Hey y’all, I’ve got a curious problem for you. Just bought an 03’ str with 150k. Anyways, I reached out to the previous owner who states that the vehicle has a blown engine from it being floored at 150 mph on a rebuilt engine. He stated that the vehicle does not start or drive, yet I got it to attempt to turn over. Now when I turn the key it just clicks. I put a new battery in. The car does not respond to remote buttons could it be the immobilized? The vehicle is full on coolant, but the oil looks like chocolate milkshake on the dipstick. I don’t hear the fuel pump cycle, and the vehicle has been hit at the fuel filler cap. Does anyone have any recommendations on where to begin? I’m 18 and this is my dream car please help.

 

Humm..

Where to begin?

You have a $2000.00 car with a $3000.00 repair looming? There are engines out there on eBay but you will have to be ready to take on the task. STR's are becoming hard to come by in good shape so resurrecting one with a blown engine will be a major undertaking.

Hopefully the members here will try and get you through it. I know I will.

 

The 2003 STRs have the 4.2 engines without VVT. This limits the availability of good running used engines. Specifically ones with lower mileage that wont have to be rebuilt. You could in theory use a newer 4.2 supercharged engine, but then you have to swap the camshafts. (Then you might as well replace/refresh the timing chains and tensioners.) There are also sensor and accessory differences so you will have to swap the engine harness and associated different sensors. Once the engine is out you should replace many of the coolant lines especially the infamous valley hose.
From a cost perspective:
1. Find a mid to high mileage 2003/04 Supercharged engine and pay between $2K and $4k plus plan for about $500 in coolant lines and other accessories.
2. Purchase a lower mileage supercharged engine and swap over the camshaft, (adjust tappet clearances.), put on new timing chain kit and swap engine harness, and other sensors. $2K to $4K for the engine and about $1K to $2K in other parts.
3. Rebuild the engine: $3.5K to $7K and take up to a year to gather all the parts, and rebuild it.
4. Purchase one of the supposedly rebuilt engines off of Ebay for about $4.5K, plus a core engine. (If you read the details, it is questionable how good a rebuild it actually is.)

Good luck.

 

Starter. Mine did the same. Pull it and bench test it first. There is an order to everything as a subject. You did battery. Next is ignition, switch, spark, plugs and coils, then starter, fuse for starter. Do that first.
im 22 now i got my car when i was 21 a 2007 STR
with a 9.5/10 representation beautiful car. I rebuilt the engine stock. Just 1 bank at least because the other is good. I recommend learning EVERYTHING YOU CAN. I eat sleep and breathe this car and have ever since I got it I spent so much time and money that I won’t get back but that’s OK because the younger variety doesn’t usually seek out this vehicle and the S type R is a dying breed . Don’t Junk it save your money do all of the work yourself I will help you through the course if I can . As I still have issues with mine that I’m still trying to figure out. Taking apart the engine and countless of times and with the lack of content use your sources precisely. good luck my friend. If for some reason you do wanna get rid of it. Message me first PLEASE lol. Good luck we’re all on standby there are some really smart Cats on here.

 

Figure out in what manner it is blown if you can whether be a rod piston or valve. You’re going to have to take the engine apart no doubt you insist on getting it started that may help you figure out what it could be but if you can start taking it apart reference all of your pieces take pictures whatever you have to do

 

You bought a car with a blown engine as did I so I’m sure obviously you know that you have some work ahead of you now I’m not sure of your financial obligation to this car or what you are working with but one way or another you’re going to spend

 

lol. I bought a spare 06 4.2 na for parts. The top of the motor is off because the previous owners mechanic said it was the timing belt but after tear it partially down they gave up and I bought it for parts

maybe ill find a newmotoror take this one apart for rebuild but its probably all rusted from being open to the elements

 

I have 3 STRs, 2 with blown engines. I have a refresh 04 engine with 75K miles on it that I have slowly been putting back together. (New timing chains and tensioners, water pump, hoses...) I am always distracted with other projects, so putting this engine back in a car has been a low priority. My other good engine is an 07 with about 50K mile on it. I am saving this engine to swap cams on or design a remote VVT controller so I can put it in the second STR to replace it's bad motor.

