So this morning I start the Jag, but let go of the key a split second early. It fires but dies. Same the second time and the third time it won't fire at all. Sounds like your classic cylinder wash.
After abusing my starter a great deal, it still won't start as per the procedure. I then pulled a plug and the smell of fuel is quite strong.
Here's my plan; pull all the plugs, pull the fuel pump relay, disable the ignition by pulling whatever relay or fuse is required, then crank her over as per the start procedure.
Install clean plugs and see if she goes.
Is there any harm in cranking her like this? If there's no power to the ignition, it shouldn't harm anything I would like to think.

Please let me know if you think I'm on the wrong road.

Thanks

 

Without plugs you certainly are not going to damage the starter. Give it a try.

 

Did the engine sound like it was turning too freely? There are apparently two distinct fueling issuse on these engines. One is overfueling causing classic flooding. The other is wash. The distinction is whether the engine looses compression. If it is just flooded (the starter sounds like it is straining as it cranks), then just try cranking it again in the morning. I assume "the procedure" you refer to is to hold the gas pedal to the floor and try 10-15 second cranks, without letting the pedal up til it fires. If not, try that.

 

If you have access to an air compressor I would try to dry out the cylinders if your in a hurry. Couple drops of Marvel Mystery in each cyl...button'er-up and see if that does the trick....of course you want to take all the necessary precautions like blowing out each sparkplug well with plug in place to clear of any loose dirt. Best of luck, went through the same thing myself with my current ride after it had been sitting-up for months....

 

You will find many that do not like the idea of adding oil to the cylinders I am not one of them. It was suggested that the oil will damage the catalytic converters I have yet to see or hear of this taking place. I do believe that it prevents the excessive scoring of the cylinders. I hope this information helps.
http://www.gusglikas.com/AutoRepairNikasil.htm
http://www.gusglikas.com/AutoRepairNoStart.htm
http://www.gusglikas.com/AutoRepairNikasilSulfur.htm

 

Thanks Gus,
I do have an air compressor, compresion tester, etc. I find it astonishing that any manufacturer would have such a silly problem with their engines.
I will check spark, I know I have fuel, and I can check for codes, but it had none before, and I'd be surprised if it logged any without starting. I have an OBDII that hooks to my laptop, so that helps.
A possible clue, or red herring, you decide: I have seen a TRaction Control Fail message during starting. Unrelated?
Who knows. It may be a couple days until I get to all this. My garage is full of Porsches, and it gets dark early this time of year.
Plus my boss has this funny idea that I need to actually work!
I'll post further as I (hopefully) progress.

 

For your model year, cylinder wash isn't out of the question, but I had the same symptoms and chased the cylinder wash effect, the fuel pump, spark, etc. Turned out it was a timing chain that broke when I tried to start it. I would advise you to do a compression check first. If the numbers are whacky, pull the cam covers and take a look. It isn't that much work and you can rule out a broken chain with a visual.

If you haven't replaced chains and tensioners in your '98, it may be your time to join the ranks of the initiated.

 

OK live from my driveway: pulled fuel pump and ignition relays, thenwent from there.
1. pulled #1 plug left bank, compression equals 20 psi.
2. pulled oil fill cap off, confirmed cam turning.
3. Pulled # 1 rh bank= 20 psi.
4. LH#2=20 psi
5. LH #3= 25 psi
6. LH #4= 75 psi.

Still sounds like cylinder wash, I'll keep testing all the cylinders.
7. RH #2,3,4= 40 psi
8. Returned to LH#1, now 40 psi.

 

Keep in mind that once you get it started get a can of restore and add it to the oil and drive it. I would also recommend getting a fuel conditioner I use BG 44k and add it to the tank when you fill it. Good fuel presentation is imperative in a Nikasil engine. Let us know how you make out!

 

I am packing it in for tonight, then I'm out of town for a couple days. I am torn over what to do. I have read both sides of the oil argument. On the one hand, I want to get it going and dry cranking seems to have no effect. On the other hand I cannot afford to contaminate O2 sensors and cats. Maybe there's another product I could spray in there?

 

I'm inside and warm, albeit a bit depressed.
Gus, thanks for all the help. What purpose does the restore and fuel additive serve?
Jaginblack, thanks for your suggestions, and thanks to God that it wasn't the problem!

