-]-[owdy, everyone..!

We own a 2003 X which we purchased a coupla years ago with 79,000 miles on the clock. A truly handsome car it is, too. We love it. And until 3 weeks ago we've had to say we've had no problems since the purchase.

"Until 3 weeks ago" is the important part of the sentence.

It has always needed a bit of coolant added every coupla weeks, but that was no big problem. I just kept it topped up...

Then 3 weeks ago, while coming "up the hill" (we live in rural Idaho at 3400 ft and travel a half hour to the nearest town at 1200 ft) after getting groceries, my wife had a little problem. The engine began "running funny" and lacked power. She pulled to the side of the twisty narrow road, where it died. She then noticed the temp needle was pegged at the "H".

When I arrived at the scene, the fans had stopped running and I saw no coolant under the car...nor was there any in the tank. So, I put some in. And then I saw it coming back out under the car. It was coming out of a split "in that cross pipe right there!"

Hundreds of miles from the nearest Jaguar dealership, but only 2 miles from home, we topped it up, left the cap loose, restarted and slowly drove home and into the garage.

On the restart before the short drive, there was a clicking valve and a dead cylinder. By the time we reached the garage, the clicking had gone away, we were back on all six, the temperature was still normal and there was no smoke or steam from the exhaust. Hopefully, I replaced the entire upper hose assembly, fresh thermostat . Filled it with fresh coolant, left the cap loose, twisted her nose. No clicking, all six firing, no smoke or steam from the pipes. Hey, COOL..!

...Except it was still leaking, this time from the radiator.

Oh, awright, so we'll change the radiator too.

FFWD a week. New radiator arrives and is installed. Fresh coolant. Cap on tight. Twist her nose...

Click had returned, one dead cylinder, and steam puffing from the exhaust.

Bought a bottle of Rislone to unstick the valve and dumped it in. Again with her nose. No leaks. Clicking and running on five, took her out for the hour's drive. Except...

...Except it quickly overheated. Wow, that didn't take long! Topped it up (with water) and limped home. Got several jugs of water on board and went back out. My Goodness, there goes the needle again! Topped it up once again, and drove the mile or so back to the barn.

While shut off alongside the road and with the cooling fans running, there were still no signs of any coolant under the car. It was all apparently going through the head gasket's leak and out the exhaust. And it had sucked yet another gallon and a half while limping back home. Had to stop, shut down again, wait for the fans to quit, refill and then drive the last 300 yards to the garage... And it was still just a five cylinder engine, of course, although the ticking had stopped. It was just that silly head gasket which had failed. (Had been here before, only with our '66 MG Midget, cast iron block with cast iron head.)

One other thing I noticed was the intermittent display of the blinking check engine light and the Cruise Not Available indication, which would come and then go like five times. Guess I needed to clean all the contacts before plugging the harnesses back in, which I had not done. The display seemed to have nothing to do with which gear we were in, throttle position, or anything else. It just came and went as it pleased and nothing I did seemed to have any cause and effect relationship.

Did a search and found the ill-reputed site, "Southwest Engines", aka "Engine and Transmission World", aka "Got Engines". I entered the requested info and got the requested quote, $1840 for the warranted version of their "Grade A Used Engine, cleaned and tested (compression and cylinder leak-down, then test-run). Boy, I almost bit on that hook! Happily, I did not. What I did instead was to THINK a few minutes about the numbers of cars sold, the chances of this one place (never mind the 3 differing websites) having even one 3.0 X Type that had had a tree fall on it (and not having been submerged in flood waters somewhere) and then did another search for "Southwest Engines" where I got a slightly more realistic idea of how those folks do business...

So, what I plan now is to get both a Haynes and a Chiltons manual, sit down and study up.

I'm wondering if the spotless interior, the sound rust-free BRG body and everything else that is all in fine shape... is worth the headache of "R&R Engine, Service As Necessary..." They want more than $11,000 for a short block from the factory, plus another bazillion for everything else that I need either 2, 6, or 24 of. But, aluminum block + aluminum heads + severe over temp = nightmare. Is this thing even fixable? I mean, it ain't no collector's car! Is it financially feasible to toss good money after bad..?

...Someone, HELP ME!

o(*_*)o

 

Sorry about your troubles, but you sound very resourceful. I think your time would be better spent learning to search this site. The manuals you mention are not very useful, if they exist. The electronic information available here is most of what you need. The FAQ sticky in the X-Type forum has loads of information. An example for you to start with is: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ead-faq-11225/

Good luck with your project and keep us updated.

 

So, having looked at the link you'd sent, then showing it to Gwen (the actual owner of the car) so she would have an idea WHY I said "We need to sell the Jaguar, as is", she agrees.

Craig, in my first pokes into the X Type Forum, I learned just how lucky we have been. Our X hasn't had ANY of the problems so many of the others have had. It has been a reliable daily driver for 2 years since purchase, 2 very fun years!

We had a nice Jaguar for 2 years and really enjoyed the experience. We can honestly say that.

I've got a cherry picker, an engine stand and a couple of jack stands. No compressor, no spacious work area, no one to help. Earlier in life I may've tackled a task such the one before me, but at this stage of life I think not.

