Project Jaguar XF 3.0D Belt & pump

There’s not a huge amount of space inside the engine bay of the XF and the 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine that powers our project car looks like it has been squeezed into position under the bonnet. Fortunately, the rear-wheel-drive configuration means the timing belt area of the engine is at the front, so once the induction system has been removed along with several vacuum hoses, wires and mounting bracketry, there’s ample space to remove the timing belt, idler pulleys, tensioner and water pump.

We were in for yet more surprises. When we got down to detaching a vacuum pipe from the central shut off valve (CSOV) in the middle of the engine bay, the pipe wasn’t fully fitted. Considering the CSOV is a later type, it has been changed, but whoever did this maybe didn’t fit the vacuum pipe so well. Had it fallen off, it would have resulted in running issues.

We also discovered some felt-tip timing marks on the camshaft sprockets. The only trouble is the sprockets are a Vernier type, so they can be adjusted to take up slack in the timing belt, which means that any timing marks on