Hi guys, bad news... My engine recently started sounding really weird. It sounds like it's knocking and it gets faster and louder as the RPMs increase.

I took it to a general mechanic that I trust and he took a quick listen to it and said it sounds like a rod bearing has broken. He said that usually happens when the engine is run on very low oil.

The thing is, I add oil very frequently, I check it probably once a month. He checked my oil level and said it's got plenty of oil and then he sniffed the oil to see if it smelled burnt or something. He said the oil all looks fine. He also said that if it's the rod bearing that's gone, I'd have to get a new (used) engine, which would cost in the ballpark of $4500.

I've never heard of this happening to our cars and I don't understand how it could happen to mine. I have no warning lights on the dash and no messages in the message center. I'm taking it to a Jaguar specialist in the area tomorrow and paying him an hour of labor so he can dig around and see what's wrong. I'm hoping he says it's something less serious.

Anyways, my question is what do you think about this? And has this happened to other people on here?

Thanks in advance

Here's a video of the it, it was held at around 2,000 RPM by a friend for most of it:

 

Looks like it could be coming from the accessory belt. I thought I spun a bearing once but it turned out my a/c clutch had taken the biggest dump in the history of a/c clutches which made it sound terrible. If it turns out to be the engine, don't pay $4500... I'd pay probably around 2k for it and I'd find the engine from car-part.com.

I really think you might be seeing the accessory belt (serpentine) because that's where the noise is very, very loud.

 

I would say Disguay is right about the serpentine belt pulleys. I can hear the higher pitch constant noise. There are 2 pulleys that might be in need of a replacement. I would check for metal fragments around the A/C clutch. My wife's car had her a/c compressor go out and it sounded something like that on the video. If you find nothing there, it might be a broken valve spring. Take the valve covers off and take a look. If you're luck the broken spring kept the valve from dropping all the way into the cylinder. The valve could be free floating and smacking the piston, making the noise.

 

took it to the shop today, mechanic said he found metal fragments after taking off the oil pan and thus I am in need of a replacement engine. I assume the metal fragments found by the mechanic price that it isn't the a/c? I have been having a/c problems which seems a suspicious coincidence... is it still a possibility?

 

ez, how much metal did they find in the oil pan? I took off the oil pan to my jeep (200k miles) and I found metal fragments, but that doesn't mean my engine is bad. I just haven't taken off my oil pan in years which means that there will be a lot of metal fragments there. If I were you, I would remove the serpentine belt and start the car for 10 seconds. TURN IT OFF AFTER 10 seconds because you don't want to ruin your car. If the noise continues with the serpentine belt off, then you have a bad engine. If not, I would point to a really blown up bearing on a tensioner or something that runs on the serpentine belt. To me, the engine sounds way too good at idle to have an issue and it seems to me that it may be just a bad bearing on your serpentine, but then again, I am only able to diagnose your car and give suggestions without ever seeing it.

 

I purchased my 03 X-type with a spun rod bearing. It knocked at an idle and I didn't rev it like you are doing in the video as I was planning to reapair the engine. So it is a little hard to really compare the noise. From the video it was hard to tell if it knocks when idling. If left at an idle for 20 or 30 second does it knock or only when reved up a bit? I put a little over $2k into repairing the engine in my car and have driven a nother 25K miles since. By the time I was done though I wished I had just gone out and found a good used engine and swapped. Not sure if you got to see what your oil pan looked like but here a couple of pictures of mine when I pulled it apart. Guess pictures didn't work. I will try again after I go find out what I did wrong.

 

disguay, thanks for the advice. I'll check on that.

dstolp, why do you say you wished you had bought a good used engine instead?

Also does anyone know any good, reliable websites/places to get used engines? Prefereably with a strong warranty.

 

EZ, If the oil pan is off, then the mechanic should be able see a burnt bearing or bent rod. It depends on how many metal pieces there are and the size. If its just little shavings and only a little, you should be ok. The metal pieces from the A/C compressor would be on the serpentine belt and below the A/C compressor.

Hope you can figure it out.

 

EZ, search or go down the page and check out "It was a spun bearing (Video)". There a video of a bad bearing on the rod connecting to the crank. Interesting.

 

Is this a mechanic you trust? Did you see the oil pan off. I question this because taking off the oil pan is more than just a few minute job. As asked how many shavings were in there?

Ask to see the engine if the pan is off. He should show you the bad part. You will be able to see the burnt brown/blue metal.

 

The higher pitched noise could be my intake. I have the Kragen/O'Reilly intake that exexpat has. The mechanic seems to be trustworthy and has very good reviews... he is a Jaguar specialist and when I walked in, he had a big shelf full of dark green official Jaguar binders with all the models' names on the spine, it seemed pretty trustworthy. I dropped the car off at noon and he called me at around 5:30 and told me about what he found. I payed him an hour labor for the diagnosis.

I'll call him on Monday to ask more detailed questions such as:
1. Could it be the serpentine belt?
2. How much shavings were found?
3. Is it 100% certain that it is a rod bearing?
4. Can the engine be rebuilt? If so, is it any better than an engine from a salvaged car?
5. Could my oil pump have failed?

...etc. If you guys have any more important questions you think I should ask him, please post them. I am a student and paying for this won't be easy, but at the same time I need the car to run asap.

Thanks!

 

I'm just asking here, I'm sure a search would find the answer but since this is the subject...What if he needs a new engine? I'm going back many, many years but know the old XJ-6 could have a small block Chevy engine put in it pretty easy. So, if he needed one, will any cheaper option such as this work on the X-Type?

 

>So, if he needed one, will any cheaper option such as this work on the X-Type?

Negative, the only possibility is to locate an engine from either another X-Type, an S-Type 3.0, or a Lincoln LS 3.0.

At least there were 3 different cars that used this engine!

But, if it is a rod-knock I would advise him to just drive the car until the motor either self destructs or the noise becomes so annoying that he can't stand driving the car. Then either look to replace the car or start the search for a replacement engine.
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar

 

sounds just like my car, before the motor crapped out on christmas eve, Im getting a new engine with 26k miles installed for $5500

 

> Im getting a new engine with 26k miles installed for $5500

See my response to the other thread. I'm not really sure that makes the best sense. That's a lot of loot for a car that probably isn't worth much more than that. It sucks but that's the facts.

Better to look for a newer lower mileage car.
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar