ASI could probably repair it.



Dave

 

ya ,that's who I used. my abs module worked good ,reasonable price, got it back promptly.
That way you know its the right one

 

I should have mentioned ASI. I have used them several times to make repairs to the ECM & TCM.

Link http://www.autoecu.com/index.php?p=1

 

In post #13, I'd like to be able to get a better view of the brown connector in picture #1. But, it looks like it could be the connector for the coolant level sensor located in the bottom of the expansion tank. I think the black connector goes to either the heater coolant pump or the heater valve. Both of those heater components are located on the firewall on the left side.

In picture #2, that 6 way plug I believe goes to the EGR valve. Your 97' may have originally been equipt with EGR and then removed by the dealer or it may not have come with it and yet a plug is still there. Anyways, if your car does have EGR, it's located under the throttle body in the backside of the 90* elbow, close to the firewall. If your car doesn't have EGR, there should only be a 2" wide plate with 2 bolts going thru it.

In picture #3, those 2 wires shouldn't be crimped together. I can't tell you were they go, but they do resemble oxygen sensor wires. Check all 4 oxygen sensor connectors and verify that they are all connected properly and to update on the status of these.

Can't offer any advice on picture #4.

You mentioned that the valve covers were loose.... You should take the easiest side off and see if you have the aluminum timing chain tensioners. If the side you have off does not have the upgraded tensioner, take off the other side valve cover and look to see if you have a broken tensioner on either side. I know you're looking for spark, but if it's broken, you'll have to replace those first anyways. And it IS possible that even if they are broken and new ones are fitted, your engine could be ok still. There are certain circumstances that this would apply though.

I don't remember the ohm specification for the crank sensor but if you have any continuity, then it 'should' be ok. However, best of luck getting to the connector of that crank sensor... It's a 8itch!!

One last thing...I've had multiple 97's with engine ECU issues because of a bad capacitor(s) inside of them. However, don't just feel gun hoe into replacement/repair because I said that. If you have the time and patience, focus on one thing at a time until you know for sure it's done right. Trying to unravel mysteries and cluster****s can be VERY tedious and nerve racking. Keep us updated and don't give in!

 

I have a spare 97 TCM LJA 2400 DA. Depending on what your VCATS says it might work with Jag software to set up.

 

Impetuous person that I am, I found a numbers matching Transmission Controller on E-bay and made an good offer - which was accepted - for it. Less than 100 bucks with a 60 day guarantee. Next time (and I am sure there will be a next time!) I will call ASI. They didn't list a Transmission Controller and it was Sunday night, and I was really excited to find the broken pin. I can't understand how I missed it before (it was taped to the back of the controller), but with so many other issues to address, suppose I was overwhelmed. I am not so enthusiastic as to believe replacing the controller will solve all of the ills with this car, but am hopeful it will solve the spark issue.

By the way, the previous owner claimed that the car was in the shop to have the timing chain tensioners replaced. Now, I don't believe everything he said, but figure there might be some truth to that. It is possible the shop started the job, then stopped before finishing it....or finished it, but didn't put everything back together...

Thanks for the encouragement and great information, Addicted2boost. I'm not giving in, but am thoroughly amazed by the crazy bad wrench twisting (and silicon squirting on everything) that went on before I laid hands on this car. But, at least it seems all, well most, of the parts are there and the car is straight and appears sound.

 

Just an update and quick question. I know it has been almost a year since I started my quest to re-animate my car and I think - but am not sure - that I am close..After replacing the transmission controller, my code reader pointed to a CAN error in the region of the dashboard. Since there was a new / used dash in place with many iffy splices, I replaced the splices. By the way, I used "Posi-Locks," which really work great !


And lo and behold. The car started....So I bolted up a lot of the loose bits - the intake horn and EGR thing a ma bob...and the car ran pretty well. I ran it for about a minute, then shut it off with the key. Mufflers aren't re-attached yet (cut the pipe to get to the transmission switch) so it was a bit noisy - and the car is still up on jack stands at any rate so I wasn't going to try to drive it.

