2000blackxkr,

The only place I have ever seen this in writing on Jaguar factory letterhead is on page 9 of Service Action Number S491v7...so I will call that the Rosetta Stone on the subject, and dismiss the conflicting information I have seen in many other places.

verbatim excerpt:

Which vehicles are affected?

Only AJV8 engine XJ and XK Range models are affected.Vehicles fitted with either the AJV6 engine or the inline AJ16 engines that ceased production in 1997 are not affected.

What is Jaguar doing about it?

Following an extensive development program, Jaguar has decided to introduce cast iron cylinder liners in lieu of plated bores on all AJV8 engines.

This change was introduced in September 2000 for all production engines with no impact on performance, economy, or emissions.

End excerpt.


Past contributors Avos(Andre Voss, Belgium) andmotorcarman (Bob Gauff, Texas) haveoffered additional corroboration which supports the S491 information, but the EXACT number of the last Nikasil engine is ambigous, so the number I use is a very close approximate but not carved in stone.

Now, here's another rub: the engine number stamped on each block as it left the line fully assembled is a date code. 00 08 18 08 54 was cited by motorcarman from a factory printout as the first sleeved engine: That's year 2000, month August, day 18th, at 08:54 GMT. Andre suspects that Nikasil blocks were still being built after that, and Jaguar says September 2000
(00 09 XX XXXX). This is the build date of the engine, not the car.

One personal anecdote is that I have removed, from a 2001 Model YearVDP, an engine dated 00 06 XX XXXX...Nikasil lined.I found no documentation to suggest that this engine had been changed, butI am not inside the Jaguar franschisee loop and cannot verify that number with an original build sheet.

September 2000 was the beginning of 2001 model year production. All 2000 Model year built date vehicles with original engineshavebores whichare Nikasil lined. At least some 2001Model yearcars have the remainder of the Nikasil engines installed.

That's everything I know about the date cutoffsubject, and am always anxious to learn more.

 

JagtechOhio, Thank you for the clarification. that good enough for me. I guess i have a Nikasil engine. The info you just stated should be input on a sticky thred for all to see, so these qwestions do not get asked over and over again.

Thanks again.

 

2000,

Glad I could help clear up the issue, the associates I mentioned deserve the credit. There has been alot of misinformation published and passed around in the past.

I neglected to include that the date ofissue forService Action S491 was 6 October 2004.

 

As a footnote to the Nikasil issue it should be noted there is an inherent advantage in having a Nikasil lined engine. Were it not for the problems associated with the ill fated use of high sulfur content gasolines; the Nikasil cylinder liners would, IMHO, be an advantageous and preferable cylinder wall coating.

This was not an good idea gone bad by Jaguar. There was ample evidence that nikasil liners decrease piston wall friction and increase engine life. Before Jaguar decided to move in this direction, the metalurgical advantages Nikasil had been clearly demonstrated in earlier applications, most notably aircraft engines and other high end automotive racing engines.

Considering the fact that hi-sulfur gasolines have been legislated out of use for a good number of years; many believe if the motor survived its early exposure to bad gas, then there is nothing worry about today. If an owner is truley worried his engine might be within the suspect VIN ranges, they can obtain a blow by, leak down or other similar compression test to ascertain the compression status of their engines. If the test provides passing results, I would consider a Nikasil treated block to be an advantage, not a problem.

gordo

 

Regarding the whole Nikasil liner thing, I just saw an '01 with a manufacture date of 09/01/2000.
Think it has nikasil liners or not? How do I find out for sure?

 

In one of my previous lives I worked on the assembly line at the Rouge Plant in Dearborn. Even though there might be an administrative date set to changeover to a new engine variant, if a batch of old engines showed up on the line, the foreman is going to say install 'em anyway. A September 2000 build date is too close to call.

Even if you pulled the heads, I don't know how one would ascertain whether a well worn cylinder liner was steel or nikasil. I'd just perform a compression test and go from there.

g.

 

Would a compression test tell me anything? The car only has 35000 miles on it.

 

At 35K your car is probably a fine driver, with or w/o nikasil liners.

However, if you are worried about the effects ofworn cylinder wallsbecause of suspected nikasil liners then, Yes, a compression test will tell you if the liners are worn so badly the engine is losing compression. In Britain they conduct whats called a blow by test. I think its similar to a leak down, although I am notcertain. I have heard only Jag dealers carry the test equipment in the US.

Does is blow oil smoke? You can also inspect inside thefull load breather tubes at the cam covers for oil sludge deposits and/or pop the oil fill cap and look for sludge on the valve train components.

