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OR: 'Bad Day in Seattle'
My poor kid...
He was so extremely ecstatic with his newly purchased 2007 XKR. He's had it six months. BOOM! Well, sort of 'clunk' or whatever.
Seems that whomever installed the supercharger on it when the engine was replaced reused the old gaskets and put a bunch of gloppy stuff on to seal.
Well, that made a mess and trashed the linings of the supercharger lobes, and then the lobe pieces/parts got ingested and did a little bit of other damage, although not too severe. Regardless, it only runs in Restricted Performance and not that great.
An engine replacement is $20,000, and that's what he paid for it. He put most of his savings into this thing and borrowed the other $12,000. Now he has a house for a homeless person sitting in the Jag dealer's parking lot.
SO, what I ask here is; What's the Best course of action now? He doesn't have anywhere to part it out, so that's not an option. I figure, since the body is damage free, someone may want it for parts. Or maybe someone has an engine laying around, I don't know. How does one sell a broke-*** car to a breaker? Auction? How?
Any suggestions for getting this kid out of his quandary? He sold his Honda to put towards the Jag, so now he has to bus it to work from where the Uber drops him off.
He lives in Seattle so I can't get there with any regularity, tools or assistance to be of much help. We could possibly ship it to my house, but also nowhere to put it as my shop STILL isn't finished being built (getting close though, and already dedicated for my other cars).
Junk yard a S-type R mill and pay an independent shop to install it. I've been blessed by the mechanical Gods and been able to get out of troubles but wouldn't want to engine swap one of these. I do have a spare engine the probably needs head gaskets from overheating in the shed.
You're like 2500 miles away, but thanks. I sort of didn't remember my kid has a 4.2. Also, I'm not convinced he needs the engine part. The shop who tore it apart said that there was also "Cat media in the supercharger". Hellz if I know HOW that would happen. Pics of something in the intake, don't know what, and worn off coating on the lobes. Hard to tell with pictures.
He already asked to ship it to me, but can't yet.
Added Pic:
Last edited by Cee Jay; Nov 1, 2022 at 09:09 PM.
Reason: Added Pic
I've done a few engine replacements on earlier models and would do the same on my X150 if it blew and I could find a sensibly priced replacement which is easier here in the UK. However, several factors go against this for your son:
1. funds - it always costs a lot more than just buying and shipping the engine
2. facilities - essential to have a building large enough for at least double the size of the vehicle and high enough to lift the engine out/in
3. equipment - comprehensive toolkit and diagnostics. A replacement engine is unlikely to fire up straightaway
4. knowledge - not a project to take on as a learning curve
If he lived closer and you were on hand to tackle it as a joint project, it would be a sensible approach. Given the distance apart and the above listed complications, getting out for as much as can be obtained for the vehicle in present condition is the logical choice.
Sorry @Cee Jay , More questions than answers at this moment.
Catalytic material in the supercharger?? What? How?
Can’t be cleaned? What’s it look like under the valve cover?
What does the oil show?
What do the plugs look like?
We might be premature on the replacement conversation.
Didn’t he just buy it? From some car lot? Isn’t there consumer protection of some sort?
That engine is bullet proof.
Who performed the diagnosis? It's not hard to rebuild or find a replacement M112 and the coating wears off naturally over time. Yes the 4.2's bullet proof until someone goes in and does something improper to it as happened here. I reckon depending on what's really wrong with it, surely repair would be the best option.
I personally don't trust a majority of shops to properly diagnose, REPORT, or repair problems. That includes dealers.
My son called me the other day asking about a $2400 quote he received from an independent to do the rear brakes only on his F-Pace. Crooks and Robbers!
There's nothing like a second opinion.
Tow it to another shop and get a second opinion. Yea a few hundred dollars more to do that but how does one even know Cat material in the SC? Never heard of it and don't know how it's possible.
I wish I was more help my friend. If I knew someone in Seattle I would help. I don't think swapping the engine is right for him. You certainly could, but for all the reasons Graham mentions and he's yet to make his fortune in life, just seems like a fools errand. So that's why I suggest a second opinion. After that, then call a few breaker yards and they will come out and give offers. He's going to lose out either way sorry to say.
