My car is in great shape and ran beautifully. Had car detailed and parked at end of drive after storage for winter. started as normal drove 30 meters up drive turned car off and covered for night. Next morning warning check engine car turned over but no ignition. towed to dealer- diagnosis is new engine needed as Nikasil has been rubbed off piston chambers. Timing chain good shape - maybe a little loose per mechanic. heard there is a blowby test to check pistons without removing engine. No warning f low compression, no overheating, no oil or other issues. any thoughts? Hamoody London On Canada

 

More than likely, this is bore wash. Basically, you ran the car for too little time, and the unburned gas washed the oil off the cylinder, and now it's hard to make compression. You can search this forum. The fix is to pull the plugs off, drop a bit of oil in each cylinder, put the plugs back, and start.

Separately, have you made sure the tensioners are of the new kind (metal)?

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

I experienced bore wash after letting my 1997 XK8 sit in the garage for a month. An effective way to start the engine is to press the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor and crank for 30 seconds and then slowly start letting the pedal raise up and it will start.
Pressing to the floor shuts off the fuel and cranking restores the oil and as you release the pedal she will fire up.

 

DO NOT BUY A NEW ENGINE !!!

As above. avern1's advice is straightforward and easy. If that doesn't work, fmerz's advice requires a bit more effort but will almost certainly solve the problem.

The moral of this story ............ a Nikasil engine that has survived this long is probably good for another 100k miles BUT once it is started, don't switch it off until the temperature gauge has moved off zero at which point there will be no unburned fuel washing gas (petrol) off the cylinder walls.

 

I absolutely agree with all the above and suggest you stay away from that dealer. It's becoming common for members to report dealers being unable to correctly diagnose problems with X100's. Find an independent shop familiar with these older cars.

 

Thanks, fmertz and DevonDavid, for the information on bore wash. This is not something I have encountered before, so could you give some more information as it is very interesting? Does it imply, for example, a worn engine (and if so, is the degree of wear significant) or can it occur on a relatively unworn engine? Can the engine be damaged by bore wash since, presumably, there is insufficient cylinder lubrication at the time?

Educate me!

 

Bore wash has been covered ad nauseam on this site, do a search.

 

Will do

 

For the short answer, it does not indicate a worn engine.

 

Note that the dealer technician that provided your input was probably less than 10 years old when your car was built. Dealers don't even make an effort to train new people on cars their age.

 

+1 bore wash

Its a pest with these engines but as others have said is not a sign of wear etc. (Later engines got a tweak that mostly avoids it. There are other cars that suffer bore wash, too.)

Don't crank for more than 20-30 secs at a time. Wait a bit between cranks to let the starter motor cool. (Make sure battery is fully charged or even re-charge if need be.)

Or add the oil mentioned in other threads.

 

As Mikey said, I did search the forums and obtained further info, but JagV8 and RJ237 have filled in some gaps, so thanks to all three. Did a Google search, and it seems that it is largely a Nikasil issue, and is shared by BMWs using their M60 block, which also used Nikasil for a period. Wikicars.org Nikasil (use that as search terms) lists other cars where Nikasil was used; we're in interesting company.

 

If the advice of others more knowledgeable than me here does not work, there is a technique that I have used on other affected engines when things get desperate. Remove the spark plugs and add about 5 cc's of light transmission fluid, such as dextron II. Crank the engine for 10 seconds, repeat addition of fluid and cranking. Replace the spark plugs and try again. Usually works the first time, but do not be afraid to try the procedure again. Once the top ring seals, everything else will reseal. Drive the car on the highway once you get it running and the repair is done.

 

NO - it's a "turning off a cold engine before it's come off the enriched fueling for starting and the tickover revs have dropped back to normal" issue. Nikasil is a coincidence in these circumstances and not a cause.

Typically results from starting the vehicle, moving it a few yards and then switching off.

Graham

 

The root cause is not limited to Nikasil engine blocks, it's starting an engine but not allowing it comes up to temperature before shutting it off. A subsequent restart from cold may induce a flooded engine condition. Additional cranking just adds more fuel. This can and will happen on any car.

Nikasil engines tend to suffer more than conventional types, as in addition to the excess fuel in the combustion chamber that prevents the engine from starting, there's a secondary effect of the engine losing compression due to the residual oil being washed off the piston ring/cylinder wall interface. This phenomena has been termed 'bore wash'.

While the remedy of removing the spark plugs and squirting oil in the cylinders will help restore enough compression to get the engine running again, the correct action is to not do what the OP and countless others have done- NEVER run the engine for just a minute or two.

 

Just for info, Jaguar has a TSB already from 2002 for the flooding issue:
TSB 303-52 "Difficult/non-start from cold after moving the vehicle a short distance the previous day".

So you have a choice to either update the ECU software, or never run the engine very short from cold.

 

Learning lots of stuff unknown to me, here! I shall certainly make sure to avoid short running of the engine.

 

Search my posts, I had bore wash and wrote up a very comprehensive explanation as to how I resolved the issue. Yes, it's removing the spark plugs from one side of the engine and using oil as stated above.

 

iF you squirt oil in the cylinders be prepared for a LOT of smoke. Try not to do this in your garage. Never again will I start the engine and turn it off without a good amount of time running.

 

I remember the best advice I read on this site, applied to my XJS, never start the engine and run it for less than ten minutes. I apply this info to my daily drivers when they are started up cold.