Personally as I noted in the posts above, I think people today make too much out of Nikasil liners. The damage was donefive to ten years ago.

 

I have never tried to acquire an engine number by having a Jaguar dealer research the VIN, I assume it is documented.

The engine number on 2000 and later engines is stamped on a vertical rib on the left side of the engine block. You can see it from underneath the car, roughly above the pinion housing of the steering rack.

"Blowby test" gets tossed around like it's common knowledge and practice. Gordo, this is no flame against you, you read it over and over just like I have. The bulletin I cited previously goes into great detail about performing this test, and illustrates the proprietary equipment used. But that Service Action was never instituted in the U.S. The tester is not shown on the SPX website of factory tools. Every Jaguar dealer I have asked doesn't know what I'm talking about.

This is not a cylinder leak down test, it is a gas flow measurement taken over a one minute time span with the meter connected in series at the full load breather tube. So I made my own simpletester with a gas flow meter in the appropriate LPM range, thinking it would be a handy tool for people to buy. And I tried to find anyone who actually knew where I could find the factory tool, or had the test done on their engine,so that I could compare readings and make sure the results were apples to apples.The only person who responded was avos in Belgium, he has seen the tester because they WERE issued to overseas dealerships. So I am still left to assume that anyone in the U.S. who talks about a blowby test is just passing wind. I'll delightedly apologize to anyone whohas proof to the contrary.

Step one, remove the oil cap on a nice, warm running engine and see if oil and water vapor is being vented. Step two, open the air cleaner housing and look for oil stains on the air filter element. Step three, look for significant oil residue in the air inlet duct and the throttle body.Step four, make sure the part load breather orifice AND the pipe is not blocked. If so, you're best to clean everything up and check it all again.

A cylinder leak down test, and/ or a compression test, are only going to have alarming results if the engine is already huffing plumes of vapor out of theoil cap.

Two weeks ago I had a 1999 XJ8 towed in for no-start. 96K miles, original engine. Cranks like it has no compression, because it doesn't. Prime the cylinders with oil and watch the compressiongauge creep up...I checked all eight to makesure it hadn't broken a chain. Starts right up with the plugs cleaned and refit.MIL is lit, the MAFelement is coated black from the oil vapor. Air cleaner is oil stained. Vapor is huffing out of the crankcase. That is an engine with worn Nikasil lining, and it has continued to deteriorate over time and will continuedo so until theoil consumption, contamination, and frequency of no-start events gets unmanageable.

The factory test in the overseas Service Action was relied upon (from my interpretation) to draw a line in the sand to determine who was going to get a free engine. If your Nikasil lining was worn, but not quite badly enough to cross the line, you lose.

So the high sulpher issue was resolved a long time ago, but any resultant damage to the Nikasil that may haveoccurred hasn't healed in the interim. I haven'ttried BRUTAL'S magic in the can BG, but I'm doubtful it will provide much improvement on a significantly worn engine. The debate over the possible effects of severe overheating to the Nikasil lining is another hot topic...I'm of the opinion it is a logical consequence.

There are 200K mile Nikasil engines that are doing just fine. There were many engines replaced for Nikasil failure, I recently bought a '99 that got a fresh engine at less than 50Kfor a documented Nikasil death.And there are some running around that haven't crossed the line yet.

 

Thanks all. I'm leaving now to go check out the car. I'll report back as to what I see.

 

Quote of the Day: " I am still left to assume that anyone in the U.S. who talks about a blowby test is just passing wind."

Thanks for the comprehensive write up JTO. Now that you mention it, I recall reading only GB and European dealerships were issued the equipment to perform Blow-By tests. I am pretty certain other dealers, including those in the US, used compression tests. I also understood these tests were used to determine whether replacement engines would be authorized under warranty.

As you note, having Nikasil liners is not necessarily the kiss of death for one's motor. I think sometimes new buyer concern about Nikasil would be better focused on the current condition of the engine and not the type of cylinder wall lining. Given an otherwise clean bill of health, I would prefer to have Nikasil liners in my engine.

gordo

 

Wow! This thing is mint! Here's the link. I just bought it for $17K.


http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...p;rdpage=thumb

 

Looks like you got a really good deal. I like the color combo... especially for Florida. g.

 

Thanks Gordo. The car is in really amazing shape. Tires are brand new. Not a mark on the car, inside or out. Only thing that doesn't work is the 6CD changer.

 

Look for one on ebay or search online for salvage cars...

 

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

 

Doug was going to do a writeup as a sticky, right doug?