My ordeal with a 9 week misfire issue is drawing to a close I hope. The dealer believes it’s coolant causing the misfire or, a timing chain issue. They also told me the fuel injectors I installed were the wrong injectors, but will work. I used the part number in the DIY thread ...the thing I don’t understand is why am I getting misfires on 4 cylinders , on both sides of the motor. I would think if it’s a blown head gasket, it would involve only one or two cylinders, and on the same side of the motor. I’ve never had an overheating issue ever, temps always rock solid in the middle after warmup, but I have had a slight loss of coolant , I have never added any , but the tech said he suspected only a slight leak. Sounds a little shaky of a diagnosis to me, but I’m ready for it to be over!

Also, what’s the going rate for head gasket replacement and what else should I have them do while they are there? Any recommendations?

 

Grey oil?

 

No , not at all the oil looked good. The tech told me it was such a minute leak, it was not being introduced into the oil , just going out the exhaust. I never saw grey smoke, black smoke or anything that’s why am thinking this is such a sketchy diagnosis. Also I would I still think four cylinders both sides of the motor wouldn’t be involved with a blown head gasket . Not unless the gasket is leaking in multiple places

 

Worse than I thought. It’s a hole in piston 6, losing compression. Needs a new motor, quoted at $32, 000 with labor

 

OMG. Any idea how it happened?

 

They have torn the motor down and visually confirmed the hole in the piston ?
Or they did a compression check and it’s leaking down?
If only a leak down test, then a blown head gasket would also loose compression and would not require a new engine.

 

borescope, they visualized the hole in the piston. No idea, but it was the cylinder that I
previously had a damaged electron on the spark plug. Not everyday you get a $32,000 repair bill.

 

So any professional guess what would happen if I continued to drive this car with a hole in the piston? It runs really rough at idle , but smooths out in the 1500-2500 range. My thought is to keep driving it until I have to change the motor. To me, the only real damage could be to the cat, as everything else will be replaced with the engine. It is a weekend only car. I just have to adjust my driving style. My wife has battled cancer since February and money is really tight. Her life.......my car. Any guess which one wins?

 

One thought. Anyone know if the power plant from a later model R or SVR would bolt up to my 2014 Sv8. If the price isn’t that much higher, it would make sense to upgrade. Just curious!

 

Really a big economic desion as value on '14 aren't done going down. If you can find a good foreign shop to do a short block your costs are much lower. Toi spend $32k on a $40k car makes no sense.

 

There's got to be some Independent shops up there in Atlanta that specialize in Jaguars. Get a used motor from a crashed F Type installed by a reputable Indy and it should cost less than 1/3 that quote. I can recommend a great shop in Jacksonville if you want to bring it down this way.

 

What??? Just replace the piston. That can be done in-car. Damn...thousands of technicians and not a mechanic among them. How did the hole occur? Were there any lean conditions you were aware of?

 

Were the plugs ever changed at some point prior to pulling that damaged plug? Maybe wrong sized plug or something was dropped in there during a plug change.

 

Seems to me that dealerships generally only replace entire components, seldom repair components. I've read similar dealer quotes on other auto forums like Mazda and Toyota. But yes, one damaged piston calls for a new piston. It could be there is more damage than just to the piston, maybe something solid bounced around inside and scored up the cylinder walls and beat up the valves too but they wouldn't know unless they tore it down and the dealership wouldn't even do that. They'd have the new engine ordered and ready to install by the time they had the old one out. I would also caution that I've looked at many pistons with my crappy $200 Milwauki brand inspection scope from Home Depot and unless they have one several orders of magnitude better than mine, they could easily be mistaking a speck of carbon for a hole. Now if they've got a $50,000 camera like the one your gastroenterologist uses, maybe they could clearly see a hole. I'd definitely take it to an indy for a second opinion.

 

If you have a shop that will do a transplant for $12,00 out the door, heck yeah, it will be on a transport tonight,
Ive got an Indy, a friend of mine . He found a motor for $14,000 with 10k miles , $4000 to install. Still $18,000 plus the $4000 I’ve already spent at the other shops and towing.

 

i talked to a mechanic that told me that wasn’t recommended for a high performance motor. I kind of understand , not being able to hone the cylinder and all! He said It’s fine for the family sedan but not for this car. I remember when I was young my brother dabbled in funny car racing. Heck they would pull a head and oil pan and replace a piston at the event if they thought they had an issue! I guess they weren’t high performance engines

IT was the right plug, besides someone posted a picture of a head, there is really no way The piston can reach the plug unless it was extra ,extra long. The a
service advisor said a chunk was out of the piston. Which would indicate a mechanical damage . I’m thinking it was more of a burned piston, hole , maybe from a lean condition. I haven’t seen it myself. The dealer is 70 miles away and I had to work to pay for the repairs!

 

If it was possibly a lean detonation be sure to use a different set of injectors on the new (or new to you) engine.

 

So you are thinking I should pull the injectors on the new (to me) motor? The ones in my old motor are new , never driven only started. So I don’t think they would be the issue. However, the dealer did tell me they were the wrong injectors. I bought them from AutohausAZ using the p/n on DIY FUEL INJECTOR thread! I have come to the realization that the dealers I have dealt with are not the leading authority on Jaguar cars . Kinda sad!

 

My comment was offered to make certain you did not reuse the same injector associated with the holy piston.

 

I have a 2014 v8 which needed a new motor. I purchased a used AJ133 for $11k. I bought new JLR injectors, plugs, coolant pipes, water pump, thermostat, motor mounts and sc coupler. Had front rotors replaced at the same time. With parts and labor, was $23k out the door w 1 year warranty. About inline with your friends estimate after you factor in parts and west coast cost of living punishment.

Also it wasn't easy to find a shop willing to take on this job. I had one independent jaguar shop turn me away as they wouldn't replace the motor with a used one.

So far the car runs great and has had zero issues since the motor swap. That was about 10K miles ago.

Good luck!