Jaguar XKR project Episode 34 | Fuel pressure test, will my XKR run properly?

Jaguar XKR project this week:
In this episode we connect up my new fuel pressure gauge and see if we are getting good pressure from the fuel rail, trying to eliminate any problems with the newly installed fuel pumps.

[@richardsutton01]

I would remove the front plastic valance rather than jacking the front up with the valance in place. It's easy to remove and eliminates any chance of cracking the plastic, which I've seen in several KZbin videos over the years. Jaguar show the valance removed before jacking up. I always use a piece of wood to spread the load across the beam and to ensure that the plastic captive inserts, which the valance screws into, are not pushed into the crossbeam. She still sounds to me as if she's running roughly but until you get her on the road and give the trims enough running time for them to calibrate properly across the rev range, you can't be sure. Richard

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi Richard, good to hear from you again and thanks once more for your pearls of wisdom. That all makes perfect sense and I will make sure that I follow your advice 👍 Thanks again, Simon.

[@oaktree3278]

Wow that sounds better, now onto more fun new areas of the mighty beast😉😊👍

[@projectsinthebarn]

Cheers buddy, I'm looking forward to getting on with other things now 😀

[@steveadams8799]

Definitely agree with yourself and other comments on here that it could well be the fuel and needing an Italian tune up. My 4.6 P38 hates e10 and runs rough, but my X350 XJ8 doesn’t get affected , although I still run it on e5. And yes, sometimes chasing a problem can get you down and it’s better to fix something else. At the end of the day whatever is wrong with the poor running will get resolved in the end. Hopefully it was the fresh e5 fuel that has sorted it.

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi Steve, good to hear from you buddy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it was fuel related 🤞 But now it's time to get into the other jobs that need doing, and see about getting the old girl back in the road 👍

[@UdoIBress]

Great, Simon good job. I think things are moving forward now. Good video. Now I'm curious about your brakes. This work is definitely more fun. Good luck. Greetings Udo

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi Udo, good to hear from you as ever buddy. It seems to he behaving itself a bit better now, I guess time will tell. But plenty more to do on it now, starting with the brakes 👍

[@nicholasshackles5033]

Looks like it's sorted 😊

[@projectsinthebarn]

It's very close, I can't wait to get it up the road and see what happens 👍

[@jamesarculus9657]

I jacked mine up from the plastic piece that goes across the front of the car like you said. Some say not to do it there as the plastic piece will crack but it didn't for me. i used a piece of wood to spread the weight of the car being lifted.

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi James, thanks for getting in touch buddy. I have read a few conflicting views about jacking it up from the front, but the owners manual literally says to do it from there. I will just ensure that it is still good, rust free metal before I stick the jack under it. A great shout about a piece of timber under it first 👍

[@jamesarculus9657]

Good Luck!! 😄

[@marktrevean1294]

Hi Simon, You really do need to take this car to a decent run to warm it up properly and see what comes from that. Cheers Mark Upper Hutt NZ

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi Mark, good to hear from you, buddy. That is what my next plan of action will be, but first, I need to sort out my brakes as they're currently nor working.

[@Ridley2907]

I pretty much think you've exhausted all possibilties now other than give it a good run in sport mode and clean out the cobwebs !!!

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi buddy, I think I agree with you. I'm going to get it in the air and get the brakes sorted, then I can get it up the road for a run 👍

[@david07JAG]

Hi I have followed your car project with great interest, you did great work with the tappet fix and tried very hard with the rough running, but i think its time to refocus as you say get underneath and fix the car up for a MOT. Take it up to swallows and let another pair of eyes have a look after all they are the guys and have the capacity to swap things in and out to resolve any problems you my still have, although the car sounds better than it ever as. My be get a MOT and run the car for the summer some times we can be to close to a problem?? Dave

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi David, it's really good to hear from you, buddy, and I really appreciate your positive comments 👍 You must be a mind reader, as I am currently in the throws of going around the braking system and poking around the underside. Video to come very soon on that. I am in agreement, I am going to get it in the road for this year, then I can get back into it for next winter and really get stuck it. It's my eldest sons prom this summer, and he wants to go in the XKR, so that is my aim 👍

[@IainLaity]

but that runs really rough on e5 fuel but runs lovely on e10 . So far as my XKr is concerned it runs less well on e5 fuel . My thinking by that maybe was some stale fuel on the tank and by running it down to empty all but ran out of fuel in the last video .perhaps the four gallons you put in this time is now fully fresh e10 fuel in tank so runs ok . Also over the times you have been running running fresh fuel through the lines may have dissolved dried old fuel which may have been blocking injectors etc . Now maybe any dried fuel may have dissolved and been pushed out through the system . This is quite possible as fuel left in a fuel system for a long time will evaporate and leave a gum like substance infact will eventually dry to a flakey state . Not way is certainly the case with yours as I don’t know how long it was left without running before you had it but is a possibility . 🤞🤞

[@projectsinthebarn]

Thanks again for your input buddy, stale old fuel may be well have caused my issues. I guess over time I will find out, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed 🤞

[@MYXJRJAGX308]

Lack of use and low octan fuel will upset these supercharge cats. Give her a good blast! Nice vid as always and looking for the next one.

