I recently bought, on spec, a very nice 2013 XF 3.0 SC AWD, with a serious engine rattle. very cheap
After having it delivered, we found no, none, not any oil in the engine!
Not being familiar with modern Jags (we have a '63) I was surprised not to find a dip stick.
Any rate, put oil in it, it runs, briefly, long enough to scan.
Complaining about the RH cam position sensor.
Pulled oil filter, full of metal.

We are digging into the engine. My son and I bought this car, knowing that there might be something seriously wrong with it.
Questions: Are their any vulnerable aspects on this engine? Looking for used engines, most of them say the equivalent of "metal in filter" with a similar mileage.
Any suggestion as to how we should proceed? Replace the engine, or rebuild?
We have not found a way to check the oil pressure, it does not seem to come up on a pretty high quality Snapon scan tool.

Thanks
David

 

Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately the engine is probably toast. Oil starvation, metal inside, likely overheated and warped the alu block. Options

1) buy replacement engine but even used they are v expensive and prob more than the value of your car. Plus no guarantees... but maybe you get lucky at a salvage yard from a rear-end wreck

2) repair is possible but v time consuming, hard to get parts and you really need to know what you're doing. Search on here for the 39 page thread on a V8 rebuild...

3) part out the remainder of the car. You should get more than you paid for it. Then buy a working XF.

Honestly I'd go with 3. Least work and most likely to end up with a reliable car

 

Hi! V8 rebuilder from that thread here. You've probably got spun bearings or similar. The electronic oil level sensor doesn't warn you when the engine oil level gets critically low - you have to proactively go into a menu and check, so that's definitely a vulnerability. People who are careless enough - like I was - to run it until the service light came on without checking the oil level at least semi-frequently can easily meet the same fate I did.

As BritCars says, it's a big job and the parts are expensive. Honestly, since I rebuilt my engine the cost of used engines (at least the V8s, though yours is a V6) has dropped, and I think in most cases it's just easier and possibly even cheaper to just get a used engine and drop it in, though I'd still want to fit a new oil pump & timing gear while I had it out.

Check out my rebuild thread here for details on the V8 rebuild. There is a threaded port to the left of the R/H exhaust manifold that is a direct tap off the oil pump, which you should be able to use. I repurposed it for my oil pressure gauge.

 

Thanks very much for the reply. We went into this suspecting a possible / probable engine problem, and we got it very cheap.
These engines seem quite hard to find.
I am astonished that there is no obvious warnings for low oil. There was no oil in it, and no leakage signs. We speculate that it was perhaps a repo and a previous owner drained the oil.
Appreciated
Thanks
David

 

Thanks very much for your reply. We bought this for $3k US, so not too much of a risk.The V6 supercharged seem pretty expensive and rare. There is one quite close.
No dip stick? Crazy. Otherwise a really nice clean, undamaged car. AWD. Sounds like we are digging for an engine. Perhaps i could put in the 3.8 from my 63 :-)

 

No, you cant put in any other engine in this car except 3.0SC (well maybe 5.0SC/NA or 3.0diesel(with lot of rework/programing job) unless you put custom engine ecu and custom gearbox ecu. most of the functions will not work(ABS, DSC, Speedo, RPM etc)

for an 3000USD you couldget slight body damaged xf 4.2NA in copart or IAAI, so 3000for complete engine failure is a bit steep, unless its portfolio edition with ACC, smooth leather, Meridan surround system, 20inch rims etc.

 

Thanks, my referral to the 3.8 is the engine from my 63 MKX, tongue in cheek, a beautiful straight 6. I had wondered about one of the other engines though. There is a used V6SC around here, hard to find though.
David