I let one go! A nice looking/condition Green 03 STR with a rod thrown through the oil pan just sold on Ebay for $3000K. I wanted to purchase it, but with with over 100K miles, and $600 to $700 to get it shipped to me, the $ numbers to get it on the road didn't work for. If I was local to where the car was I might have tried to buy it.

I wonder if a forum member purchased it?

I like my higher mileage cars to be reliable, and for me to rebuild the engine to my standards would be $6+K. Plus who knows how the trans would hold up to a rebuilt strong motor? I asked the seller if any of the suspension has been gone through, and he said it was all original. That' another large chunk of change and time to replace all the bushings.

I wonder if the car was purchased by some shop that will throw in a higher mileage engine, get the car running and try to turn a quick profit...
Or perhaps it will be parted out in the near future...

 

I think that is the first time I have heard a sc 4.2 "throwing a rod." Wonder how bad the owner beat or neglected the car to do that? Makes me wonder how the rest of the car is holding up?

 

That's true the 4.2L seems very solid. Even at high mileage but lack of oil will kill anything.
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Looks like STRs with blown engines are becoming a theme on Ebay. Here is another 03 STR, blown engine, with 124+K miles on Ebay.

Jaguar s Type Type R | eBay

 

From the ebay ad:

" Including, 20" Dub trump Spinners, and amazing high end sound system, slotted rotors and new brakes, tinted glass, tinted rear tail lights and side markers"

Think maintenance was high on his list? I bet that car was lucky if it saw a Jiffy Lube once a year....


Seems like there are a few oil starved motors that have thrown rods... Interesting that the rods seem to be the failure point.

Take care,

George

 

I've been reading every scrap of information I can find on the net regarding the AJ-V8 series of engines, and try to take notes, but often something I read one day I decide the next it is important.

I believe I read in some jaguar technical bulletin that these engines have very tight tolerances between the rod bearings and the crank. Such that several things become very important in the operation of the engine. 1. Use a high quality synthetic oil of recommended viscosity range. 2 Change the oil on the regular recommended basis. 3. Don't run the car at full throttle until the engine is completely warmed up. If you don't do all of these things, there will be "accelerated rod bearing wear". This would lead me to believe that as the engine ages and gets to higher mileage, engines that weren't taken care of or pushed hard are more likely to throw a rod due to a failed rod bearing.

From what I've read to date, my understanding is that the rods/rod bearings appear to be the weak spot in the AJ34 engine.


Shifting gears slightly, has anyone had an AJ34 block sleeved with new liners?
I was half thinking of how one could fit 90mm pistons into the 4.2. I believe that the stock liners are only about 4mm thick. (3.79mm)
90mm pistons would give a wide variety of pistons that could be fitted to the engine. Then perhaps if a custom forged crank and rods were used, one could go with a 91mm stroke. This would make a nice 4.6L engine. Open up the head chamber to match, and one could squeeze out a little more reliable power along with one of Avos' KB twin screw superchargers. (Engine becomes more similar to the AM Vantage.)

 

STR's with blown engine due to rod knock/rod bearing failure, seems to be common enough. Almost every case of "blown engine" in STR's seems to refer to this...
there is a local 05 STR in my area thats been for sale for the longest time at $3k asking price, with "rod knock in bottom end" listed in the description...

 

I'm sure most are due to lack of oil. People either forget or don't realize that these cars burn oil, sometimes a quart every 1k miles. I almost blew the motor in my gto when I first got it with only 40k on it. Lucky I checked the oil just because and it was 2qts low in one month of ownership. Sure this is exactly what's happening with these strs

 

Well it's pretty much all engines?

The rods are the weakest point in the lower end. The vast majority of engine failures were rod's letting go or if you were lucky spinning a rod bearing and chewing up that throw on the crank shaft.

When I had my SHO it was very common to change the rod bearings before 100K miles. They were always worn down to the copper. Lucky for that car you could take the oil pan off and swap the rod bearing with the engine in the car.

Has anybody ever looked at the rod bearing in a used STR? It would be very interesting to see the wear pattern.
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Joe,

There's an 03 STR on eBay right now, 154k miles... Looks decent and the dealer is asking $7999. I've seen one personally with 202k come through the auction ran fine although the drivers seat was showing it's age and the a/c was warm. So there are some high mile examples out there.

Seems like the ones letting go at 120k were neglected, not the norm....

Take care,

George