I need some advice.

My 1998 XK8 is broken. The issue is a head gasket. I was 60 miles from home as I watched the temp gauge go towards the high end of the reading. Pulled over as quickly as I could, and turned it off.

I was 15 miles from town. Tow truck wanted 3 bucks a mile loaded, and 2 unloaded. So looked like a 500 dollar bill.

Instead I waited for car to cool down, and drove towards town until engine started warming up-just a few miles at a time. Yea it took a while to drive 15 miles.

When this happened, I noticed the radiator hoses had collapsed. Also a lot of gurgling was to be heard. I figured a stuck thermostat.

I figured that I would rather have the Ford dealership throw a new thermostat in, than pay towing.

Well Ford charged me 382.00 for part and labor!! I still thought it would be cheaper than the tow bill. The problem was it still overheated. The Ford tech. said he seen steam coming from engine. I assume he used a boroscope, because he said he could see steam coming from the head gasket out the side of the block.

Well I managed to get a cheap tow home and had a chance to diagnose myself.

My compression readings range from 150 dry, to 131 dry. On cylinder 8, I couldn't tell what the compression was. It was already below 90, by the time I got out of car to look at gauge. It was still falling quickly as I watched it go down.

Squirted some oil into cylinder, and same thing. I feel pretty sure it must have let go in a big way. Opinions.

Cylinders were all dry with little carbon buildup on top of pistons. All plugs have normal wear and look nice. No white smoke out of exhaust.

This car now has 73000 miles on it now. I got it at 71000.

As far as oil goes no coolant in it. The resivour is full of chocolate milk.

On another note, I also have oil in the bottom of throttle body.

So basically I am at a crossroads of what to do with car. Do I buy a new motor, or fix it? The car has had none of the problem areas addressed, with the exception of the throttle body being replaced. It needs new plugs, hoses
tensioners, water pump, thermostat housing, etc.

If I fix it almost certainly need head machined. Plus are these blocks prone to cracking? Lots of uncertainty here.

I have never worked on dual overhead cams before. That scares the hell out of me to just not do it.

One last note, can the motor be pulled straight up and out?

Sorry so long winded. Look forward to the discussions!

 

OK, car overheated and blew a head gasket and I assume you want to repair/keep the car and sounds like you plan on doing the work yourself.

I would pull the head and get it to a shop to verify that there are no cracks, mill it flat if necessary and put it back together. The problem with opening up an engine is you never know where to stop. You are going to have to pull the front cover to get the head off and once there you should consider both primary and secondary tensioners et.al. The gaskets and head bolts, as well as the tensioners, chains, etc. are available as '00 Lincoln LS part numbers, except for the valve cover gaskets. While that is a lot of work for someone that doesn't do it for a living there is nothing particular difficult about it, including the overhead cams, and you have all of your new forum friends standing by to help.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Yes I am planning to do it, but when is it too much to consider if it is worth it? Basically what I mean is by the time I buy all of the parts to update, along with head work, I will have "x" amount of dollars into it. A new rebuilt engine is 6,000.

How far apart cost wise is it better to go and fix, or buy new?

 

Forgot to ask my original question.

Once you take the head off to machine it, and the cams, and all of that fun, how or what does it take to ensure it is timed correctly?

I know of the cam lock down tool, but how would that help in this case? The machine shop won't want those cams left in there for the resurfacing. So once the cams are out, what happens to make sure they go back together?

Thanks.

 

Aligning the crankshaft, intake cam and exhaust cam are all covered in one or more of the tensioner replacement threads. You align the intake cam to the crank and then the exhaust cam to the intake. That is not a big issue.

You will have to carefully ensure that all the cams and cam caps are stored in the correct order and orientation if that is what you are asking.

Without adding it all up I would guess you are looking at $2000 or less for all the parts and labor we are discussing. Someone will be along shortly to correct that WAG I am sure. Unless you are suspect of the engine for other reasons it is clearly a 'repair' decision in my opinion.

 

In case you haven't acquired a copy of JTIS yet, here is a link:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...uctions-54640/

I attempted to link to an extraction of the tensioner install/alignment instructions but the link is broken. I'll find another or try to get that fixed and post back.

Here is one with links on the the entire alignment:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...prokets-54603/

 

Thanks Test Point!

I ordered a cd of the JTIS.

As far as the block goes, I was just curious as maybe the history of those blocks. I didn't see anything that said they are prone to cracking, but I thought I should at least ask of it. I have no reason to believe it is cracked otherwise.