But all is not well in XK8 land. The next morning I walked around the car and found a huge bolt under the center of the bumper. After a thin mechanic friend rolled around underneath the car for awhile and found nothing, we were ready to conclude it was a chassis bolt. Then I Googled big XK8 bolt...and found there is a 24 mm bolt that holds the harmonic balancer. This bolt was 24 mm. And a flashlight confirmed it. Lying next to the radiator fans was my harmonic balancer and the accessory belt (which is why the light said my battery wasn't charging).

My guess is that the so called mechanic charged with replacing the valve train tensioners before fighting with the previous owner, hand tightened it. Soon we will find out if there are new tensioners in the engine.

And leading me to my question...Is the balancer keyed or splined in place so it can only go on one way. Not having a lot of luck finding the answer of yet and it might be kind of important if it travels past the crank position sensor (again I'm asking for a quick answer before delving deeper into my manuals).

Anyway, fingers crossed I didn't do any great damage to the engine - it mostly ran at idle / low revs - and that I can get this car on the road soon. I wouldn't mind getting it on the road this summer, but on the other hand it qualifies for a historic car registration in MD next year, so if I drag my feet a bit, I'll save a few bucks.

Hope I haven't bored you good folks with my long tale. I'm enjoying the process, even though I'm not moving terribly fast.

 

It is not keyed- there is a split cone washer to be replaced with a new one and a new bolt.
they may have forgotten the cone washer when putting it back together?

Here is a thread with a picture: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...problem-77500/

 

Just want to compliment you on your drive and determination. I'm also fascinated by the expertise on the board.

Please keep it going and good luck.

 

Oh, and crank position sensor is between the engine and trans, not in the front. It reads the position of the flexplate instead of the front pulley.

 

Hello All. I am back again, racing to get my project running so I can register it at the DMV on January 3, 2017. That may be optimistic, but I am trying. At this point I have disassembled the front of the motor to have a look at the timing chain and tensioners. Everything is brand new, except for the plastic tensioner on the passenger (right) side. Also the Variable Valve Timing "bush" (chain guide) on the left side had a broken ear.

My plan is to replace the two parts mentioned above. But I may have screwed up. Reading the instructions for replacement of all the valvetrain parts calls for removing the crankshaft position sensor and replacing it with a metal stop part that fits into a hole in the torque converter.

I locked down the camshafts with the flat pieces in the tool kit to replace the valve chains and tensioners, but figuring that would hold everything in place, neglected to lock down the crankshaft before removing the passenger side tensioner. Nothing has moved (I hope) but it seems I will have to finish the replacement of the tensioner before placing the crankshaft lock. Have I screwed up or should I just hold my breath and hope nothing moved....Also before replacing the other tensioner (what the heck, I have two new parts), should I loosen my cam holding flats and jiggle the crank lock in place....Or should I throw caution to the wind and replace the other side, holding my breath. Do I need to hold my breath? Should I start drinking?

All replies are welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

You need to get that crankshaft pinned before you do anything else. If your lucky, you might even be lined up perfectly but you won't know until you do it. Don't throw caution to the wind because if your crankshaft isn't pinned and you time the cams, it'll effect overall engine performance. And you won't be happy with it in the long run. Do it right the first time and be done with it.

 

You're probably OK as long as you haven't moved the crankshaft around (too much).
If the camshafts are locked down, the crank is unlikely to have moved. With the camshafts locked down with the "flats" on top, the crankshaft has all the pistons away from the top of the bores. The "special tool" which you may have with the kit, fits into the CPS hole and slots into a similar size hole in the flexplate. A visual inspection will give you a good idea if it is OK but - as above - I would lock the crankshaft in place before messing about too much with the chains and tensioners.
As you may be aware, DO NOT use the special tool to lock the crankshaft when installing the harmonic damper - the flexplate won't take that sort of strain. It's only to get the timing dead right - there's yet another special tool for the "damper installation procedure" !!

