As has been discussed in this thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ad-end-104895/ my XK8 suffered from a bad spell of overheating and water got into the engine. I also did the mistake of adding cold water to the coolant reservoir it after it had stalled on the road and the car started shaking in anger. The upper radiator hose also got a big tear at some point.

After trying a few things myself, I got it towed to Alameda auto import, and after a diagnosis he felt comfortable doing a head gasket job, $750 for the tear down alone will then tell me for sure if the engine can be rescued. Then it's at least $1000 more to get it fixed.

So, I'm wondering whether to:
1. Go for $750 tear down - risk engine being shot and wasting that money.
2. Sell car as-is for ~$2000 (car still throws ASC/trac errors and has a manual latch conversion)
3. Find a place to garage car and start parting out (don't feel comfortable attempting a repair myself)
4. Find a cheaper shop?

An engine swap is not a realistic option, too costly. Let me know if you have any advice! I'm in a difficult position having no garage access, friends who can help with repairs, no good street parking options and very little money.

 

If the mechanical damage was due to the accident the other guy's insurance should cover this. Of course you had better not say you added a bunch of cold water when the car started overheating. But it definitely does sound that the overheating problem was related to the accident.

Good luck.

Doug

 

The mechanic said there had to be radiator damage to make a claim, he did find a leak from the Water outlet housing. But overall it doesn't seem that likely to be from the accident? Unless there was some sort of crack in the housing from it that suddenly failed and then the car overheated.. Tricky.

 

You might want to do a little more diagnosis before a tear down. The price for the head gasket job sounds pretty reasonable, but it seems like there is more going on. If it is just the head gasket, you should be able to get it to fire up. You might have to crank it a little longer, but it should fire. If it is just the head gasket:
1) It should fire up
2) Will probably run rough
3) Will probably throw at least a random misfire code (more likely specific misfire codes for the cylinders that have water coming in)

 

I'm with XKR- get compression readings.

 

I was able to get it to fire up two times, lots of white smoke (steam) and would not idle. I did compression test all cylinders and got 60-120 psi readings after adding oil.

 

Are most of them between 90 and 120 psi, with only a couple around 60? Or are a lot of them around 60? I ask because if it is only a blown head gasket it will probably not impact the majority of the cylinders (unless the gasket blew in a few different places). If compression is low on a lot of cylinders, then there is probably some more engine damage.

 

Here are the readings from front drivers side going back, starting at front passenger side going back.

120
90
80
90
122
92
80
120

 

That does look like a badly blown head gasket with so many adjacent cylinders with semi-low compression. I'm not too sure about the AJ27, but in a lot of engines the weakest part (first part to blow) of the head gasket is between adjacent cylinders. Hopefully some experts chime in.

My best guess: Head gasket is blown. Water is getting into a minimum of 3, but maybe all 5 semi-low cylinders causing misfires. A new head gasket should fix it and compression would rise in all of the currently low cylinders.

I am not a mechanic, but I fixed a blown head gasket in my 2000 xkr. I had misfires and low compression on 2 cylinders. It would idle, but rough. I don't remember the exact compression, but it was around 80 or 90 in the 2 cylinders that had water coming in. When the head gasket was fixed the compression came right back up to normal.

Again, I am not an expert, but usually severe engine damage will lead to lower compression than what we a seeing in this case. I think the reason it won't idle is because it is misfiring on so many cylinder (3-5).

 

Thanks a lot! So leaning towards repairs atm..

 

I forgot to mention that the heads might be warped or the block cracked (this would look like a blown head gasket and sometimes happens in conjunction with one). If the heads are warped, but not too bad, you might be able to have a machine shop get them back to spec for a couple hundred bucks. If the block is cracked then that would be bad. I think a leak down test might be able to pinpoint the problem before you do the tear down. But other then that, I doubt (but I am not sure) that there is any major engine damage.
If you still have the second generation upper tensioners in there, then you should have him throw the 3rd gen ones in once he gets in there. My second generation tensioners were still working, but damaged from the heat and I think my engine saw less heat than yours. 3rd gen tensioners are about $300, and should not be much labor since they will be exposed and only take a few minutes to swap once he starts to get into the engine.

 

Do you have more info on a "leak test"? I'm aiming to call my mechanic tomorrow. Also you can get third gen tensioners on ebay for $149 a pair! Jaguar V8 1997 2010 2 Upper Secondary Timing Chain Tensioners | eBay

 

I'm pretty sure I paid $149 each, so that looks like a great deal. "leak down test" (any mechanic should know what it is)
I just sent you a PM