"2000 on August 18th at 10.43am
In August 2000 Jaguar replaced the Nikasil-linings with steel linings.

The Nikasil cut-off date (18/08/00) is often confused with the date when low-sulphur petrol was introduced into the UK (01/01/00).To the best of my ability the U.S. Diesel Low-sulphur date was 2006 and gasoline fuel was around 2007 (I did not want to spent a great deal of time on the sulphur issue but 1 hour later this is what I got. Not real good on the searching thing). The risk of Nikosil failure was substantially reduced after the 01/01/00 in the UK when low-sulphur petrol was introduced, especially in new and low mileage engines. Jaguar replaced many Nikasil engines under warranty, so a car built before the cut-off date below may possibly have steel-lined bores (check the engine number).

Nikasil - Cut-off date/number

The first steel-lined AJ-V8 came off the production line In the year 2000 on August 18th at 10.43am hence the engine number will read:

00 08 18 1043 or more precisely: 0008181043


Engine number on V8 is under the black plastic cover, stamped on the top of the block to the right hand side of the front of the engine, near the lifting bracket."

 

You may have a nikasil engine in a car built after 08 18 2000. It's the engine number that counts, not the car build date (just clarifying). I had an (2001) XJ8 with a nikasil engine for years and had no problems, as has been the case with many others. This subject has been run over many times. Some say the nikasil-sleeved engine was a superior design, maybe just a little before it's time.

 

what do you suggest? I am a car engine mechanic (kind of) and have no problem repairing any engine except if it needs sleeves installation. That is why it is very important to me if I buy 2000-2001 XK.
Based on text I quoted, engine number IS manufacturing date and time. Should I call dealership before buying XK? Do they know?

 

You have it right. Many owners are confused by the manufacture date of the car, which could have an engine built several months earlier. A rebuilt engine will have a blue tag on the right rear around the top of the bellhousing.

 

Thanks! This is important!!! 01 XK can have engine manufactured a few months earlier! And manufacturing of next year starts in September of previous year. Most likely August nicasil engines went into September 01 XKs.

 

I don't know that I understand the quote above. Resleeving an engine would be much easier than recoating a nickasil engine. Any competent automotive machine chop could relseeve an engine and depending on the damage you might not even need a resleeve and the sleeve that is in there could be rehoned.

In any case The model year can vary depending on what country you are in. If you are going by U.S. model year, I don't think you will find a model year 2000 with a steel-sleeved engine unless the engine was replaced. I would think most U.S. 01s came with nickasil engines too. My 01 XKR has a nickasil engine.

While I would prefer a more conventional iron sleeved engine, I don't think it is worth making that a precondition for a purchase. Instead of researching the engine build date, do a compression check. If the nickasil hasn't already deteriorated, it won't deteriorate going forward and a compression check should both identify a problem with the nickasil lining as well as other potential problems like a worn iron cylinder bore, dropped valve seats or a blown head gasket.

 

I buy dead cars. I would prefer buying dead "steel" Jaguar, which I can fix myself. What I understood:
all 2000 and older XKs are nikasil unless engine was replaced
All 2001 XKs are "steel"
2000 some nikasil, some steel.

 

I think it's more likely that all 2000 and many 2001 are nikasil. Unless you severely overheat the engine a nikasil block will probably outlast a steel lined one. If you want to be sure of what you're looking at just check the engine number or shop for a 2002 or a 4.2.

 

This is what I know about Nikasil.

link. http://www.jagrepair.com/NikasilEngineBlocks.htm

Gus
www.jagrepair.com

 

If XKs go for 6k (like somebody said here) and dead ones sell for 1k, it is a good idea just to buy XKs. I still didn't call local machine shop to ask cost of resleeving.
https://www.kbb.com/jaguar/xk/2000/x...tion=excellent

 

There haven't been that many xj or xk engines needing cylinder repair from what I have seen on the forums. Mostly dropped valve seats due to overheating or bent valves from tensioner failure.

 

Just sort-of butting in here as I don't have any answers but ……………

How do you know if you have a Nikasil or steel-sleeved engine. The engine number may give you a production date but that may not be relevant to the build date of the car. Many early Nikasil engines were recalled by Jaguar and rebuilt with steel liners and I suspect the engine number wasn't changed on the block. In theory, there will be a tag like this :



but mine was in the 'owners pack' rather than still stuck to the engine.
Personal opinion but - if your original engine is still going strong, it doesn't much matter if it is Nikasil or non-Nikasil ……………. high-sulphur petrol (gas) is long gone so it isn't really an issue any more !!

 

The engine number in mine (971105 nn:nn) is appropriate for the build date of the car but wasn't fitted until 2004. Other than the reman label I don't think there's any way of telling by inspection.
I'd have no worries today about a Nikasil block.

 

Is there data on that? I believe there was a process, and it is well documented, but I am curious about the actual numbers. FWIW, as a data point, when I called around to find out information about a car I was looking into before settling on mine, a service manager at a major Jaguar dealership in Chicago was adamant Jaguar actually replaced very few of these Nikasil engine, and only as a last resort. FWIW, I was not buying a car from them, just chasing down maintenance history of a local car.

General wisdom on these Nikasil engines seems to be that if they have made it OK this far, and with the high sulfur fuel long gone, these engines are just fine (and actually preferred by some). Another way to say this is that these older cars have much bigger flaws (think transmission a-drum, early plastic tensioners, failing ECU/ABS modules, leaking hydraulics, etc.) to address that the Nikasil issue is not even on the radar.

 

I had 92mm Darton sleeves put in one of my blocks and the total cost was round $2700 including shipping both ways.

 

Fmertz - I suspect that it would be impossible to get that information. It would also depend on where the car was marketed - high-sulphur fuels were not used everywhere.
However, it isn't unusual to find early XK8s here in the UK with the "steel-lined replacement engine" - mine is and I know others who have the same so I don't think it was **just** a few isolated examples. I agree that if you have an original engine with Nikasil coated liners and it has made it this far, it is probably OK for many years yet, and may well be longer lasting than a steel-lined engine.
Porsche and BMW also had problems, but maybe because of the way the Jaguar V8 engine is fuelled during the start-up / cold-engine period, it would seem to have been less of an issue.

 

I heard that starting the car and running it for a brief period of time before shutting it down can leave excess fuel sitting in the cylinders and if this is
high sulfur fuel it can eat the Nikasil coating (as well as causing bore wash). So, I make a point of not doing this anyway, FWIW.