drivers side was actually better, 60 PSI, 90 PSI, 90 PSI, 80 PSI. I then added some more oil (there was probably already some that ran in when I removed the plugs) 120 PSI, 110 PSI, 120 PSI, 120 PSI.

So that's where I left it for the night. Tomorrow I will clean up the coil packs, try a new set of plugs in it and see if she'll fire. If I can get it running, I will change the oil, and throw in a can of that Engine Restore stuff.

I also just read about the blocked part throttle breather thing possibly causing a lot of oil getting into the air filter area. So I will try to take off the passenger side cam cover to clear that out, as well as inspect the chain tensioner.

My theory right now is that the engine maybe has some cylinder wear, but maybe not bad enough that it won't run. But it is bad enough that the blowby was spitting a lot of oil out, and the oil coming out of the fill cap and pooling in the spark plug wells finally got deep enough that it shorted the coilpacks so the drivers side plugs wouldn't fire. Then the consequential continuous failed tries at starting flooded the engine, washing the cylinder walls, and that is what finally killed it completely.

 

Looks like you have been reading the forum posts.

You didn't identify the MY but seemed to imply that this was a Nikasil engine. Oil in the spark plug holes is a common issue caused by leaking seals in the valve cover.

You don't have to remove the valve cover to clean the part load breather tube. CAREFULLY twist/pull the plastic connector off the valve cover. Old plastic can be brittle. It is only held in by an 'O' ring and 10+ years of gunk. The actual orifice is more than an inch down the hole and can be cleaned out with a small, less than 1/8", drill bit. A drill bit is recommended as the deposits can be rather hard.

Check the chain tensioners for sure.

Good luck!

 

Where is this little guy? Drivers/passenger/fore/aft? Pic? I want to get n mine.

Thanks!

 

I read about the breather hole here https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=36358

Mine is a 1998. I was just wondering about the gaskets. Would those besomething I could get from the Ford dealer for a Lincoln or Thunderbird 3.9L? I've heard the tensiioners, and a lot of other parts are the same.

I was going to remove the cover because if those deposits are so hard, I am not sure I want the chunks of them floating through the engine, plus I thought it might be easier to clean them out without breaking something if I had access to the inside, and finally I wanted to look at the tensioners anyway...

 

http://www.mediafire.com/?jvnmhzdczxz

Here is a link to a great document how to clean the Breathers.

I found this after i screwed it up!

 

This might help but it is just above the oil dipstick http://www.gusglikas.com/AutoRepairPlugReplacement.htm

 

In reading your statement I would focus on getting the car started first. I have heard of two situations where fuel was tested at the rail and had fuel but did not have the pressure necessary to get it started (42+/- a few). I would check the pressure. One thing not mentioned in my instructions http://www.gusglikas.com/AutoRepairNoStart.htm was that a few cars would not start in park but would start in neutral.

 

OK. She's up and running now, but there are still issues.

I put in a new set of plugs, and cleaned up the oily coilpacks. It cranked for about 10 seconds, then stumbled and grumbled. I had to play with the accelerator for a few seconds to keep it running, then it settled into a nice smooth idle at about 1200 RPM.

That seemed high, but I let it run for a few minutes to get warmed up. Then I shut it down, and replaced the coil pack covers, and actually put the intake tube on completely. It was just sitting in place without the clamps before, and I think that was leaking vacuum when I first started it, I started it again, and it fired right up, and idled at about 700RPM. Seems normal.

But then I noticed a knocking that comes and goes. There are 4 or 5 quick taps, then its quiet for about 20 seconds, then another 4 or 5 taps or knocks. I tracked it down to the front of the left cam cover. I never did check the tensoners, but I think I will before I run it again.

I also have the brake, and ABS lights on as well as a Stability Failed message.

 

I would be checking the tentioners, that will give you reason to replace the seals that are causing the oil that is leaking into the plug area. As for the brakes ABS and stability control that is another saga.

 

Hi,good work getting it running, hopefully the oil was just a combination of bad cam cover seals and blocked breather.
The high idle 1200 on first start is intentional, to get the oil up to the cams.
The knocking is the VVT lubricating system which operates every 30 seconds.
The abs stability warning will be battery related, if it is not 100% this is the first indication, along with window memory loss.
As mentioned check the sec. tensioners, wouldn't want to see your good work go valves up...

 

I agree that a low battery can and will give you false codes. Clear the codes and see what takes place.