[@projectsinthebarn]

Thanks buddy, that's much appreciated. I am going to be going through the brakes next as they don't work, I have a leak of brake fluid from somewhere. But then, I can get it up the road and see how she goes 👍

[@annculbreth6363]

Wow sounds a lot better my Son. ❤️

[@projectsinthebarn]

It does sound a lot happier mum, fingers crossed the fresh premium fuel has cleared the system through xxx ❤️

[@johnpalmer2969]

Brilliant - yes, give it a run…. Plenty of good quality fuel….

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi John, the E5 certainly seems to have made a good first impression, let's see how it goes on a restart in a few days 😀

[@IainLaity]

Fingers crossed did you try it with any throttle input or did you only run it as in video at idle speeds . A decent run time with various throttle settings could well clear things for you . Another thought is if it had an air lock in the fuel rail and by adding the pressure tester to the valve may have purged the air out of it 🤔

[@projectsinthebarn]

No throttle input. I just wanted to see how it faired at idle, as previously it would only run for a few minutes before it would start to die and then stall. So my initial feeling is positive as it ran for so long on idle with no issue. I did add some redex into the fuel tank when I put the fuel in too. The next run I will add throttle and do a switch off and on again, as that was also an issue for it.

[@IainLaity]

@@projectsinthebarn Red xx was a good idea that will help aswell looking forward to the next video great job 👍

[@johnwilkinson4782]

Another great video Simon, yes get it up on stands and sort the brakes out. Just my preference but i only put Shell V power E5 in my XKR 👍

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi John, thanks for getting in touch buddy. Maybe, just maybe, the E10 I put in it previously caused the issue. Time will tell I guess mate 👍 😉

[@stevenslight2607]

Get the car out on the road Simon 👍👍

[@projectsinthebarn]

@stevenslight2607 hi steven, I just need to get my brakes sorted, and then I can get it on the road for a good blast 👍

[@robertschmidt5116]

I would run the car and see how it does. If not good, throttle body rebuild? I know you worked on it, but maybe still a problem.

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi Robert, good to hear from you buddy. I will get my brakes sorted then get it out on the road and see how it performs. The throttle body may possibly be at fault, so a good shout 👌

[@IainLaity]

Is this the first time you put fresh fuel in it or maybe when you ran fuel low then put fresh in it diluted the old stale fuel

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi Iain, I have totally drained the tank twice since buying it a non runner. Once to replace both fuel pumps, and the second time by default as I swapped out the fuel filter. This is the first time I have fueled it with high octane fuel, and it does seem an awful lot happier 🙏

[@philf5043]

Fresh fuel ? How much old fuel is in the tank ? Certainly sounded ok. Burn off the okd fuel and give it an Italian tune up . Put some BP ultimate E5 in my XK ( not supercharged) and it runs so smooth and surprisingly good on fuel. BP Ultimate Nd Shell V Power dont have Ethanol so run far better and dont corrode fuel system like the Fuel with Ethanol.

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi Phil, Good to hear from you, buddy. There was probably only a couple of litres of old fuel left in there, and I added 20 litres or so of fresh, high octane fuel to it. I am doing the brakes at the moment, so then I will be able to get it up the road and see how she runs on the road 👍

[@philf5043]

@@projectsinthebarn l have just had the wheels collected for a refurb on my XK . Then when its a bit warmer will have the screen out to gi the rust hole at the botom of the pillar. Hope all goes well with brake overhaul and will be following the vids. 👍

[@projectsinthebarn]

@philf5043 It sounds like you have a well cared for jag there, my friend. Thanks for the tips on the different fuels, we have a BP here in town, so I will make sure I use that in the tank. Thanks again, and chat soon, Simon 👍

[@bespincustompropsbombarta8300]

Why didn't you rev it and try a restart 🤷‍♂️ seemed to be warming up nicely, should of got it right up to temp and see what happened. never put 95 e10 fuel in these cars

[@projectsinthebarn]

Hi buddy, good to hear from you. I didn't want to push my luck and wanted to see how it ran from the start. My plan is to go back down in a few days and go through the whole procedure again, and this time, rev it up after it's warmed up, then pop it into gear and see how she behaves. But it definitely seems to be happier on the E5 premium fuel. Maybe the previous tesco E10 disagreed with it!

[@bespincustompropsbombarta8300]

@@projectsinthebarn most likely I put e10 in mine once from a small village garage that didn't have high octane and it ran like crap, don't think the timing can retard enough to use it, the e10 ethanol Content makes the fuel thicker and more sticky so the injectors and pump struggle, I reckon you might of just found the cure once that fuel has worked through.

[@projectsinthebarn]

@bespincustompropsbombarta8300 it would be great if that's the issue 🤞once I have run it again, as I mentioned earlier, we should have a better idea if it's sorted itself out 😃

[@life_on_cars]

Well done ruled out the fuel pressure 👏 just remind me, are the plugs good and gapped correctly. They might be sooty now after all the short runs ..It's been so long lol . Might just need a blast now and get up to temperature

[@projectsinthebarn]

@life_on_cars Hi buddy, The plugs are all brand new, though I never checked the gaps out of the box to be honest, and the coil packs have been replaced. But as you say, after si many short runs with it running like a bag of nails, it would be a good idea to whip them out again and clean them and check the gaps as you suggest 😉