Well... wow. Just wow.

Nearly two years of ownership and meticulous research gone. Just gone. Poof. Just like that. No warning, no notice, no hints. No climax, no blaze of glory, no explosion, kaboom, kapow. Just poof. Everything down the drain.

To be honest, it's not even worth screaming about. Not like it would accomplish anything anyways. With that said, I'll have a beer while you grab a kleenex and I'll tell you how the story has all but ended.

So this one day, I decided to do some work around the house. I didn't have school or work, didn't have my daughter to haul around and I only had on errand to run.

Earlier in the morning I pulled the car out of the driveway and everything was great. I went about my business; cleaning off my summer wheels, and getting them ready to put back on. Car started like normal, moved like normal, operated like normal.

I wanted to make a run to the bank before it closed so I hopped in the car and... nothing. Starter would do it's thing but that's it. I was getting a P1336 code and went to the mechanic. We speculated it was the camshaft or crankshaft sensors. I balked at the cost they were quoted from their supplier. Anyways, called CAA to tow the car to my garage that night. Went to see my mechanic this afternoon and I got the stare.

"Your engine is dead" he says to me. I started laughing, figuring it was just a joke. Turns out it wasn't. The tensioners have struck me, despite my precautions.

Nearly two years of relatively problem free ownership... gone, just gone.

At this point I'm not sure what to do. Do I replace the engine? Do I try to find a new XK8? Or do I just sell what's left of my beloved and return to the Camaro I will never feel the same about again?

Or better yet, do I just drink a few beer and shoot myself with the imaginary gun in my mouth?

fml.

 

SO Sorry,

how much time and money do you have? How much damage is done, If given the time and some wrenching skills I think I would rebuild it....even better than before...if time and money are a crunch I would buy a used motor and do an R&R on tensioners and roll again, keep the dead motora and make a 2 year project out of a HP rebuild, you learn a bunch and you could make one heck of a mean motor

 

Sorry to hear that.

How bad is the damage? Have they given you a breakdown.

 

What a drag..............what "precautions" did you take other than upgrading to new tensioners? Seems weird that you would have no warning.......I can't imagine that one minute fine and next minute nothing, even from a broken tensioner. Then again, probably the experts here have seen it all. I'll have a wee drop for you tonight. Good luck.

 

I'm not sure how bad the damage is yet. Didn't have much time to sit around and chat, especially with the shock.

After thinking about it, the car pulled out into the road just fine, nothing out of the ordinary so engines just don't fall apart sitting there (usually). What I can think is that the chain may have popped off when the engine stopped, in which case I may have saved myself a ton of damage and a new chain with tensioners would suffice... best case scenario.

Unfotunately time is the biggest issue. I'm taking an overloaded course load this semester with exams starting tomorrow at 9am and in the first half of the summer.

We'll have to see what can be done. Don't even have the time to dwell on it yet. I've never even looked at having an engine like this rebuilt or finding a replacement so I have no idea on the availability or costs associated with each option yet.

I'm just glad it happened in front of the house and not while I was out of town or worse yet, driving with my daughter... though not as glad as I'd be if it never happpened in the first place.

 

Put it to the back of your mind and concentrate on the exams.
The car will still be waiting when you're done.

 

Fed, so sorry to hear about your issues buddy, must be a real nightmare at the moment.

You know of course that there's a huge wealth of info here for you ready and waiting at any time. Anything over and above that, that we can do to help out, please let us know.

HTH

 

Sorry to hear that, it's actually sad that a car that is supposed to be of such high quality was implemented in this aspect so badly. Jag has only itself to blame for it's reputation and depreciation. They don't seem to understand that reputation does mean a lot, look at Toyota raking in the billions over that.

PLEASE tell us what "precautions" you took? Did you change the tensioners or not? I have owned my used jag for about 5 months and have not changed out the tensioners yet even though I do have the updated ones, just being lazy. Was this an overheating issue as well? thanks

 

Sorry to hear about your trouble.

