Evening all. I've found a 1999 XJR V8 in Japan with around 9,000 miles on the clock from new, which I'm considering importing back to the UK. The only thing is, being a 1999 car it might have Nikasil bore liners. Is this a problem?

I understand it isn't with the fuel we use now not being so full of sulphur, but what was the problem. What I mean is, if it was excess premature wear on moving parts then is it possible damage has already been done and the engine will be toast a lot sooner than normal, even if it's running now?

I've asked the dealer for the VIN to check if the bores are Nikasil or steel, but prior to that I'd like to get a better idea just in case they are Nikasil. Thanks in advance.

 

All Jaguar V8 engines were Nikasil up to about 2002MY (sometime in late 2001) unless it was replaced later.
All my jaguar V8 cars are Nikasil and only one of them is showing signs of a little 'blow-by' with oil at the throttle body.
The cylinder coating is wonderful when it is still intact, terrible when worn by overheating or HIGH SULFUR FUEL.

 

Thanks @motorcarman what mileage are your Nikasil V8s?

 

They range from 83K miles to 183K miles.
The one with a little blow-by has 112K miles.

 

From what I heard, if the engine has no damage yet (from old petrol of the past) then your good. New petrol (as you wrote yourself) with less sulphur does not harm the Nikasil. Also, it is worth asking the seller, if the Nikasil has already been changed out in the past during the Jaguar recall.

 

Also if you do bring it back to the UK make sure you use high quality fuels such as Shell V Power that is still E5 rated and not E10 which has ethanol in it and rots fuel lines as well as other issues.

I only run Shell V Power or E5 fuels in my classic fleet.

 

The handbook states E10 is perfectly safe in our cars, at least the UK version does. They'll probably run better on E5 though, everything I've owned since the E10 rubbish came out does.

 

I've never used E5. Just use E10. No damage to fuel lines.

 

Aye I forgot to say, mine's been running on E10 since I got it in 2019 without issue. I do wonder if I should try E5 & see if it goes better once the ECU notices, but never actually do it as it's expensive enough to fill anyway.

 

Two things. I was told that all our Jag engines were engineered to run on US gasoline which has been high in Ethanol since the 70's. No idea if it's true but it questions the value of using Shell V Max or other other E5 fuels. It doesn't stop me using them, however.... We get a discount on V-Max if we're members of the Jag Enthusiasts Club.

Secondly, the Nikasil bores only suffered with High Sulphur fuels as mentioned earlier in this thread. Low quality, Higher Sulphur content fuel was sold in the UK in the late 90's/early 2000's I think, but mainly in the North-West of England through cheap supermarkets etc. It's unlikely a car coming over from Japan will ever have been exposed to high sulphur fuel.

 

My daughter’s 98’ XJR has the original engine with 292k miles (roughly 470k kilometers). I think the Nikasil engines are great in my experience.

 

When I went to a Jaguar training session in the early 2000s (2002 or 2003?) the instructor gave us an internal memo regarding the change from Nikasil cylinder bores.
The memo discussed the 'Cast-in' vs the 'Shrink-fit' method of transition.
I made a copy of the pages given to us in a class about engines. (Engine Course 180 V8 or 168 V8/V6?)

I still have the pages in a 3 ring binder somewhere.

 

The fuel lines on the Jag for the most part are metal or plastic, it’s any rubber components that are effected by E10. The ethanol issue generally effects older cars where it rots fuel hoses, a lot of my time these days is spent replacing rotted or leaking fuel hose on classic cars people bring me.

My advocation for E5 Shell V Power in the XJ8 is simply because it’s higher octane at 99 RON whereas most standard fuels are 95 RON or lower in some cases. Higher octane will give you better combustion resulting in better performance. I have noticed however that some fuel brands offer a premium fuel that is still E10, like Tesco’s Momentum 99 fuel for example.

 

Whoa. I thougt that my engine had iron bores. But clearly it does not.

 

It's funny how Nikasil liners are seen as a desirable, reliable feature on Porsche cars, and as something to be afraid of on Jags.

 

What makes you think that? Interested to know.

 

This is what I discovered when I was looking at buying a Japanese X308 during a trip to Tokyo in 2021.

Japan was much earlier than most of the world in legislating the level of sulphur in fuel. From 1997, the maximum limit for sulphur was 0.005% by weight - 50 particles per million.

By contrast, sulphur content in UK fuels didn’t really start coming down until 2000 when the EU set a limits of 150ppm. Before 2000, you could expect to see much higher levels of sulphur in fuel in the UK, leading to that risk period from the introduction of our engines through to the end of the 90’s.

My 1998 XK8 with its original engine is bang in the middle of that risk period but has no symptoms of bore problems after 107k miles. Now the high water and road salt levels in the UK are a much bigger problem!

 

@markdpeter, that's fantastic (and reassuring) information, thank you. It doesn't surprise me coming from the Japanese in some ways, usually at the front of these things. Yes, salt is such a massive killer for our cars here in the UK. I've had 3 cars from Japan before and the level to which they've been maintained, how rot free they are, and condition have always been superlative.

 

Now that's interesting & explains why the bikes I know with nikasil aren't viewed the way Jag engines are, as that model of bike hit the market in 2001.