There is a lot of bad news out there re the 98 8 cylinder models. Something about the materials used in the engine. Are all these bad? If you have not had trouble by 64K miles, are they likely to surface?

 

If you can have a compression test done would be best way to tell if engine is worn. If it starts well and has no rattles, you should be fine.

 

You will hear a lot of complaints about the Nichsil liner of the cylinders. To be honest, we don't see lots of problems with these. The big culprit is the timing tensioners. If you hear a rattle at start up, shut it down and fix the car pronto.

 

while we're on the 98 Nikasil issue.....my 98 XJR has over 130,000 with the original, Nikasil-lined engine. Apparently the Nikasil lining gets chewed up by high sulfur fuels - not a big issue now with most fuel being extremely low in sulfur.
my question is....does the Nikasil lining wear out faster with normal wear and tear, or is it more of an "all or none" issue with sulfur exposure? I'm wondering if I should expect a short life for my engine, or perhaps I'm in the clear. Anyone know how Nikasil lining holds up when sulfur is not an issue?

 

xjr engine are normally better and outlast the naturally aspirated... if the gasoline is really low in sulfur.. and is high quality.. and you don't make frequent stops in the cold with out letting the engine warm up.. and your battery is always up to snuff.then you shud have no problems..

 

I'm with the Jag genius on this one. Don't sweat the Nikasil issue.

 

I have overwell over140K on my 98 XJ8L engine and it is still purring!!! Now that tranny is another issue for me![]