Once you find out with certainty what happened, PLEASE post and let us know...it would be very instructive. And like the others, I'm curious about which tensioners you have and what "precautions" you took.

Best of luck to you.

 

[QUOTE=Fedoraja1;499517 What I can think is that the chain may have popped off when the engine stopped, in which case I may have saved myself a ton of damage and a new chain with tensioners would suffice... best case scenario.

[/QUOTE]

You are correct! The same thing happened to mine. It was perfectly fine when I shut it off, but had skipped a tooth when I started it 20 minutes later. There is a bit of a rattle in there when it stops, weak tensioners and stretched chains flop around and hop a tooth or two.

 

No rattle or noise? Or, maybe you just didn't hear it while concentrating on other things ( I imagine the coupe is very quiet inside)?

Still, if it just the tensioners it's not a job that requires giving up on the car...though not cheap if done by a $100+/hr shop. Even at $1000 you'd have a car that can be driven OR sold. That's about a $3-5000 difference in value.

Do you have the tools, time, space, and help to do it at home? As long as everything stopped and the engine was not run with valves out of sinc you should be ok. How many miles on it?

 

Lazy may = $$$$$$$$.

 

Are you sure it's the tensioners/chains? If there is no/low compression, perhaps it is cylinder wash. This sometimes happens on engines if they are just ran for a short time and shut down. The rich (cold) running tends to wash the oil off the cylinders, and then the rings lose their seal with the cylinders. Search the archives for an easy fix, if this is the case.

 

That's the plan, not like the car is going anywhere. But, to be fair, I was stuck driving a rental Dodge Grand Caravan yesterday because I couldn't get the Camaro roadworthy in time. Boy, was the car ever on my mind then!

Sure do Jim. Too bad I haven't had more problems or I'd be able to post more!

I didn't personally change the tensioners. First question I asked the dude was about the tensioners. He also provided a receipt for the work on them. Mind you, it was a typical garage receipt so it wasn't exactly the most detailed.

After test driving dozens on my quest to find "the right one" I learned what the car should sound and feel like. When I had dude do some extra work before I bought the car, I had him make sure the tensioners were in good shape (just to be sure) and I had written confirmation they were in perfect shape. That was good enough for me.

Will do. Thank you TC.

 

Hmm. That could very well be part of it. I've 'calmed down' a little bit now so I should be going back shortly to talk a little bit more and seek greater confirmation.

A rattle had developed, off and on, at low speeds when I would accelerate in drive. Usually when pulling out of a driveway or a parking spot after having been stopped for a little while, there would be a little chatter... which now that I think of it, sounded like the chain on a bike when you pedal backwards or when you get one of those clackers for the wheels. Though it sounded like it was from the transmission area.

As for the time and ability at home. Nodda. I have little mechanical know how (I'm book smart). I'll be seeking further confirmation later today or tomorrow.

I'm not sure. My neighbour, the mechanic, is positive it was the timing chain/tensioners. I think he may have said something about backfiring through the throttle body. But I could be making that up.

 

Sure sounds like tensioners to me. I had the same little rattly sounds, and I put in the garage asap and got to replacing them. Just because someone pulled the cam covers and looked at the CCTs doesn't mean they are the correct metal ones, or that they weren't ready to crack and come apart. Once you install the metal CCT's you'll never have to worry about it. It's a nice Saturday job with a friend and no beer....til it's all done.

 

The "rattle" can be hard to hear. I was aware of the issue and actively listening for mine as a warning but never heard a thing. The caps were completely worn off my upper tensioners and the lower ones had missing pieces, too. In sum, it was completely worn out and never made a sound I could detect.

 

I had the rattle, and it was my tensioners... now I have bigger fish to fry but I remember that noise well. Good luck and I hope it turns out to be something minor

 

Too bad I'm... forget it. No more cars for this guy.

Guess it's time to get a motorcycle.