Not sure what this part is 1997 4 litre 6

Hi, I guess I will have to eventually by a manual, but can someone please explain what this round thing is ? I can see a disc spinning around through the window .
Thanks

Basically its the equivalent to the distributor.

Thanks for letting me know. I thought I knew what a distributor looked like !

Sort of.
It’s the Cam position sensor. It tells the ECU when the engine is on a compression stroke.

There is also a crank position sensor at the front of the engine that act on a toothed trigger wheel to tell ECU when to fire (This is the distributor replacement).
They work together so that the car starts on the button so to speak.

If the cam sensor fails, the engine will still work, it will just take longer to start (more cranking). If the crank sensor fails then the car will not work!

Lots of useful documentation here. Have a look at downloads for the manuals.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-xj6-xjr6-x300-26/x300-how-quick-links-20088/

It can also be fitted 180 degrees out which causes prolonged cranking until the ECM determines TDC. See Jim Butterworth’s AJ16 website for the easy setting method.

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