I got those exploded V8 blues

Johnny Storm

Now listen carefully, I'm looking for some sympathy here.
I woke up this mornin'....
I started my 97 XK8 (99k miles)....
and instead of the customary vroooooooom-m-m, I heard BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG from the engine.
I turned it off immediately.
It's on the way this p.m. to the mechanic on the back of a truck. I'm hoping for the best but I assume that the secondary tensioners have failed, meaning that the timing chain slipped a few cogs and potentially/probably/hopefully-not, the valves and the pistons have been doing very, very expensive things together that they never, ever should have done.
Wish me luck!

Hermy

I feel your pain.
Cam chain snapped in a Scudo I owned a few years back...:eek:
I know it's not an XK but it's never nice when things like that happen.

Alanstrainor

Damn Johnny, that sucks, and that's one awesome car you've got there, remember seeing it at one of the instrument forum meets.

Fingers crossed it's fixable and not too expensive, whatever happens at least you shut it off straight away which was all you could do. Many folk would have left it running. Cnut of a way to start a day though.

unkel

Oh, man

V8s are meant to live and roarrrrr for us, not die

A chain normally doesn't just slip a cog without tell tale signs - had it been rattling for a while?

Anan1

Ouch. Sorry to hear that, keep us posted.

bogmanfan

Best of luck from a fellow XK8 owner. Although mine is sick too...

Mr.David

Fingers crossed for each of the eight cylinders.....

Johnny Storm

Thanks very much to all of you!. I was actually expecting to get plenty of abuse.
The car was not running as smoothly as usual recently but I thought it just needed a service. This is a well known danger on these cars. I did have the secondary tensioners replaced a few years back as a precaution but apparently that wasn't enough.

Max Headroom

Is this your car....sounds normal to me.....:D

gyppo

As the Aussies put it - Bugger.

Hope this might bring a temp smile OP.

Mr Benevolent

Very sorry to hear that Johnny, they're lovely cars. Hope it gets well soon.

flamegrill

gyppo wrote: »

As the Aussies put it - Bugger.

Hope this might bring a temp smile OP.

Brilliant

The Recliner

As a former XK8 owner (I had a 97 one) this makes me sad

it is a fantastic car and hopefully any damage was minor and not too expensive to repair

Best of luck

Johnny Storm

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Damn Johnny, that sucks, and that's one awesome car you've got there, remember seeing it at one of the instrument forum meets.

Thanks, Alan.The car and the guitars are all to do with my many mid-life crises. Its all ahead of you!
The good news is that apparently it wasn't the timing chain but no word yet on what it actually was.
Genuine thanks to everyone who posted. Its funny how attached you can get to a car.

sogood

I know they are miles apart, but many years ago I broke the timing belt on a Sierra, while driving at a fair enough poke. Car died and I didn't know any better but to try and start it again. Turned it over several times but accepted that it wasn't going to start. Had the belt replaced and no damage done whatsoever! Fingers crossed for you and yes, we do become attached, but it's not funny. Much too serious for that! LOL

Kersh

Best of luck from a fellow XK8 owner

Me too. though mine got a new non nikasil engine in 2002, hope its not too bad. Who did you send it too if you dont mind me asking?

Keep us posted on what actually happened .


mines here http://adverts.ie/144735

franksm

Timing chain tensioner broken ? Might not be terminal - might just be the chain parts banging and not the pistons/valves (very expensive).

Doubt you have a Nikisil engine, they were all changed under warranty around 2002.

I would pop the cam covers off and take a look at the state of the chains.

Commiserations from yet another XK8 owner, also in Lucan !

mullingar

sogood wrote: »

I know they are miles apart, but many years ago I broke the timing belt on a Sierra, while driving at a fair enough poke. Car died and I didn't know any better but to try and start it again. Turned it over several times but accepted that it wasn't going to start. Had the belt replaced and no damage done whatsoever!

It could have been a non-inteference engine, meaning if belt/chain breaks the piston will never bang of the valves.

Most newer engines are inteference engines, hopefully the jag's engine is a non-inteference!!

cjt156

franksm wrote: »

Doubt you have a Nikisil engine, they were all changed under warranty around 2002.

Commiserations from yet another XK8 owner, also in Lucan !

Is that so? Does that mean any early XK should now be sporting a post 2002 engine? Interesting to know.
Found myself browsing XKs just last week, every one should drive a V8 at least once before the treehuggers have them all crushed.

Edit; meant to say best of luck OP!

Kersh

Does that mean any early XK should now be sporting a post 2002 engine

Personally I think you would be mad to buy one without a non nickasil engine. And if you are viewing any make sure it has one for your own piece of mind. They were replaced under warranty afaik, and even without history there is a way to tell if the engine is a newer one - the newer engines have paint markings tags on them, plus you can ring jaguar Uk with vin and they should be able to tell you if its been done.

Also, make sure the thermostat housing has been replaced to aluminium, as the original bakelite one will crack.

franksm

cjt156 wrote: »

Is that so? Does that mean any early XK should now be sporting a post 2002 engine? Interesting to know.
Found myself browsing XKs just last week, every one should drive a V8 at least once before the treehuggers have them all crushed.

Edit; meant to say best of luck OP!

Yeah, that's it exactly. In fact, Jaguar were honouring the recall for cars up to 10 years old and 100,000 miles where the service book was fully stamped with Jaguar stamps.

Anyway, 2002 seems to have been the year when most of the recall work was done.

You can tell if an engine has been replaced by a green tag on the rear of one of the cyclinder heads, plainly visible (think it's the offside head). Or you can query Jaguar with the VIN number and they will tell you.

OP: sorry for stealing your thread ! This thread has pics if you felt like popping the camcovers off the engine to compare the tensioner and chain setup with yours: http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4747

Johnny Storm

Kersh wrote: »

.... Who did you send it too if you dont mind me asking?....

Derek Dickenson is looking after it.
http://www.dickensonjaguarspareparts.com/csd/index.php

Mr Benevolent

Johnny Storm wrote: »

Derek Dickenson is looking after it.
http://www.dickensonjaguarspareparts.com/csd/index.php

Any news on the patient? Will she recover without a massive cash transfusion?

Johnny Storm

Confab wrote: »

Any news on the patient? Will she recover without a massive cash transfusion?

It's looking good ATM. I'll post when I have the full scoop.
Thanks to everyone for the good wishes.

bogmanfan

Any update on yours Johnny? Prognosis for mine isn't looking great at the moment...