A word on VVT versus non VVT STR engines:

In the past few years, I purchased several Non VVT Supercharger heads in order to get a full set fixed camshafts. Unfortunately the idiots that removed the heads from the engines didn't do it properly, so the flanges on the front of the camshafts are all cracked. Therefore, I do not have a complete set of good camshafts. Sellers realize how rare the camshafts are becoming and are asking way too much money these days. (If you do purchase camshafts, ask the seller to be 100% sure the flanges are not cracked.)
If you do a search on the forum, there is a lot of posted information about camshafts.
Bear in mind that if you swap camshafts, you have to adjust all the lifter/tappet clearances on the heads. (Very time consuming and if a shop does it for you, very expensive.)(Lifter tappet shims are becoming hard to find and expensive. $10 to $15 each, and limited available sizes.)

I would like to see someone on the forum take one for the team and design a stand alone VVT controller for the 4.2 engine. This would allow us to put the newer engines in the 03-04 supercharged cars, and help with 4.0L to 4.2 swaps. I looked into doing this several times, but never have been able to find time to design one.

 

Just wondering, have you actually diagnosed what is wrong with this engine? Or are you just going by the opinion of the previous owner?

For example, almost 20 years ago, I had a Fiat Spyder as a fun weekend car. (Insert Fiat joke here) It has an interference engine, meaning if the timing belt broke, the pistons and valves will meet in an expensive way. I had just been thinking about that while flooring the gas, merging onto the freeway. Suddenly I got the bap-bap-bap sound from the exhaust, the engine quit, and I had to coast to the side of the road. I did some very basic troubleshooting by the side of the road, being very careful to reach my predetermined diagnosis. Pre cell days, I walked to a pay phone (remember those?) and called a tow truck. I rolled the car into the back of my shop and never even cracked the hood for months, convinced that beautiful Italian twin cam was now a paperweight. Months later, I decided to scrounge up a used engine and looked at the old one to be sure what I needed. In less than 10 minutes, I found the distributor rotor had self-destructed at high RPM. $3 for a new part and I was back in business.

Not saying your problem will be so simple, but it might be worth doing a little investigation to be sure.

 

"like chocolate milkshake on the dipstick" Good indication that it is not someting simple. He wrote that the car owner stated that the engine was "rebuilt", without any additional details.

At a minimum, a blown head gasket.
Rebuilt engine, perhaps the engine wasn't rebuilt to OEM standard or better.
Under the realm of car engine overhauls these are terms rebuilders use. "engine rebuilt", "engine refreshed", "top end rebuild done" and "partial bottom end done"

Refreshed engine: New engine peripherals, and timing chain assembly/tensioners. Long block not touched. (bearings as is, pan not removed, heads and internals stay untouched.
Top End: Rebuilt heads: Top end only rebuilt. Long block not touched.
Partial bottom end: Typically new bearings sometimes only rod bearings.
Rebuilt engine: Engine torn apart, parts inspected and supposedly only out of spec parts replaced. (To me this term is used for half-*** jobs where the owner/rebuilder want to get the car back on the road.)
Blueprinted engine rebuild: Rebuilt to at least factory specs. Al parts replaced and engine put back together. All bearings, pistons/rings/wrist pints..., valves, valve springs, perhaps crankshaft, and rods. All parts meticulously measured to be sure they are within OEM tolerances or better.
HP build /modified build: Engine rebuilt to ouput increased HP and torque: Same specs as a blueprinted engine but modified to support the HP output the car owner wants.

Aidon. If you haven't done this already to the following.
1. Lift off the coil/plug covers.
2. Look for oil and or water around the spark plugs. (Should be clean there.)
3. Remove all the coil packs from the engine. Easy to do, one bolt holds them down.
4. ​​​​​​Remove all the spark plugs.
5. Put the car in neutral, (chock the wheels so it wont roll.)
6. Find a long breaker bar with a socket/extension that will fit onto the crankshaft pulley blt. (There is some room between the radiator and belts to do this.
7. Try to turn over the engine one revolution by hand.​ If it rotates freely with little resistance, then try to crank the engine with the starter. If the engine wont turn, then you have a spun bearing problem or thrown rod.
8. If you can crank the engine with the starter, and nothing spits out of the cylinders, such as oil/water or both, then that at least is a good sign.
9. Do a compression check on all 8 cylinders. (This will be the tell all for your engine.)

 

Uff da! I missed the milkshake observation.

To your excellent list of diagnostic steps, I'd also suggest running a cooling system pressure test.

 

Hi Aidan, yes the milkshake indicator is not good. I have a similar experience on my 03 STR. Purchased car not running, tracked down an engine using this site Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market the only component transfer was the blower and some external stuff. Tijoe’s advice / estimate of hoses is good those suckers are spendy, not to mention incredibly complicated.

