My wife has a 2017 XE 35t R-Sport, purchased new from Jaguar some 5+ years ago. It has less than 23k miles on it, and its only been driven occasionally (once or twice a month) the past two years and garaged the whole time it isn't driven. Its been problem free up until today when after driving it a few yards, we started hearing a loud rattling/clanking noise coming from the engine. The noise steadily got worse over the next half a mile or so, enough that we turned around and drove home and parked it back in the garage. The rattling/clanking noise exists at idle but gets worse as the engine is revved. The car does not need to be moving for the noise to occur. The check engine light is not on. My experience as an engineer points to the supercharger being the problem but I'm wondering if anyone here has some other thoughts of this. The other thought I'm having (after reading through some of the forum responses) is the water pump, but I would think the check engine light would come on in this case. Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could potentially be? I did call my local Jaguar (Bellevue, WA) this afternoon but was surprised to hear that they had no appointments available until May and there was no point bringing the car in sooner.

 

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Describing noises is extremely difficult. I've known the word "rattle" used to describe anything from just an annoyingly wide valve clearance tapping to the rumble of a failing main bearing about to destroy a crankshaft and many other things between these two extremes.

The noise was clearly sufficient to persuade you to return home immediately so my thoughts are that it's towards the more high risk possibilities. The kind that mean you certainly don't want to be running the engine except for the briefest of time to allow diagnosis. Low cost "rattlers" would be an idler pulley tensioner failed or sticking oil pressure relief valve but go towards timing chains or oil pump and the bills get scary. Unless you have the desire, facilities and ability to troubleshoot and repair this yourself then, given the negligible current use of the vehicle, leaving it in the garage until the dealer or an independent specialist can take it in is the prudent course of action. It may turn out to be minor but could just as easily be something that destroys an engine.

Graham

 

Thanks Graham. A quick start of the engine yesterday indicated the problem had gotten worse (much louder clanking noise even at idle). So a flat bed to the repair shop will be in order at this time. I plan to call Jaguar USA today and see what they can do to help in terms of getting an earlier appointment with the local dealers. I've also found an independent a few miles away that handles Jaguars so I'll talk to them and see what they say.

 

It would be helpful if you can list the DTCs stored in the system since the MIL is on as that may point to what may be causing the noise.

 

MIL is not on.

 

Getting to know a reliable independent will almost certainly make a big difference to any bill. Definitely worth making contact even if you do then decide to use the dealer.

Graham

 

If the MIL is not on, are there any pending DTCs?

It may be best to have the vehicle brought to a competent Jaguar specialist or main dealer for diagnosis.

 

Latest on this: We found the name of the concierge service person who dealt with us last at Bellevue Jaguar. She told us they could look at the car in 3-5 days, not the 2+ months originally quoted. So the tow truck just dropped it off at the dealer earlier this afternoon and we should know more by the end of the week. I'll post more details on the diagnosis when I have it.

Out of the five local independents I called (all advertised as being "European" car specialists), only one was willing to look at it and he made no guarantees he could fix the problem if it was anything other than something simple. So finding an independent in the area who can fix Jaguars is a little harder than I thought it would be.

 

OK, so this is looking extremely bad at this point. Short story is, the engine is kaput. It looks like rod/bearing failure (see technician description below) but since the engine hasn't been opened up, that's not a 100% certain. We've been quoted around $25k for a new engine (not clear if that includes installation). As a reminder, the engine that failed was less than 6 years old and had under 23k miles on it, single owner since purchasing new and driven carefully for first 4 years and hardly at all the past 2 years. Last oil change was 2.5 years ago and 4.5k miles added since then. No extended warranty. Here's the dealer feedback on the initial inspection:Technician Notes:

CUSTOMER STATES THAT THERE IS A LOUD CLANKING NOISE PRESENT WHEN THE VEHICLE IS IDLING, IN ADDITION THE NOISE GETS WORSE WHEN THROTTLE IS APPLIED, INSPECT AND REPORT.
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I VERIFIED THE EXTREMELY LOUD ENGINE KNOCKING PRESENT AT ALL TEMPS AND ENGINE SPEED..I REMOVED THE OIL FILTER AND FOUND IT TO BE EXPLODED FROM THE INSIDE OUT AND IS FULL OF METAL. THE METAL IS A GOLDISH IN COLOR WHICH IS A SIGN OF ROD/BEARING FAILURE..VEHICLE WILL NEED A NEW ENGINE

Since the dealer couldn't help us further, we've opened a customer care case with what I assume is Jaguar USA (we were only given a number to call). We've been told a decision regarding who will pay for the engine replacement will be made in the next 2-3 weeks.

My wife is absolutely fuming at this point and adamant that Jaguar pays entirely for the engine replacement. What are her chances of succeeding and what should we do if Jaguar refuses to pay?

 

You might post something about this in the F-type forum, as it’s the same AJ126 engine in the V6 cars, there have been a few engine failures reported over the years, and there’s a lot more traffic in that forum. Not sure I remember a V6 failure, think the few reported were V8s. But someone might be able to fill you in on the engine replacement options. If it’s not under warranty, getting a non-dealer to replace it with a used motor would be a lot cheaper.

FYI, an F-type owner just totaled his car and is parting it out. The V6 engine may be ok…
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...lled-f-256827/

 

A brief update on this. A few days after the car was taken to the dealer and we were told it would need a new engine ($25k estimate at the time), my wife had the idea of going online and finding the contact information for all the relevant Jaguar execs in the US so that she could email them directly and tell them how bitterly disappointed she was with the quality of their product and what could they do to help. Finding the contact information proved to be harder than you'd imagine, but once she forked out some $30 to upgrade her Linked-In account to a premium level, she suddenly had access to every single exec email address she wanted. Ten emails and a day later, an executive assistant from Jaguar contacted her and said she'd be taking over the case directly and would try to reach an amicable outcome regarding the issue. Fast forward three weeks later and my wife received an offer today that would cover 50% of the engine replacement cost. In my mind this seemed to be fair, since this would be approximately equal to the depreciation of the car. She however wanted/expected a higher contribution from Jaguar and is considering pursuing this further. My argument however is that she pursue a free 4 year warranty for the new engine (no mention of a powertrain warranty has been made so far), plus a reduced cost extended warranty for another two or three years (she likes keeping her cars a long time). Has anyone been down this avenue before? Any thoughts on other considerations at this time before she contacts Jaguar about the offer?

 

Does the engine replacement cost include labour charges ? In your favour is that your wife is the first owner, and, presumably, has had the car serviced from new by a Jaguar main agent. If it were me, I think I'd want some warranty on the new engine. In addition to that, I'd want far more from Jaguar in terms of contribution, say 75%. If they refuse, I'd want to know their reasons. They will no doubt claim "betterment" but how can it be, if the car is worth no more than one of the same age that has not had an engine failure ? You haven't quoted any costs, but bear in mind that a new engine from Jaguar will have a huge profit margin, so really Jaguar are not being all that generous to be honest. You need to be sure you are just paying 50% of the cost of an engine not its selling price.