Hey guys. I'm typing from the tow yard as we speak.

So I was driving on my way to take my mom out for Valentines Day after a dash through the mountains with my friend in his XJS12. All was fine during the entire dash through the mountains which took place during 430-6 pm.

Fast forward a couple hours, I'm cruising at 70 MPH on the turnpike when I noticed a mechanical whine coming from the front of the engine. A couple minutes earlier I felt a sputter but I thought it was the wind.

To checkthe noise, I slowed down and downshifted to increase the speed of the engine. As soon as I did the noise got louder and that immediately told me to STOP, that's the timing chain.

I pulled over immediately and the engine almost stalled and gave me a low pressure warning but I quickly disappeared when the engine surged back to idle. I quickly shut the car off. I tried restartin and instantly I noticed the car hesitated in starting. When it tried to grab idle it started surging. I turned the car off and have yet to start it again. This is about an hour ago.

This is definitely triggering my thoughts that the secondary tensioners are done. With this information, is anyone able to confirm at this time that I might be lucky and just need new secondary tensioners? I hope I did because I have a feeling that I caught I just in time. I ask this because I just got this car in November and so far I replaced the transmission and I can't afford the $2500 job to do the entire timing chain.

Urgent advice is needed so anyone if you can, reply here, send me an email or PM or you can call or text me at 201 707 5666. Anytime is fine. I'm in college I stay up late.

 

Man, that is a shame!
How can one have so much bad luck with a single car.

With the tensioners, I think there's just one way to be sure...
Remove the valve covers and have a look!

 

+1 on the cam covers off to check.

I feel the most stressful/risky thing for the engine now is to try and start it. We've already discussed the work, it's now check and replace.

Once done, I think it's fair to say you can relax. Did you locate a Jag indy shop local to you, or a member who can point you in the right direction?

It's the joys of owning a Jaguar! Good Luck.

 

Yep, and if it runs at all there is a very good chnce yo have not bent any valves.

 

Uhm...help?

I called the shop I dropped my car off and he said that it's not the timing chain...it's a bad connector rod bearing.

I'm at a loss of words...how can a 102k mile car have a failing connector rod bearing? Am I looking at a new engine

 

My condolences.

How did they come to that conclusion? Is this a shop you trust? Its hard to believe a bottom end failure like this happening so early unless the car was starved for oil or severely neglected.

There is no reason for you to spend stupid money on a new engine. car-part.com is your friend. Last time I looked there were some nice low mileage engines in the 2-3k range.

You're going to have a brand new car by the time you're done.

 

Jeez that's a kick in the teeth.

How did they come to that conclusion? did you ask or take it as fact? To change the mains is engine out. Or at least totally disconnected and lifted. My posts regarding engine swaps are, well, contentious. I'm of the opinion that you stick with what you've got and fix, not buy and insert another lump (only to have the same thing happen down the line with an unknown quantity)
Rod knock is unique, so they started the car and must have assessed the noise? came to the conclusion, it was a fast assessment.....any other places you can get a second opinion? Describe the noise when you started it up. Need to know more of the EXACT SYMPTOMS.

 

I'm going to find out. But is there anything that can cause the guy to think what he thinks?

The shop came highly recommended by my friend who owns an XJS12. The guy fixes Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Jags, Ferraris, Lambos...

 

I dont know but I'm going to find out. I called and asked if "they got my message about why there's a Silver Jaguar sitting outside their shop."

He said "yes we got your message. We're looking into it now and it's not what you said it might be (I mentioned the timing chain tensioners in the voicemail when I dropped the car off). It's a bad connecting rod bearing."

And that's exactly how he said it.

If I was to get a second opinion, I'd have to have the car towed to another shop in Flemington which is 30 minutes away.

As for what exactly happened the entire day:

I woke up and all started fine. No extraordinary noise that I can notice.

I drove around campus but then had class. At the end of class, I went for a little dash through the mountains with my friend and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

Probably covered about 50 miles worth of pavement.

I leave to go up north to take my mother out to dinner for Valentines day which is when I start noticing things.

20 minutes into the trip I feel what felt like two misfires and a loss of power (I had cruise control set at 70). I didn't think of it since it was windy so I was feeling many different things while cruising at 70MPH. That was when I started listening a little closer and noticed a "whirrrrrrr" noise. It was medium pitched, kinda like a whir noise from a supercharger just beginning to spool.

I was like uh oh. So to confirm I was hearing something, I dropped to 50 MPH, downshifted to 3rd to get the RPMs up, which is when it sounded more like a supercharger, but I felt a shaking in the engine through the steering rack, and heard what sounds like a "loose bicycle chain" except heavier.

At which point I shifted back into drive and made my way to the shoulder as quickly as possible.

As soon as I was slowing up the engine began to slowly die. Low Oil Pressure showed up and then it surged back above 1k RPM at which point I shut the engine off completely.

I tried restarting it and immediately noticed the starter was struggling with the engine. It started, and as soon as it turned over, it began surging. I only kept it on for a second until I shut it off. Since then I haven't started the engine.

I'm going to call after class to find out how they found a bad connector rod bearing.

 

Ok so I called and asked how he came up with a bad connector rod bearing.