 

Thanks a ton for all of the help here guys. Gus I did a lot of reading on your websight before I bought this XK8, that gave me the confidence to tackle the project.

Anyway, here is what I have found. The tensioners both appear to be the new metal bodied ones, so someone has been in there before and updated them. The breather hole was completely blocked, but now is clear and I didn't even break anything.

I thought that maybe since this car hasn't run in 6 months or more, and the battery has been dead that maybe the knocking was something trying to initialize. (I heard a lot of noises from the trhottle body too, and I did re index the windows.) So I guessed that maybe the noise I heard was the cam phasers doing their thing on a first startup. Thanks for confirming that X100.

Now, the next issue that I am working on. The two cam covers had different style gaskets. The Right hand side was black, and had o-rings that went around the plug holes and center bolts.

On the left side (where the plugs were oiled up) the main gasket was red, and instead of O-rings there were a white gasket made of three attached rings. None of the gaskets on this side were in good enough shape to reuse, chunks missing, etc. A couple of the bolts look like oddballs too. Plus the two rear lower bolt holes have cracks in the bosses of the cam cover. I think someone overtightened this cover to try and stop a leak, and made things worse. Even the little rubber washers attached to each of the bolts were chewed up and leaking. I think I can get these easy enough though, they look nearly the same as the ones I have lying around from a GM LS series V8.

So Monday I am going to try to get a nice new set of cam cover gaskets, and maybe a L.H. cam cover and put it back together. Maybe I can find someone parting out one of these engines locally and grab the cover and some spare bolts.

Then I am going for a drive to see what else it needs.

 

Thanks.

 

OK, I could use some help here trying to get the correct gaskets. The cam covers look like they were designed to have a different style gasket on each side. I think one of the cam covers got replaced at some point. Also my local parts guy is saying his system also calls for O-rings for the VVT actuators to go in the cam covers, NOT in the timing cover. Did this change at some point? Do I really need two different style gaskets kits? the lower cover is the one with the cracks, if I replace it with a new part which style will it be?

See the attached picture of my two cam covers and their gaskets.

I found the engine code so maybe that will help too; 980511 0026 is stamped in my block. So it looks like the original engine, as the car has a build date of May '98 as well.

 

The AJ26 engine, '96 - '98, had a VVT valve unit that came out through the front of the valve cover. The AJ27 VVT valve came out the top.

I agree, someone has changed the cover. Guess you have to choose between searching recycling yards to replace one or matching the correct gaskets. The L/R gaskets have different part numbers so can be ordered as appropriate.

 

Just a quick update.

I have ordered a bunch of parts, and I am waiting on most of them to come in, including a new cam cover. I decided to order a new on, because the cover comes with all of the gaskets and all new bolts, and wasn't too terribly much more expensive that what I was seeing for just all new gaskets.

In the meantime I cleaned everything up, and reassembled it with the old gaskets to get some driving in, to look for other issues.

After a few driving cycles, the Stability, and engine warnings have cleared. the only warning light that I have left is the brake one.

I think that may be due to the emergency brake. The handbrake lever does not feel connected to anything at all, and whever the car starts moving I get a "Park brake On" message.

I have also noticed the front alignment seems off, and there is a clunk from the front end on bumps.

Other than that it drives good, and everything works so far.

 

On the handbrake issue, It sounds like it is engaged. Pull on the lever until you feel tension, then push the release button with your thumb, and move the lever to rest while holding the release button down.

 

There is no tension on the lever. The ratcheting mechanism will hold it in place, but with the button pushed it very freely moves through the full travel without any resistance at any point. Something mechanical is disconnected, and I think that has something to do with the lights and warnings.

But I don't think the park brake is physically engaged, the car rolls very freely.

 

That is normal operation for this type of handbrake. You feel no mechanical operation within the travel, as you release the lever. It also falls back flat to prevent obstruction when applied.
Sounds like the mechanism is not releasing fully, and giving the warning light and audible alarm when pulling off. You can try manipulating the cable sheath where it enters the rear hubs, this can release the restriction, but you may need to adjust the shoes, four or five clicks when applied tight is good.
The parking brakes on these cars are very inefective if not adjusted perfectly

 

Andy, sounds like either the parking brake cable snapped, or the connecting bracket is broke. Either way, the car thinks the brake is engaged, and more than likely, you've got no brake shoes left.

Here's a recent thread I started to replace mine fairly cheaply, there's a link to some aftermarket pads, also, to a link where you can disassemble the bracket that I speak of.

Good luck, looks like you're making progress!!