I have had my 99 xk8 for going on 2 years! When i found the oil in my air box i went to this forum and had excellent feedback on what to do! (Brutal and Gus!!) From then on I have been using Restore at every oil change and i am very confident that my engine will last a long time. I see many people commenting on how many "codes" they get and what they all mean but my Nikasil engine has been virtually code free for over that time period! So, I am confident that my engine will last just as long as any others doing the little maintenance as described here.

Anyone have ideas for the T-Shirt???? " Where's the Nikasil?"

 

This is an interesting article...

Jaguar's Nikasil-Lined V8 - Top Automotive Engineering Failures - Popular Mechanics

So, if that's the truth, the engines never ran hot enough to benefit from the nikasil blocks. Interesting, seeing how everyone here thinks these engines run so hot they really need extra ventilation. lol

 

"Got Nikasil?"

 

+1

 

The problem is that our engines were designed to run cooler than Porsche boxers, and running hot will cause our ecu to run the engine rich and as a result cylinder wash may occur...

But I guess the problem could have been prevented or reduced by reprogramming the ecu to allow the engine run a bit hotter back when sulphur was used in larger amounts. Dunno what that might have caused elsewhere in the engine though.

 

Just acquired a 1998 XK8 with 53,000 original single owner miles. My questions are the following:

1 - With respect to Nikasil issues, the mileage in 2004 was 18,000 miles when the oil and filter were changed. In view of the change to low sulfur gasoline at that time are the concerns regarding the aforementioned mitigated. Additionally, the oil and filter were changed about every 5,000 miles.

2 - Please advise if synthetic oils would be an issue, or would possibility be recommended. The car has been in Arizona since 2007, would this lessen the concern regrading short trips?

In closing this is my first Jaguar since I sold my 1969 Jaguar XKE (Original AZ car) to a couple of Germans back in 1977. I don't even want to mentioned the sale price. The 1998 XK8 (conv) is a beautiful car and I and my wife think its a better looking vehicle then our 2011 Corvette convertible.

In closing any information regarding Nikasil, as well as cam tensioners failure problems would be appreciated

 

1) Could you re-ask the question? Nikasil is not an issue. If you have it and it's running fine right now, you're better off than someone without it.

2) Use whatever oil you feel most confident using. As long as you regularly change your oil at whatever interval you're comfortable with, the actual brand or type of oil is mostly meaningless. If you're changing oil at regular intervals, you won't have it in your car long enough to deteriorate to cause any problems.

If you do decide to run on synthetics, you can go much longer between changes. Going the 8k mile interval is fine. The XK's have engine oil super-coolers that keep oil from breaking down and also extend the service interval... that was one of the primary selling points when they first came out.

 

A 1998 XK8 does not have an oil cooler, but the XKR does.

 

Are you saying to use 10-40 & restore even if you have had no problems? I have 96K on my 1998 XK8 and no problems. I use mobil 1 0-40 Euro Blend without Restore. Never had a problem with any oil or running issues concerning oil.

 

I have a 2000 with nikasil and have had no problem what so ever. My wife drives it as her daily driver with a lot of short trips. Change oil (Mobil 1) every 5000 miles with no addative. Car has 49,000 miles and is doing great. I keep it in a good garage where it is always reasonably warm. The only major thing I did was change the upper tensioners and the cam area was very clean.

 

You must understand that I feel that Nikasil is a good engine. I am not suggesting that you use Restore in every Nikasil block what I am suggestion is that you consider using it if you have a cylinder washing problem. As for the oil viscosity I stay in the range specified in the user manual based on the geographic location and temperature unless it is burning oil.

 

If there's no problem, don't fix it. Some older nikasil engines apparently got exposed to enough H2SO4 to erode the linings, allowing oil blow-by and loss of compression. Shows up as oil in the air intake system and difficulty starting. I had the no start/cyl wash scenario twice, so we'll see if the Restore prevents that. So far, so good, but it was over a year between episodes. BTW, using it in my 190,000mi Volvo has reduced oil consumption by about half.
So your last Jaguar was a 69XKE? That was my next to last one and I sure wish I could have afforded to keep it, but my mechanical skills and wallet weren't deep enough. If you guys love the car, make sure you read and read some more all the info on this forum and Gus's website and do whatever upgrades are needed before disaster strikes. If you do that, you should have a very reliable fun car for quite some time. Maybe you can sell it to somes Germans at an inflated price...........

 

Mike66 thanks for the feedback. I suspect my next task would be the secondary tensioner. From what i read this seams to fail more often then the guides and primary tensioner. Will start vetting local repair shops as well as Jaguar for price comparisons