Where do I find the engine #?

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

#21

05-15-2011, 06:44 AM

tomtomterrific

Senior Member

Thread Starter

Join Date: Sep 2010

Location: new york

Posts: 115

Likes: 46

Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts

Figured out the engine swap history

Guys,

Just posting the outcome of my engine replacement history...

I spoke to the guy who did the engine swap work, it was Mike Ostrander of Motorwerks in MD.

The replacement engine came from a '99 XJ-8 VIN # SAJHX1041XC855906 It had 89,275 miles on it and my XK-8 had 84,752 in July 2009.

It was a used engine with a warranty, but a few months later it broke a chain/tensioner and came back in with bent valves. Long story short, it was all fixed in May 2010; all chains, tensioners, guides, and a valve job (on drivers side only). Mike also told me all the other service history, and is faxing me records. The car was very well serviced-maintained.

I replaced the induction manifold, induction elbow, cam covers, plugs/coils, etc and it is running very strong now with no lean - misfire codes returning.

So, I finally found found the source of the engine, which gives me a little peace of mind! The engine number from the 1999 XJ-8 VIN # SAJHX1041XC855906, was in fact BL 9809071109 which is the number I found on the thermostat housing. I thought that it was a 98 motor but the fact the number starts with 98 only means it was produced in calendar year 1998, but was still a 1999 model year engine. The engine number is really only a date and time stamp indicating time of manufacture; there was only one production line so every number is unique

So it's basically a 100K motor now, with less than 10K on the chains/tensioners, etc. It's unfortunate the shop didn't do a valve job on the passenger side at the time but he was stuck between the warranty company and the owner. The warranty would only pay for broken parts and the owner of course felt like he paid for a "new"motor and was not happy about paying more. Not to mention he car was in the shop for months.

If anyone is ever buying a used replacement motor, it seems the warranty can be pretty sketchy.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out here!

Best Regards,

Tom

Reply Like