[xj] Help removing the Head

Having found water in the oil of my 86 XJ6 I have decided to remove
the head myself.

As a novice at this I am taking this slowly, but I have got myself
stuck.

I have got to loosening the timing chains. Having removed the
breather housing from the front of the engine and loosend the bolt
on the serrated plate I am ready to turn the plate to release the
tension.

I can depress the spring loaded stop peg, slightly lower that the
front face of the serrated plate (but not fully flush with the
housing behind it)
I can move the plate slightly (with pegs in the 2 holes on the
plate) but can get no further and the chain still seems very tight.

Should the stop peg depress fully?

Is there a great deal of force needed to turn the serrated plate to
release the tension?

Is there anything else I should do to complete this?

A secondary question, The exhaust Manifold is covered by a plate
that that is held inplace by 2 bolts a 14mm & a 22mm. I cant shift
the 22mm bolt. Any sugestions?

Thanks

Tim–
Tim King
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Tim,

When I removed the cylinder head from my 1984 XJ6 VdP last year about

this time, I found that there was a special tool available from the usual
sources to help loosen and tighten the timing chain. I don’t know how to do
this without this tool. Since it was readily available and inexpensive I got
one.

You might try soaking that 22MM bolt with penetrating oil for a few days

to see if that helps. The bolts on the exhaust side of my car came out
easily, so at least I didn’t have that problem. I guess you can also try
heating is up a bit to see if that helps. If all else fails try a bigger
fulcrum (a breaker bar) to get it to budge.

There is lots of information in the archives about head removal that

should be of help to you.

BTW, one thing you must be careful of while doing this work on the head,

be careful not to do any damage to the valves while removing and replacing
the head. Several list members (fortunately not me) have experienced
damage to on or more valve due to valve to valve impacts. The valves in
each cylinder can hit each other if they are open at the same time and
rotated. In addition, the valves sit lower than the bottom of the head, so
it is also possible to damage (bend) them if you sit the head down flat
after you remove it. Please be careful as this can be an expensive error.

I took hundreds of  digital pictures of my work (before, in between,

after) so if you get stumped and need a picture, please let me know.

Regards,

Paul Novak
1969 E-Type FHC
1984 XJ6 SIII Vanden Plas
San Diego, CA
@Paul_M_Novak----- Original Message -----
From: “Tim King” tim.king@qedservices.co.nz
To: xj@jag-lovers.org
Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2004 3:30 PM
Subject: [xj] Help removing the Head

Having found water in the oil of my 86 XJ6 I have decided to remove
the head myself.

As a novice at this I am taking this slowly, but I have got myself
stuck.

I have got to loosening the timing chains. Having removed the
breather housing from the front of the engine and loosend the bolt
on the serrated plate I am ready to turn the plate to release the
tension.

I can depress the spring loaded stop peg, slightly lower that the
front face of the serrated plate (but not fully flush with the
housing behind it)
I can move the plate slightly (with pegs in the 2 holes on the
plate) but can get no further and the chain still seems very tight.

Should the stop peg depress fully?

Is there a great deal of force needed to turn the serrated plate to
release the tension?

Is there anything else I should do to complete this?

A secondary question, The exhaust Manifold is covered by a plate
that that is held inplace by 2 bolts a 14mm & a 22mm. I cant shift
the 22mm bolt. Any sugestions?

Thanks

Tim


Tim King

===================================================
The archives and FAQ will answer many queries on the XJ series…
FAQs: http://www.jag-lovers.org/xjlovers/xjfaq/index.html
Archives: Jag-lovers Forums - Jag-lovers

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G’day Tim,

When you are attempting to turn the serrated washer you have to be careful
to ensure that what you are using does not protrude through the washer. If,
for example you are using long nosed pliers, and the tips go through the
washer they will engage the casting behind the washer and prevent any
further movement. If you are using the correct tool this wont be a problem
as the pins are the correct length. The correct direction for chain
adjustment is counter clockwise, and so you would think that clockwise would
loosen it. This is not always the case as sometimes the adjustment is made
in the wrong direction. Sometimes the whole mechanism develops a ‘set’ and
needs a little persuasion to make it move. The peg stop top only needs to be
level with the surface of the washer.

Re the exhaust maniflod, soak the bolt with any good penetrating oil for a
couple of days and if at first you don’t succeed get a bigger spanner.

Regards,
Jeff Watson.> I have got to loosening the timing chains. Having removed the

breather housing from the front of the engine and loosend the bolt
on the serrated plate I am ready to turn the plate to release the
tension.

I can depress the spring loaded stop peg, slightly lower that the
front face of the serrated plate (but not fully flush with the
housing behind it)
I can move the plate slightly (with pegs in the 2 holes on the
plate) but can get no further and the chain still seems very tight.

Should the stop peg depress fully?

Is there a great deal of force needed to turn the serrated plate to
release the tension?

Is there anything else I should do to complete this?

A secondary question, The exhaust Manifold is covered by a plate
that that is held inplace by 2 bolts a 14mm & a 22mm. I cant shift
the 22mm bolt. Any sugestions?

Thanks

Tim

===================================================
The archives and FAQ will answer many queries on the XJ series…
FAQs: http://www.jag-lovers.org/xjlovers/xjfaq/index.html
Archives: Jag-lovers Forums - Jag-lovers

To remove yourself from this list, go to Jag-lovers Forums - Jag-lovers.

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Tim:

I am ready to turn the plate to release the tension.
I can depress the spring loaded stop peg, slightly lower that the
front face of the serrated plate (but not fully flush with the
housing behind it)
I can move the plate slightly (with pegs in the 2 holes on the
plate) but can get no further and the chain still seems very tight.
Should the stop peg depress fully?

I believe you have depressed the peg sufficiently when you get it slightly
below the face of the serrated plate.

At the suggestion of this list, I used a pair of heavy duty, needle nose
pliers to turn the plate. Wrap the operating part of the pliers in duct
tape in case a point breaks, you don’t want to loose the piece. And, stuff
rags in the areas around the timing sprockets as you don’t want anything to
fall in there.

Once you have the pliers or tool (as Paul suggested) wiggle the plate back
and forth to depress the peg. Also, if all else fails, give the plate a
slight “wack” with something metal shake things loose. It does not take
that much force to move the plate.

And finally, do read the achieves on the subject and IMHO, buy, rent,
borrow a shop manual to understand the process.

At the very least, as Paul said don’t turn either cam after you’ve taken off
the timing chains (as I did) and don’t set the head down on a flat surface
as
the valves protrude. You can loosen the bearing caps (two bolts per cap) to
allow the cams to rise off the valves, or put wood blocks at the ends to
keep the valves off the surface, either of which will prevent the valves
coming in contact with the bench top.

Good luck

Lou
71 XJ6From: “Tim King” tim.king@qedservices.co.nz
Subject: [xj] Help removing the Head

===================================================
The archives and FAQ will answer many queries on the XJ series…
FAQs: http://www.jag-lovers.org/xjlovers/xjfaq/index.html
Archives: Jag-lovers Forums - Jag-lovers

To remove yourself from this list, go to Jag-lovers Forums - Jag-lovers.

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