Haha, I started my car the other day and immediately put it into reverse before the idle had a chance to settle. The car almost stalled and the CEL came on briefly.

I think it's a feature, not a problem!

 

Martin

 

So this morning my car gave of big amounts of whitish smoke from the tail pipes after driving for a while. When I started it it was idling very strange/rough but nothing on the performance side except that it did drag down the idle worse than ever before, until I see a big plume of white smoke behind the car and restricted performance light came on, but went away again. I stopped and got it towed to the shop. I am thinking blown head gasket - what could it be?

F...
Martin

 

Talked with the mechanic and he told me that there was oil residual in the exhaust pipes. Well it could be hard to see from the car if the smoke is whitish or blueish. It came to me that it might be a faulty PCV valve. Does anyone know if the XJ8 has such one? Something like a hose is running from the valve cover to the intake.
Really hope someone has some advice
Thanks
Martin

 

Goodness! You weren't joking when you tried to tell everyone that something was not right!

 

It is possible that the crankcase vent system is plugged. There is a breather in the valve cover with a guaged orifice, no PCV valve. If this orifice is clogged, the crankcase will overpressure and might cause the problem you have. Pull the connector off and look in, you can clear it with a drill bit that fits the hole.

 

Should the hose be wet with oil at the entrance to the crankcase -
I guess not - it is.

 

Well the mechanic says no to the hose from the crankcase to intake - any seals that are prone to leak oil at around 60000miles - I hope it is not a cracked something out of metal

 

So there is a misfire on 3 cylinder in one side - could this be a head gasket that is leaking oil? - more like catastrophic failure of head gasket. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Martin

 

I have no response to any of your questions, but I just want to let you know I'm reading them! Keep giving us updates!

I bet you if it were a head gasket, your oil dipstick would look funky.

 

Don't get to worked up just yet. A missing cylinder can be a couple of different issues and would give you a rough idle. Check the coolant and oil. If they look good, the odds engine is fine. Pull the #3 plug and look for oil on the plug. Odds are you have a bad plug or failed coil. There is a PCV and others in the forum have stated rough idle from a bad PCV.....or their dealership has found that to be a common problem.

 

There is oil in 3 of the plugs in one side other side is fine.

 

Mechanic believes it is the headgasket or piston rings, but since there is oil in 3 cylinders (misfires as well on the 3) it is unlikely that 3 piston rings should fail at the same time - but then again I will properly get hit by a meteor one of these days. He has quoted me for 1700$ for the labor-does not believe head should be resurfaced? -F... I have another head gasket - when will that go? - I believe they can pressure test and confirm the other one does not leak. I know that the car has had it coolant expansion tank replace and I know jaguar confirmed that no damage occurred due to transient over heating but this is properly what has taken its toll on the gasket. A bad gasket also explain the uneven idle that I have experienced because I have had a vacuum leak though the gasket that eventually has ruptured more and begone to suck in oil - I just do not understand why the mechanic says that there is no coolant in the smoke from the exhaust? - 3 oil canals, maybe one in each cylinder, but no water canal? (I think he is wrong - Oil smell would properly dominate the smell from the smoke - the smoke looked whitish to me - more like a steamboat). I dont think because the car had a bad gasket that you necessarily would see trace of water in the oil because it is all sucked in and I stopped the car almost immediately?. I also wonder since there is oil in the exhaust if this will take is toll on the Cat in that side? - or will the oil and its carbon just combust completely and disappear. I am wondering a lot these days
What bothers me the most is the fact that it had a slightly uneven when I bought it - still under warranty - but I desided that it was not something to take notice of and disregarded it until it got worse(no more warranty).
A piece of advice (I am sure some of you know this) if any of you ever will get a blown gasket don't take the chance and drive the car to the shop because is can take so much water in that those cylinder/s will hydro lock = new engine - a lot of crying.

 

Well, I guess you have to decide whether or not to trust your mechanic. In my opinion, $1700 would be getting off real easy!

 

If there is oil in 3 cylinders, the headgasket is probably leaking. Like you said, it's unlikely that three sets of rings together would go bad at once. I suggest a compression and/or leakdown test to confirm the diagnosis. If the oil is getting into the cylinder through the headgasket, the compression will test low in those cylinders.

 

Well my first thought was expensive so I called the Jag dealer 3700 and I called several independent shop but only got one price which was 1800?

 

That price sounds reasonable but may not include parts, fluids, etc., which can add cost. Be sure to check.

 

Sory to hear!!! I guess I would be worrying alittle bit. I hope it's only a head gasket. Your mechanic should be able to tell when he pulls the head.

 

It is only labor. They have compression tested and comp. is low in one side. Oldmot,can you explain how the gasket can fail so 3 cylinders are getting oil?, but no water.

 

Talked to the mechanic himself instead of the service manager. Apparently the service manager had misspoken (a lot - typical) and there is only oil in the 8th cylinder but when he looks into chamber he believes it looks like a cracked piston he will know when he has the head of. The compression is not to low in the last cylinder but higher than on the rest at 150 - how can that be? - I told him I want to see it myself before he goes ahead with anything. He says if it is a cracked piston that a rebuild or slightly used engine is properly the best choice - he cannot see it with the scope because everything is covered in oil. The car has 59000miles on it and this is getting more and more absurd. Any ideas? Any ideas on contacting Jaguar and given it is 9000miles out of warranty maybe they would help?