My Beautiful babied Silver XK (149K miles) is mortally wounded or Dead! Went away for a week. Car in Garage. Driven Perfectly prior to parking.
Would not start. Would not quite start trying to jump it. Put new battery in. Car starts and misfiring? Horrible sounds, Check Engine light flashing. In Restricted Mode.
Had it towed. The local good mechanic found metal particles in oil. Thinks it may have started with Timing Chain. Without costly investigation it appears new engine needed.
Any input is appreciated. I have another Vehicle. Just had it towed home. The car look like its off the showroom floor.
Sell it as is? Fix the engine? New(Used) engine $4-$5 K plus $2500 Install? Help!
Never a single issue with the car from 2012 since I bought it.
I did all my own Oil changes, filters etc.

Thanks!

 

FWIW, I'd go for some more in depth investigation before springing for another engine. A timing chain and associated parts are a lot less expensive than an engine swap. Your vehicle is worth around 20K running right, only about 6K dead as a stump.

 

The mechanic is not as good as you think. Metal in oil is way too vague for a good mechanic.
A experienced mechanic should easily be able to tell you the codes and if it has jumped time.
There is no reason you cannot know whats wrong with it for a reasonable fee, other than if its making a bad sound and an internal component has broken.
Were you getting any strange sounds on start up when it was running fine?
Out of curiosity, what oil did you use?

 

+1
The same thing as getting a second opinion for a terminal health diagnosis. Regardless of the cost for complete diagnosis, it is better to be fully informed before tossing a ton of bucks at it.

 

My mechanic keeps a can of metal shavings handy for the real head scratchers.

 

You cheaped out on oil.

 

Sorry to read you are in this predicament.

You'll need another engine unless it can be repaired. Car with a broken engine is worth very little (beyond this forum). As others said, you should dig a little deeper for a root cause before planning your next move.

Perhaps you can get it running well enough to trade it in on another JLR product? Jag is offering nice discounts on anything on the lot these days. Land Rover they are not budging.

 

Thanks all for the advice. The oil I have used since I bought it is Mobil 1 ESP . Same specs as The Castrol.
Its run perfectly the entire time I have had it. It seems strange that all this would happen after trying to jump start it, then replacing the battery..
I will as advised get another opinion. Any advice as to where best to sell it as is?
I dont need another vehicle at the moment so no trade in for New Jag anytime soon

 

Haha, no I used Mobil 1 ESP same spec as Castrol.

 

Something doesn't add up here??? Car with no signs of problems all of the sudden after sitting won't start and your mechanic wants to put in a new engine? I think I would be moving my vehicle to the dealer for diagnostic. I know it will cost a little bit more, but I would want peace of mind that a trained Jaguar mechanic that has SDD looked at it before making any other moves...

 

I never associate a problem with what I was doing right before it failed- the two can be completely unrelated. And you will go on a wild goose chase.

But let go along with your theory.
I think you could have fried a module when you tried to jump start it.
Describe in detail how you tried to jump start it?

You have been using inadequate chemistry of oil for a very long time, especially if you did annual oil changes. But not terribly wrong.
If you want to eliminate the timing chain, you have to remember if it made any knocking sound when you would start it up? did you get a check engine light prior to this?

 

I don't think it is oil related. You can send an oil sample for analysis. Blackstone is a popular service https://www.blackstone-labs.com/products/free-test-kits/

On the surface, the timing chain doesn't make sense unless you broke the chain which is highly unlikely.

 

It would not run at all without chain

 

If it jumped one tooth it can still run, but horribly.

 

The chain could be stretched or damaged and still connected to make the engine "run"

 

Timing chain failure is not obvious to first-time victims/sufferers, but the next car you will have a keen ear for characteristic tick-tick-tick and start up loose chain rattle.

 

I feel for the OP, as there is a very high probability of the dreaded design flaw has eaten yet another 5.0l. But I do agree that more information about how the mechanic made his conclusion would help solidify just how disastrous the problem really is.

Metal flake in the oil is one thing, but metal pieces is another. We have had one member here show a chain tensioner failure that took actual chunks out of the casting, and the existence of bigger chunks would certainly follow what many have experienced.
If chunks were found, then I would simply approve the shop pulling the nose off the block for a visual validation. No other part of this engine is known for that type of damage that I am aware of.
Flakes can still be pointing to the same issue, but it becomes a tad more vague. Neither is a good sign, and a ECU replacement will not fix the damage done, even if that gets tossed into the mix.

Get a bit more info if you can, before leaping into dumping the car. If the chain is still suspect, then see if the motor can be saved by updating all the parts.
If you have bent valves or damaged pistons, then a rebuild, replacement or sell the chassis becomes your next options.

 

Or.......... maybe NOT?
Dozens of things could be going on.
I agree with some other posts; have someone else take a look at it.
PLUS, after sitting for so long, a good battery charge has been known to help many things.
Maybe a tiny bit of 'metallic-looking' particles in the oil is merely a red herring?

 

There is no such thing as "not serious" visible metal in the oil. While the issue preventing running could be something else entirely, having metal in the oil detected is all-hands-on-deck serious diagnosis.

 

My point was not that there IS metal in the oil, of course that'd be serious. My point was... IS there metal particles in the oil...? Just because one guy says something is not a good enough reason to run around like an idiot and spend millions of dollars.
Dude's rag might have been dirty. Something may have gotten in the air. Dude may lie. Hellz, a hundred different reasons. But again; DON'T panic until you verify. THEN you can panic.