[v12-engine] Borescope!

V12-Engine
1

Ok, heres a curly question for you other Jag owners here in Australia.
I need to hire a Borescope.
For those who dont know its a device you can put though holes to inspect
engine internals.
I have seen them in the past, but need to get hold of one now.
The problem that has arisen is this, I bought a second hand engine for my
XJS from a reputable company here in Aus.
Got it into the workshop where I work, did compression tests etc, then
fitted it into the car.
Now, when I go to line the timing up to fit the distributor, the engine
will not turn past a certian point. If I take it backwards, it will nearly
reach that same point, but not quite.
This point is as no 3 and 4 cyls on the LH side are approaching TDC. I probe
around with a small magent on a stick, and am "rewarded " with a small self
tapping screw in side No 3 cyl. Its bright and shiny, undamaged. But it
still will not turn over.
My guess is, some clown at work has decided to sabotage me.
So… to save me taking both heads off, I would like to get hold of a
borescope to examine each cylinder, to see if there are any more little
surprises inside them.

Anyone local , especially the Sydney area, know where I can get hold of one?
Dont suppose we have any proctologists amongst us?

Andrew Holley
Sydney Australia

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2

At 18:44 2003-11-20 +1100, Andrew Holley wrote:

Ok, heres a curly question for you other Jag owners here in Australia.
I need to hire a Borescope.
For those who dont know its a device you can put though holes to inspect
engine internals.

I’m wondering if a security camera (see a “spy” catalogue, but these
devices have been popular for hiding cameras to check in on your
housekeeper and whatnot) and an ultrabright led or two might not do the
trick fairly well. You’d power the LEDs, and run the cord for the camera
into a camcorder or VCR composite input, and either check the output on the
camcorder screen or an attached television.

These cameras are suprisingly inexpensive, and though not really pensized,
I believe there are a few elements which should manage to fit through the
spark plug holes.

— '88 Jaguar XJ-SC 5.3L V12 (LHD) ‘Black Cat’
Sean Straw '85 Jaguar XJ-S 5.3L V12 (LHD) ‘Bad Kitty’
Marin County, California '91 Jaguar XJ40 4.0L (LHD) ‘Trevor’
http://jaguar.professional.org/ '69 Buick GranSport 455 V8

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3

Andrew,

Hopefully the nice colleague didn’t drop anything non-ferrous in, you’ll
have a problem getting it out.

Be careful with turning the engine backwards, I believe it is not very good
for the chain-tensioner. You certainly don’t want to break it in the
process.

Good luck!

Jack Verschuur.

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4

At 11:18 2003-11-20 +0200, wirewheels@absamail.co.za wrote:

Hopefully the nice colleague didn’t drop anything non-ferrous in, you’ll
have a problem getting it out.

MacGuyver would look around the shop space and grab a length of vinyl tube,
a small VW style clear inline fuel filter, a household vacuum, and possibly
some duct tape (this coming from his rear pocket, and would be necessary if
you don’t have a Kirby with an earwax removal tip - I s#!t you not). Hook
em up, fire the thing up, and insert into the cylinder which debris is in,
trying to work the hose around a bit. The inline fuel filter will allow
you to spot any cruft that gets sucked up, though something as significant
as a screw will probably get stuck at the end of the tubing and held in
place by the vacuum suction during extraction of the hose (so long as you
keep the vacuum running).

No, I haven’t had to do this on an engine, but it should work equally well
for ferrous and non-ferrous objects alike.

I did the briefest of searches, and found

     <http://www.advanced-intelligence.com/opticsb.html>

The site has conventional miniature cameras, down around the diameter of a
US dime (1.85cm or so), but with some electronics on the backside making it
a bit larger than that. The link above is to a fibre optic scope (yea,
basically an unlit borescope), not a camera. Unfortunatley, for all the
lack of electronic gadgetry, this thing is as pricey as any of the many
more expensive miniature cameras - the cheaper cameras are in the circa
US$100-150 range.

— '88 Jaguar XJ-SC 5.3L V12 (LHD) ‘Black Cat’
Sean Straw '85 Jaguar XJ-S 5.3L V12 (LHD) ‘Bad Kitty’
Marin County, California '91 Jaguar XJ40 4.0L (LHD) ‘Trevor’
http://jaguar.professional.org/ '69 Buick GranSport 455 V8

Visit the Jag Lovers homepage at http://www.jag-lovers.org for exciting services and resources including Photo Albums, Event Diary / Calendar, On Line Books and more !

5

I dropped something, I think a Que Tip, in one of my cylinders. The
vacuum idea didn’t work for me. I got a small tool that had a grasping
claw on the end, and after a few minutes I snagged it.--------------------
Robert
73XJ12HE
87XJ-SC

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6

At 10:04 2003-11-20 -0700, Robert Warnicke wrote:

I dropped something, I think a Que Tip, in one of my cylinders. The
vacuum idea didn’t work for me. I got a small tool that had a grasping
claw on the end, and after a few minutes I snagged it.

Yea, springy grabbers are in my toolbox. Actually, there’s one in the
(aluminium briefcase) toolkit in the XJ-SC, as well as one in my tool
cabinet at the house.

When dealing with problems, it’s a good idea to keep your options - and
mind - open. Magnet, vacuum, grabber, something sticky (perhaps a glop of
bearing grease on the end of a straw - keeping in mind that while it can be
good for “catching” things, it can also prove your undoing if you glop it
off inside a cylinder because it’ll attract cruft).

Even a vacuum AND compressor could work in conjunction.

I’d get really creative before resigning myself to pulling the head.

— '88 Jaguar XJ-SC 5.3L V12 (LHD) ‘Black Cat’
Sean Straw '85 Jaguar XJ-S 5.3L V12 (LHD) ‘Bad Kitty’
Marin County, California '91 Jaguar XJ40 4.0L (LHD) ‘Trevor’
http://jaguar.professional.org/ '69 Buick GranSport 455 V8

Visit the Jag Lovers homepage at http://www.jag-lovers.org for exciting services and resources including Photo Albums, Event Diary / Calendar, On Line Books and more !

7

In reply to a message from Andrew Holley sent Thu 20 Nov 2003:

If it is a bent valve or partially dropped valve seat you
should be able to tell if that is the case by examining the
movement or depth of the tappets (inverted cups over the
valves & springs). Before pulling the head I would at least
pull the cam covers off to look things over inside there.

Anyway I bet you are not a happy Jaguar V-12 owner at this
point if you really do suspect someone at your work of
sabotaging the engine.–
The original message included these comments:

Now, when I go to line the timing up to fit the distributor, the engine
will not turn past a certian point. If I take it backwards, it will nearly
reach that same point, but not quite.
This point is as no 3 and 4 cyls on the LH side are approaching TDC. I probe
around with a small magent on a stick, and am ''rewarded ‘’ with a small self
tapping screw in side No 3 cyl. Its bright and shiny, undamaged. But it
still will not turn over.
My guess is, some clown at work has decided to sabotage me.

–
Steven A. DuChene - XJ6VDP XJ6C XJ12C XK120SE 3.8S E-Types
Reston, VA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–

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