I don't know what to do with it. The body is solid, rust free. The leather is clean and hasn't cracked or shown any sign of use. The auto trans works fine with no shifter problems. Brakes are fine, handling is super. New battery. It has been treated to a new upper hose assembly and a new radiator, and very recently, too. There's just this problem in the engine... I could call Jackson's bone yard and tell him to just come up and take it away. But the rest of the car is so pristine and in such good working order that I just cannot.

So. Who would like to own a very nice Jaguar X with a sick engine? Asking Price is VERY negotiable; Current owner wants OUT, wants it gone. Make Offer if you'd like. What Jackson would pay us for junk would be nice enough, so long as you can give it a good home, oh, and bring a car hauler when you come to get it. It has a clear title which we will sign over. Come One, Come All!

Those were sure 2 very fun years!

o(*_*)o

 

Idyhojo,
I didn't mean to scare you off. I see several engines on e-bay for less than 1,500.00 and I think you should be able to get someone to install it for about the same. Or you could try to do it yourself. $1,500 - 3,000 vs the cost of new transportation (less wrecker value). I enjoy our X-Type as much as my XKR. If you decide to repair it, be sure to mine this site for info on maintaining the transfer-case and the transmission to prolong their life. And fix the cooling system. These engines do not like overheating. If you decide to sell it to the wreckers it might be worth scavenging some high value parts and selling them on an auction site to gain extra cash. Tough decisions.
Good luck - and let us know the outcome.

 

...and for the wake-up call. I guess the shock of the initial failure had set in and I wasn't able to shake it off very quickly. Plus, the "vocal inputs" I was receiving from off-camera (My Darling Bride)...

Okay, so I got on the site called Automotix and poked around a little. Found a nice looking 3.0 on their surprisingly extensive list and sent them an inquiry about one. Hafta to run to Lewiston for a Docker's Appt and will update after returning. Gotta run...

o(*_*)o

 

So sorry to hear your tale of woe, shame as it sounds like a great car too.

Hope you can find a way out of it and all ends well.

anything we can do to help, you only have to ask

 

Certainly sounds to me as one worth fitting a used engine to preserve.

The other route - done twice when MUCH younger - ('68 Fiat 124, mid-80's BMW 2.5 6 cyl) is to repair the existing motor, and it can be done (mostly) with the short-block still 'in-place', only head and ancillaries lifted off and out..

Far more tedium than bending and stretching, and more patience required than costly parts.

Ex; ONE new con-rod, possibly, (hydrostatic lock issue - and even then, only 'maybe').. ALL new main and rod bearings plus polishing the crank journals -maybe - as a matter of prudence (washed-out lube oil damage is probable).

I also hand-honed the bores, fitted ALL new pistons, rings, gudgeon pins, new valves, guides and seals, simply due to the mileage.

Both of mine wanted hand fitting of head to block with bluing and straight edge, correcting a warped block (contributory cause, not effect, so you probably don't need either) on the Fiat as well.

Toughest part is actually getting the motor/trans moved forward and up, to get the pan dropped and out, perhaps back again to access front bearing caps over cross-member.

I had only good jackstands, bottle jacks, levers, wedges, blocking. Fabricated a wooden 'bridge' so as to perch in the engine bay w/o trashing the front wings.

You will also have the cherry-picker.

Not an overly costly process, and if you are a fair hand, can result in a better engine than the dice-roll of a used one - but fair-warning - it is tedious as all get-out, and demanding of as much determination - or desperation - as cash.

Stiff muscles and awaiting the parts you forgot to order in advance can make it a month-long job - or more - even if you don't slacken-off, so you'll need temporary wheels for your blanket-sharer as well.


Approaching my 70th year, believe I'd rather roll those dice and seek a used motor from a wreck that had been t-boned or tail-ended, not the more-common frontal crash.

Impact damage quite aside, those have the potential of having run for a while w/o coolant - the very sort of damage you already have a taste of.

A used mill is also easier to vet and correct whilst still in free-air than the rest of the deal - just wants more cash up-front.

If you really, really have 'no' chassis / body corrosion, I'd certainly go for it.

Check the 'CarFax'. Far more cars on-offer in sunbelt states served prior time in salt-belt states than the reverse.

 

...and for the words of encouragement.

Yesterday I moved the Jaguar out of the garage so I could close the door (our MG is parked in that bay, and the other bay is taken up by my chopper build, currently in a rather slow state of progress), officially marking its change in status, from "FixitNow" to "NextYearsBigProject". Y'see, my wife n' I go "snow-birding" each winter. This particular year will be unusual in that I am scheduled to undergo knee replacement surgery on Oct 24th in Fort Mohave AZ. And until then, well, I've got a 70% occlusion in left arteries of neck, MRI clearly showed 4 areas of brain where I had suffered mild strokes. Need the Roto Rooter man, and SOON..! Especially considering elective surgery scheduled for October. Have a consult with him this AM to set schedule.

I will be lurking around this site during the winter, during recovery from knee job, and studying up for the Jaguar's work in advance. All my options will be considered.

So I say Thank You All for writing, on my thread as well as your own. Keep up the Good Work. I will be available on site and may join in your threads at any time. For now though, I've got other things on my plate.

o(*_*)o

 

All the best with the biological repair work, then! It DOES want a higher priority than mass-produced motorcars....