 

Thank y’all so much for the help. I’m in Charlotte NC and am on lockdown at home. The local mechanic is going to let me work on the car at his garage, but I purchased the car the day before lockdown. So far here is what I have: The key does not lock or unlock the doors, but the dashboard reacts to the key as it should. The vehicle refuses to start, even with a new battery. It tried to crank once but barely even could hear it try. The trunk was flooded halfway up the old battery, so I’m wondering if modules got flooded. I have two messages on the dash, dsc not available and abs fault. Forgot to bring my scan tool, will take it next time. The car appears empty on gas (bought it from auction) so I need to do that. Haven’t checked inertia switch as it was also hit at the fuel filler cap after being parked for mechanical reasons and had not been driven since. Here are some pictures if anyone has any suggestions or comments. Copart took apart the front clip for no reason. From what the previous owner told me it was perfect when he sold it.

 

I see two options for how best to proceed:

1) Go to your local dog pound. Get the meanest dog you can find and bring him home., Look for a dog that will bite without any provocation. Attach your Jaguar key to his collar.

2) Get a length of lamp cord. 18 gauge 2 conductor would be perfect. At one end, strip the wires back and attach them to the key. At the other end, attach a polarized plug. Next, plug the cord into a 115VAC wall socket.

Either option will work. The choice is up to you. The general idea is either method will cause you severe pain BEFORE you can try to start the engine. Hopefully, that will be enough to stop you.

The preceding was industrial strength satire. From your description of the stalled starter, you probably have hydraulic lock due to coolant in the cylinders. If lucky, the starter simply stalled and no further damage was done. If unlucky, you bent a rod or cracked a piston. Try the starter again and you run the severe risk of turning a medium level repair into a major one.

As previously suggested, remove the coils and spark plugs. Use a socket and breaker bar at the crankshaft pulley to turn the engine by hand for several rotations. Expect to see coolant spray out of at least one cylinder. All this time, keep the key away from the car so you're not tempted to try the starter. Report back what you find and we can walk you through the next steps.

 

So I went out to the car this morning in the rain to pull the codes y’all asked for and all that came up was a p1339 and that p1111 was clear. I still have to go back and pull the plugs and turn the engine manually, but figured I’d put that out there. I looked again and there’s no flake or sparkle on the dipstick, just looks like really old oil that needs changed 😂. I’m curious if the code case from there being no gas in the engine because it’s really empty. Will go back out when it’s not raining and pull plugs. BTW, loved your joke lmao.😂

 

+1 on removing the coil units and spark plugs then rotating the engine as Karl suggests.

When rotating the engine, go ONLY in a clock direction when viewed from the front of the engine to avoid damage to the rod and main bearings

 

Hey JaguarForums,

I just went out to the car today and did as y’all recommended which was pulling plugs and coils, as well as turning the crankshaft pulley clockwise In neutral. The crankshaft does not turn. I put all my weight on the bolt and it didn’t turn.

The starter is good. I pulled it out and tested it. There was no oil on the plugs or coils, but those all look to be new.

So as of this point I have pulled off the fan and most of the front coolant hoses. All the coolant is the appropriate orange color and looks new.

So I have to ask, as of this point do I call the engine shot? I’ve got a replacement, but I just wanted to make sure that I’ve exhausted all avenues.

Thanks JaguarForums,
-Aidan

Pulling the fan, which I couldn’t figure out how to unplug the wiring from the fan so it’s sitting behind the radiator, disassembled from the whole shroud.

Front hoses disassembled

More front hoses disassembled

Likewise, more hoses disassembled.

Before, at copart.

 

I wouldn't rule the engine out just yet. Not the best sign that's its not turning by hand but try some lubricant down each cylinder first and maybe try again. Difficult to tell without removing the heads. I'm not sure with these engines but I would get a camera probe down each cylinder. That should give you some piston surface indication.
Water in boot may just be a leaking boot but if it was high enough as you mentioned could be some electrical damage.

 

follow the main fan wires after the belly pan is removed and you will find 3 plug connections behind the right front wheel liner...one is for fan power....i think you might access from the side,but i know for sure from the bottom....they are the only large gauge wires in the vicinity...at least 10 ga. maybe even 8 ga......i went thru the same thing...might even remove the cover that bolts to the bottom of the bumper....i do not remember...that cover also has bolts in the wheel wells

 

+1 on using a bore scope to determine if there's a broken valve or other part preventing the engine from rotating.

If you cannot get the crankshaft to rotate with the spark plugs removed, the cylinder heads must be removed for further inspection to the bores and heads. If you have another engine, it may be best from an economic viewpoint to just install the other engine to get the car running again.