 

Thanks everyone. Well my plan now (because I don't seem to have an alternative) is to put the right side tensioner in place and remove the cam locks so I can bump the flexplate around just a bit so the crankshaft tool fits in place. Then I'll install the tensioner on the other side and cross my fingers no damage has been done.

Just a thought...I find it odd that there are no splines or marks to align the camshaft sprockets - or the harmonic balancer for that matter. Everything seems to be a press/friction fit. Am I missing something. (I don't want to re-invent the wheel. Just curious.)

Again, thanks for your quick and informative responses to my post.

 

No - you are correct. It is "counter-intuitive" but there are no timing marks anywhere on anything. The crankshaft has a woodruff key, but that's only to make sure the two sprockets are correctly located in relation to each other. IF the four camshafts are locked down AND the crankshaft is correctly positioned with the "special tool" in the flexplate, the timing is 100% correct - period !
You can remove the sprockets, chains, tensioners etc., and the timing will remain 100% correct. The camshaft sprockets are a friction fit so torque is fairly critical, but it does mean that you can't be "one chain link out" or anything like that.
If you are reasonably sure that the crankshaft hasn't moved (much ??) , and if you can turn the crankshaft a few degrees either way (maybe with a strap wrench or similar) - you could slacken off the camshaft sprockets until they are loose, and then (with the help of an assistant) get the flexplate properly aligned with the CPS hole. I have never done this job so I'm a fraud really, but I seem to remember that the hole you are looking for is quite hard to spot - it is a slightly different shape to the others and may have a small embossed arrow next to it. If you look at post #13 here :
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...enture-145002/
you can just see that the hole (slot) at the 12 o'clock position has a slightly round top whereas the others are "square" and there's a little arrow by the slot next to it on the right. Double check my advice, but I think I'm correct !! That whole thread may be of interest and there's some useful photographs.
Cheers,
David.

 

There are no marks on blancer or cams on these engines. When you have the crankshaft locked and the cam are flat the engine is in time.
A suggestion. After aI get everything together and timed I will turn the engine over manualky using the crankshaft bolt before I put timing cover back on. I will at least make 2 revolutions. Then I reinstall the crankshaft locking tool and I slide the cam locking tool over the cam flats. If everything is set correctly they should slide over the flats without hitting the lobes. If it's the timing is off I'll readjust and recheck again.
I like doing this to make sure the timing is set correctly before I put everything back together. A half hour double checking now can save you a days work later if the timing is off.

 

So, let me see if I understand....When the cam lobes are flat and the crankshaft lock fits into one - and only one - of the holes in the flexplate, then the valvetrain is in time ?

If this is correct, then it implies that the previous mechanic might have been off by one or a few degrees when he or she did the job. On the other hand, if the cam lobes aren't perfectly flat (though they appear to be), finding the correct hole in the flexplate might set everything right. We'll see after I tighten the new chain tensioner down and bolt everything back in place.

 

So, let me see if I understand....When the cam lobes are flat and the crankshaft lock fits into one - and only one - of the holes in the flexplate, then the valvetrain is in time ?

Yep - correct. Chains and sprockets are totally irrelevant at this point. If the camshafts are locked down with all four flats "in line" AND the "special tool" is in the CPS hole and locates into the flexplate, your timing is 100% accurate.
If you think about it - life is much less complicated now that it used to be. In the good-old-bad-old-days, you had to get the camshaft(s), crankshaft AND the distributer all in exactly the right position, and the only way you could be sure you were right was to get piston #1 at TDC on the firing cycle and then get the camshaft(s) sorted and then try and feed the dizzy drive into the hole so the rotor arm was pretty much where you wanted it to be and then you used a feeler gauge to set the timing and .............. the engine still wouldn't start. The distributer is now redundant, so if the camshaft(s) and crankshaft are in the right place, the elctrickery does the rest of the work. The big difference with the Jaguar V8 engine is that the timing is set by locking down the cams and crankshaft, rather than by aligning slots or marks on sprockets.