Hi All, yesterday the engine on my 2.5 Auto AWD decided to die whilst on the motorway and I was wondering if anyone had seen these symptoms before so that I can get an idea of where to start looking and even as to whether it's worth trying to repair or not.

It's done 107,000 miles and not had any problems before. It had driven about 180 miles perfectly yesterday until...

I heard a blowing sound that changed with the engine revs (was travelling on the motorway at about 50mph)
Within 30 seconds I noticed a loss in power and decided to pull off at the slip road which was about 300 yards ahead
Before I got to the slip road the engine temperature gauge shot to the right, red lights came on and the LCD display said the engine was overheating
Within a few seconds of that the engine dropped a load of oil and stalled
I pulled on to the hard shoulder and waited whilst the oil burned off - when I looked there was oil visible on either side of the engine (attached photos) and oil on the ground
I tried the ignition and the motor just spun very quickly as if no compression

At first I thought one of the head gaskets had gone but there is no sign of coolant in the oil. The RAC description was "Engine Blown"

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

 

It sounds as though you have had an Oil Cooler failure. The attached jpeg shows the cooler and its location. The first thing to do is assess the current engine condition.
1. Is there any oil in the oil pan at all?
2. You need to do a cylinder compression test.
If the results are NO oil and low compression, I would start looking for a new engine. If you have compression and there is some oil remaining in the pan, you can try topping everything up and attempt to start. Any bearing noise would be another indication of time for a replacement engine.

 

Yazah, like what Avern1 said, see what the oil level is and then a compression check. But, from the sounds of things, it is sounding pretty terminal from what you describe. Having the oil all over the place is normally a sign of a failed oil line or a catastrophic failure in the engine leading to a crack in the block. You don't mention any loud bangs, so the block cracking is a little of a stretch.

 

Thank you both for your input. I had a good root around and even had an ex Jag mechanic come look.

There is little or no compression on all 6 cylinders, coolant leaking fast, oil forced out of the engine in all directions, radiator split on the side, thick burnt oil in the air intake tube, etc.

Without dismantling the engine we reached the conclusion that it wasn't worth repairing.

 

Ouch!


Time to visit bertieboy for a breaker pull!