I talked to a mechanic as to if he ever has done one of these Jags. He said he wouldn't even touch it. He claimed you needed a bunch of special tools and such. Funny thing, makes me go hmmmmmm! The only special tool I knew I needed was the cam tool.

 

And the Crank Lock Tool to ensure 45 degrees after TDC

bob gauff

 

Is it wise to replace the cam bearings or is it okay to reuse them?

 

You should re-use the current cam bearings...in fact, you should re-install them in the exact position they were originally in (position on the cam, and vertical orientation).

The bearing caps are numbered and marked with arrows to help make sure you get it right.

 

If this were mine, I would pull the head off and take it to a good shop to be measured and checked for damaged valves and cracks. Chances are pretty good that it will pass. Lay a quality straightedge at angles on the block and check under it with a feeler guage to make sure the block is not warped (probably not). Order a head gasket set and head bolts ( I never reuse them) and get the timing tools to reset the timing. Then install the head, replace the tensioners on both sides, the water pump and put the car back on the road. If you get good instructions (JTIS), tools and parts, this job should be doable by a hobbyist with moderate ability. If a newby, I would not try it.

 

Oh, by the way, this head does not have cam bearings, these are used in cast iron engine blocks.

 

I'm no tech, but Jag refers to the semi-circular slots the camshafts sit in as "bearings," with the cams held in place by "bearing caps."

 

Thanks for your replies! I have been around engines for a long time. No newbie here. Although I never worked with overhead cams.

Next week I am tearing apart the motor. I will take the heads to machine shop, and check over the block surface. At that point, I will decide on rebuilt block based upon condition of heads and block.

 

Do any of you know what size of allen head wrench is needed to remove the bolt securing the exhaust cam sprocket and vvt? A 3/8 and the 10 mm is just a little too loose to be confident to try it out.

I haven't put too many hours in on this project. I already hit a problem area as I was taking the trans line off that goes in at the bottom of the radiator. The threads had galled together ruining the connection upon removal. I took the radiator out to pressure check and clean it. Plus it makes it so much easier to use an impact to loosen the dampener nut. There definitely was some sealer used in this engine to try to buy some time with a leaky head gasket.

Overall the engine has been very well cared for. Absolutely no sludge. Someone got their oil changed religiously! The tensioners had also be replaced-with the 2nd generation plastic ones. Steel will be going back in.

Question - what is entailed putting that new tranny line in? I haven't spent any time looking into it yet. However it does look very tight to get in there and change it out?!

 

Whenever confronted by what looks to be a hex head fastener on a Jaguar, look again, it has a better than even chance of being a Torx fastener, or the security variant of same.

 

corn husker66, every bolt or part on your jag is a mm or metric if you will. nothing is american. My advise for you is to go to harbor freight or sears and start building up on some long handle wrenches , sockets etc... so you can do the job that you are trying to do. How are you for sure that that head is cracked. did you have this diagnosed by the dealer or are you making a educated guess? make sure its the head. take your time and go to autozone and get alldata disc for your car and put it on your computer so you can have all of the information that you need for complete breakdown and build up of your vehicle. im in the middle of a project myself as i have taken out my transmission and engine in an effort to get a remanufactured transmission and fix the whole timing chain mechanism. all the best. nine 7

 

The bolt holding the sprocket to the exhaust cam is an Allen 10mm. JTIS made a big deal out of requiring a 'ball' 10mm which just wasn't available in this little town. The only reason, that I could guess, was that an Allen ball was required is that only with such a tool could you get a torque wrench on it to re tighten. Once you see see the quantity and size of the threads on that bolt you will realize that you would not be able to damage it at twice the torque specs. I used a standard 10mm Allen with a foot of pipe on it.

I don't think many of us have taken the oil line off. I am reminded of the repair manuals for the early '60's VW Beetles. Several times I found the statement in a repair section 'Remove engine, see engine section'. You may have to bend and unbend it more than once to thread it in or seek some creative way to reconnect what you have. There is not much pressure on that line.

Nine7xk8 is correct in that everything is metric . . . except the lug bolts. Never understood that.

 

Technically, they are bearings, they just are not the removable shell type. I have never seen removable cam bearings in a 4 cam alloy head. That doesn't mean it's never been done, I just haven't seen it.

 

while the block is at the shop, you might as well put spend an evening and put a new, beefier A-drum in the 5hp24 tranny. Don't want you to sit around waiting.