Yes, I agree that there is virtually NO WAY for Cat material to get up there, and even if it was just shoved into the intake, it's a bit crunchable so not huge chunks going all the way through.
It's really frustrating because I'm so far away and the kid has nowhere to keep it parked.
I do like the 'tow to another shop' idea. If that's a flop I'll probably pay to have it shipped to me. I'll find a place until I can get it inside. The frikkin' stupid weather has changed to fall, so it's sucky cold and wet now.
I'll talk to him tonight and see what he can do. His mom raised him 1500 miles from me so he doesn't have a lot of 'me' on him.
A theory on how "kitty Litter" might be found in the intake:
Rodents! Around here squirrels will pack acorns in your air cleaner. If they found (or knawed) a way into the air box and packed acorns, the super-charger could turn them into kitty litter (or a reasonable facsimile).
Maybe examine the air cleaners and associated plastic duct?
The sad thing is you can probably swap the engine faster than the blower., especially in the car (it sucks). Cat material would have to come up form the EGR circuit. Should see it in the pipe or under the throttle body if nothing else. Financially shipping it to you for storage until parts and funds are available is probably the sanest decision.
Tough learning experience to be sure. I'm the way I am because I had to decide between hair cut or biweekly car payment as a E2 going to A school in the Navy...
A theory on how "kitty Litter" might be found in the intake:
Rodents! Around here squirrels will pack acorns in your air cleaner. If they found (or knawed) a way into the air box and packed acorns, the super-charger could turn them into kitty litter (or a reasonable facsimile).
Maybe examine the air cleaners and associated plastic duct?
All has been inspected, nothing wrong there.
Originally Posted by Ranchero50
The sad thing is you can probably swap the engine faster than the blower., especially in the car (it sucks). Cat material would have to come up form the EGR circuit. Should see it in the pipe or under the throttle body if nothing else. Financially shipping it to you for storage until parts and funds are available is probably the sanest decision.
Tough learning experience to be sure. I'm the way I am because I had to decide between hair cut or biweekly car payment as a E2 going to A school in the Navy...
That's what both shops said, through EGR. I still can't see that, the EGR does not come from downstream of the Cats. Not by a long ways. I'm sure that at 95k miles the Cats are/were a bit flogged, but I still can't imagine HOW that would happen, EGR or not.
Regardless, the kid just notified me that he was literally at that moment purchasing a 2022 Civic. He's going to ship the XKR to me when my shop/garage is complete in a couple weeks.
I'll do a thorough inspection before I do anything else. Pretty sure the engine would or could be fine though. Even if Cat dust, that's not THAT bad, right? Oh, and a Spectrometric Oil Analysis.
The sad thing is you can probably swap the engine faster than the blower., especially in the car (it sucks). Cat material would have to come up form the EGR circuit. Should see it in the pipe or under the throttle body if nothing else. Financially shipping it to you for storage until parts and funds are available is probably the sanest decision.
Tough learning experience to be sure. I'm the way I am because I had to decide between hair cut or biweekly car payment as a E2 going to A school in the Navy...
I was able to swap M112s in my X100 4L XKR and X308 4L XJR in about 4-8 hours, and that included futzing with the little intercooler air boots, replacing the cooling hoses under the SC, etc; not including replacing parts in an SC. About how long is an engine R&R or SC R&R in the 4.2L X150 cars? I know you've done way more on the X150 than I have, I've been fortunate from 50-81k I've owned it that all my engine (bay) work is really a VVT solenoid, coolant reservoir, SC & Serpentine Idler and Tensioner pulley bearings and a PS pump. I had a fuel pump go, but that's *** end of the car.
I bought a neat borescope on amazon a few years ago that plugged into my cheap android phone i had. Like $20. It's absolutely good enough for inspecting bores; but obviously oil quality analysis, compression and leak down tests will get you decision making info. Access to the cylinders is not too bad on these cars luckily.
Another one bites the dust. Now what?
