Come the next chance I have to work on the car, I'm just going to remove the valve covers and get a physical feel for the chain.

 

could be a rod knock. I would need to hear the load on the piston change. You have to accel and decel a 1000 rpm or so, quickly.
pull a plug wire off one by one and see if you get a change in any 1 cylinder to isolate it.

 

have you made any progress on checking this out? While it sounds real bad, it is a little hard to hear well where it is coming from. I would want to rule out any issue with the drive belts and pulleys. You could loosen the tensioner and remove the belt totally and run it for a short wile to see what noise you get as well. You said you went through water, maybe it got into some open bearing.

 

Took off the valve covers today.

This is what I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbhIxx-CFKg&hd=1

I'm pretty sure my findings are pretty self explanatory with my commentary in the video.

*sigh*

I'm gunna go drink myself to sleep.

 

stupid flash!

Anyone care to describe the video for the flash impaired?

 

True, but it ought to be on the driver's own nickel.

 

Ok, a Yaris then.

And it's not about prestige and style, it's about transportation to school.

The theory is that someone goes to school, graduates, gets a job, and *then* buys what they want with the money they earn.

There was a student in architecture school who survived by drinking ketchup packets mixed with boiling water as "tomato soup" and the fruit smuggled out of the dining hall by class mates. Obviously, no Jag or rich parents for him. But, he graduated.

 

Secondary tensioners are in perfect condition, no slack in either primary or secondary chain.

 

Well, at least we de-bunked that silly crap about chain tensioners vaporizing into the rod bearings, through the oil filter and all.......

 

Have you dropped the oil? what does it look like? any metallic bits in there? now you have the tops off, I'd change the upper tensioners. Rotate the engine via the crank pulley bolt until you get the flats on the cams all in the correct place, either lock one side with the cam locking tool and go from there with the zip tie method. You know the tensioners work on hydraulic pressure if they're not pumped up fully you'll get chain slap, which is something I suspected from your initial video as the timing of the noise isn't engine speed.

Another suggestion is a compression test - you can do this asap - we have to confirm chain slip and valve damage. Easy at this point. You'll need a tester to screw into the plug hole, replacing the plug, and again using the crank pulley bolt to bring compression up in each cylinder, jot them down and post results here.

Next job after that would be to take the timing cover off, and inspect timing from top to bottom, lower tensioners and guides.

You're saving yourself a bundle right now, keep going.

 

I haven't dropped the oil yet. I'll get to that this week.

Wouldn't it be worth it to just remove the oil pan at this point instead of spending money on new tensioners? The ones already on there look like they're in pretty good condition. No cracks visible. and I pushed and pulled on secondary chain at the tensioners and the cam pulley on both banks and the chain was tight as can be. I wiggled the primary chain at the cam pulley and there was no play.

Removing the oil pan would probably allow me to get to the sump so i can visually inspect the crank?

 

Was your car low on oil at all or possibly buring it rapidly? Maybe the Gs from the curves starved the engine of oil. There was a TSB issued about increasing the amount of oil these cars hold due to that reason. Do the oil pumps fail on these cars much?

 

I know a guy like that. Today he eats the finest meals because of his discipline while a younger man.

 

And I think my Jag experience is going badly. Sorry bro

 

He or, she who has the gold makes the rules. You are 13k in to this car and have nothing but a good looking turd to show for it. She is right in her position of course but if you dump the car you will lose money big time. You wont even get the tranny money back. I'm all for admitting wrong and cutting losses but at this point a new long block or whatever makes more sense financially than buying or leasing a new car. You are in so deep a few grand more is better than the loss you face by dumping this car. Even if it is the worlds most expensive older Jag after you are done.

 

Dude you don't have to rub it in! I think he knows his situation is not ideal.

 

I agree with Sean B about doing a compression test. It's hard to tell from the recording, but the sound doesn't sound like a rod knock right off. It would be fairly easy to do a compression test on all eight and see if they are all at least uniform. Also, if you can turn the engine over, while you have the cam covers off, check to see that the cam flats line up correctly at some point in their rotation. Maybe a mechanic told you he's seen spun rod bearings on Jaguars before, but I've never heard of it on a straight six or the V8. Jaguar bottom ends are generally bullet-proof and pretty hard to destroy unless you are really trying hard. Sorry, I don't remember if you said there were any trouble codes, but were there ? Pulling the pan and looking at the con rod big ends may not be conclusive unless there is obvious damage, so I wouldn't go there unless you're reasonably sure you'll find something.

 

Hey Jimmy. I asked Sean some questions but never heard back. What would a compression test reveal? And if timing was off wouldn't the engine be running very rough? My engine ran pretty smooth with the knock...I mean I could "feel" the engine running through the car at idle, but no obvious shaking or buckling as if timing were off. Wouldn't there also have been play in the chain when I pulled on it? Also in the video of the start up, that was a cold start so for about the first 20 seconds until :25-:26, the engine was running around 1000k RPM and after it dropped down to about 700-600 RPM and you can hear the frequency of the knock go down too.

How do I turn the engine over without turning it on? I've never manually cranked an engine before (I've never been in a situation where I've had to).

 

A compression test will reveal if you have a bent valve or a blown headgasket. I have not turned one of these engines over by hand either. You could try turning by the crank bolt, which may not be easy, or you could try bumping the starter. Have you tried turning it over (with starter) without the spark plugs in it to see if you can hear any obvious mechanical problems ? You would need to do that for a compression test anyway. So, the engine runs pretty good except for the noise ? and you've gotten no engine codes ? I'm just suggesting that you eliminate the possibility that there is a cam chain or timing issue by checking the cam flats, and a compression issue with the compression test. These are both relatively easy and free - if you can get hold of a compression tester.

 

Yes, the engine runs pretty good except for the noise and no CEL or messages appeared on the LCD display. I dont have a compression tester myself but my uncle does and I'd have to get him to do it with me. And just in my thoughts if there was a compression or cam chain/timing issue, the engine would be buckling and shaking with codes being thrown no?