He said he drained the oil, took out the oil pan and sump and found metal pieces in the oil and in the pan and they looked like pieces of a rod bearing.

But I remember inquiring with another jaguar shop, as to how much a timing chain job would cost and he said $2500 because they also replace the oil pan in the event pieces from the timing chain get caught up in the engine.

So something's not adding up right. My car has 102k miles and I changed its oil about 4k miles ago to 5W-30 which was recommended by the owner manual. Fully synthetic using Mobil1.

I think I might need a second opinion.

If anyone can, please call my cell in the original post. I would prefer to speak with someone knowledgeable over the phone. or at least Skype with me.

 

I had a spun rod bearing once. The engine ran pretty well, but it had a distinct knock. I mean it was an obvious knock in time with the engine RPM. I bought the car like this and rebuilt the engine. The previous owner had run the car with little or no oil. This may be of no use to you, but I'm just sayin' ... The secondary cam chain tensioner problem usually shows up right after you start the car - the chain will be slack and jump a tooth - and then you will definitely notice poor running. Or you hear the "death rattle" from the front. With some cars it is possible to change the rod bearings without pulling the engine. I can't say for sure with the Jag, but I thought I saw somewhere where someone had done this.

 

Is there any way me hitting a major pothole can shake an engine so badly that it damaged a rod bearing? Not like this is going to help me much...but a whole engine is at stake...

 

DAMN IT! Being a fellow young dude, it almost pisses me off that your Jag is treating you this badly!

Check to see if the Mobil1 oil you used has one of those "guaranteed" protection of some sort. Some oils actually have a warranty against engine failure.

Man your story is Deja Vu to me. My brothers Ford Expedition spun a bearing b/c a bent rod while pulling a trailer on the freeway and going up and down steep hills. Ford cut too many corners on the engine and the V8s have a coil gasket that allows rain water to enter the cylinder. Haven't heard of this problem with Jaguar though.

His engine had a worsening rod knock and an inconsistent single cylinder misfire for about 2 years before it failed though. So the ultimate failure was not that much of a surprise. It had similar symptoms. There was a knocking sound for about 30 seconds and a low oil pressure light as we rushed to the nearest freeway exit and the truck stalled when we stopped. No whirring sound however. It was able to start like normal immediately after it stalled, but when we tried to start the engine about a hour later, the starter wouldnt even spin the engine b/c it seized up.

Those engines have a notoriously weak bottom end. I heard that the Jag V8 has a pretty dependable bottom end (others on this forum may know more info).

He had his 4.6L v8 rebuilt for $2500.

My friend bought a 2004 BMW M3 convertible 3 months ago and his mechanic found metal flakes in his oil filter! Even though the pre-purchase inspection mechanic said the car was in great condition. You're not alone.

Ask if the engine still starts and drives. Maybe drive the engine until it fails? That's what my brother's mechanic said during the 2 years of rod knock. He also changed the oil weight and added some oil additive which quieted things down a bit. I can't remember exactly what he changed with his oil. I can ask him if you wanna know.

 

MAYBE! If your oil pan was damaged, that could easily happen. If you have comprehensive insurance, you can try to make an insurance claim and get it paid for.

 

I'm looking over the ExxonMobil1 Warranty Coverage...and it seems like I may not be out of options...but in what way would I be able to prove that the oil caused this main-bearing failure?

 

Hmmm your mechanic might be able to help you on how to justify the engine failure on the oil. I'm sure they can come up with a way. I wonder if the mechanic that did the oil change would want to help you out or would another mechanic be better? The oil change mechanic might run away from the whole engine failure situation to avoid fault. Food for thought.


Do you have comprehensive insurance to make an insurance claim?

 

I did the oil change myself. I have to check about insurance.

 

If you spin a rod-bearing the motor usually tells you with a fairly loud and distinct "knocking sound". You did not describe any type of knocking sound you said "mechanical whine" and described erratic power/idle and low pressure, though you didn't mention what pressure was low. I doubt you've spun a bearing. I'd explain all the symptoms you experienced more thoroughly to your mechanic and have him inspect the timing chain.

 

I asked the mechanic to look into the timing chain and he said "it has nothing to do with the timing chain" so I'm getting iffy about this place I brought it to. I'm going to have it towed to Don's Jaguar Shop over in Flemington. I spoke to Don the owner and described everything I did here to him over the phone and he said there's a possibility it can be a rod bearing...but it's most likely the dreaded timing chain.

I am going to be seeing the car tonight when I meet the tow driver. Should I try and start the engine and record a couple of seconds of video of the engine running so you guys can get a better idea of what it sounds like or should I not risk it?

Still, the claim of a rod bearing still does not make any sense under the following information:

-The mechanic who just looked at the car admitted that there were no signs of oil starvation
-I changed the oil myself and put in synthetic Mobil1 5W-30 and checked the level continuously for weeks after the change with no warnings.
-timing chains tend to go around this mileage
-the car only has 102k miles on it.

 

Well, if one "Jaguar" mechanic who's heard your description, agrees with another, who's got your car and looked at it, I would feel pretty comfortable with the assessment you've gotten. I've ripped the motor in my TwinTurbo Z down pretty deeply, but never a Jag, so my assessment over the internet shouldn't sway you to far. Good luck with it!