 

I have not seen or heard of any 02 sensors or converters failing because of adding a little oil to the cylinders. I spent several days asking professionals that I respect in the Northern Va area about this and they could not support the concerns. Two did say yes if you used it every day for a week it might be a problem, I think they were making light of the concern.

 

The restore works with the oil at the rings to create a better compression seal and the fuel treatment will clean the injectors to improve the presentation of fuel to the cylinder to reduce the cylinder washing affects.

 

Rob - I can attest to trying the oil method with no sensor or CC problems. On Gus's advice, I added an ounce or so of oil to each cylinder and there have been no ill effects. I also oiled up my cylinders quite a bit once I had it opened up to keep any rust from forming in this Florida humidity. Again, absolutely no O2 codes or any other problems related to the oil. We are not talking buckets here, of course.

Your compression readings are not at all like mine with broken chain. Mine were all over the board from 120+ to 0. Also turned out I am just past the Nikasil cutoff date, fortunately.

 

So, how many folks have sucessfully used the oil method to correct low compression and then driven for many (> 10k?) miles without another problem and without excessive oil usage. I am just wondering if the loss of compression is really a temporary condition, or portends of a Nikasil failure, as some have suggested in the past.

 

I have a Nikasil engine and I have never experienced cylinder wash. Didn't Jaguar come out with a TSB for reprogramming the ECU or the throttle body ? I thought the problem was basically due to over-fueling and corrected in 2000 or 2001 MYs.

 

Came home and started working on it again. Since Jaguars approved method was doing nothing except heating up my starter, I went the oil way.

I made a tool, inspired by one the posts here. It's a long piece of rubber hose plugged at one end, with 4 small holes drilled in it. The other end is the air compressor, regulated at 20 psi. I experimented with putting 5 ml (5cc) of Castrol 10/40 in the hose, then spraying the inside of a plastic cup. By twisting the hose, there was a very thorough coating of oil, even at 5 ml.

One of my big concerns was putting too much oil in there, so that's why I started small.

Today's your typical crappy West Coast winter day, cold and rainy. I draped a car cover over the hood. First I checked #1 LH again, still at 25 psi or so.
I oiled the 4 cylinders that had the pistons near the bottom, put the plugs in, then moved the crank and oiled the other four.
All the plugs back in, ignition and fuel pump relays back in, crossed my fingers and had at it.

Throtlle full open at first to spread the oil around, then tried the whole range of throttle while cranking. One solid 30 second burst, let it cool for another 30, then cranked again, with 3/4 throttle since that was the only place it was trying to fire.

A few stumbles, then it immediately ran on all cylinders.

There was some blue smoke, but nowhere near what another member showed in his thread on this issue.

The following codes were posted; P0102, 0112, 1000, 1229,1230,1336. There were no codes before this mess started, and some were clearly related to cranking it without the MAF installed.

I cleared the codes and went for a drive and she runs like a dream.

I love my car, but this issue is unforgiveable, and if I had this problem as the first owner I would have gone ballistic.

To sum up; If you have this problem, don't screw around, go straight to the oil method, but only a little like I did. I'm sure a large syringe would work as well as a compressor.

Many thanks to all who offered advice and posted their experiences.

P.S. If you have a Nikasil engine, for the love of God, never start it and shut it down cold. Make sure anyone in your family that uses it knows as well.

 

Rob:
There is more to this "issue" than just a short run on a Nikasil engine. I have two, a '98 and a "99 XJR. I have a full driveway and regularly have to move cars a few car lengths and then shut them down. SO FAR, I have never had a problem. (many years, many many thousands of miles). I fully realize I am invoking the curse of Covington to write such a thing.

 

The typical issue is when starting the car, running it for a short time, shutting it down and then RE-starting it within a short time... if I recall, the fuel map dumps too much gas into the cylinders under this condition, as the engine has warmed some, but the map is still 'choked', and so washes oil from the slick nikasil linings.

Starting the car, driving a short distance, shutting down and letting it fully cool down before restart should NOT cause this condition to occur.

 

Well, then, THEORETICALLY the answer would be - If you have to restart an engine run previously for a short time, floor the accelerator before starting the crank, because that disables the fuel injection.