Confirmed engine seizure v8 super

[keithc_1886]

Hello all, new to the forum but not under the circumstances I hoped for. Was hoping to be posting about the wonders of owning my pride and joy. It’s the only car I’ve owned that generates a smile every time I sit in her. Miss Daisy is a fully loaded 5 seat Daimler super v8 123000 miles A few months after purchase, still undergoing evaluation and compilation of list of things to do, (I’ll share the list of successes on another occasion) cruising at 70 on the m4 at 4 in the morning, low oil pressure light, running fine, no noises no other warnings. Off at 1st slip road, engine stalled before coming to a halt. 2 years later removed engine, partially stripped, second throw of crank has eaten the big ends.

That’s the background, providing the bores are still good I intend to rebuild. The immediate questions are 1, are oversize bearings available?
2, can I use standard 4.0 litre crank and rods if mine are not serviceable. I know the pistons are different. 3. If theses questions meet with a negative it looks like this one will end as my other jaguar ownerships. At the scrap yard. Unless of course there are other cost effective remedies,

[J44EAG]

At one time (not known if this is still an option) Racing Green Cars Ltd, could supply over-sized bearings.

Re-building a V8 is a complex task which really should be handled by experts with appropriate machining equipment and expertise. This is likely to be expensive and to ensure a decent job, the engine should receive a full re-build rather that just a bottom end job. I`d suggest a chat with Eurojag or Auto Reserve would be more productive. You could pick up a known all good replacement used engine with short warranty for just a few hundred pounds. That would be a cost effective and hassle free way to progress. Few people rebuild engines nowadays due to the agro involved, complexity and run away costs.

The V8 4 litre has several issues which were ironed out with the introduction of the 4.2 unit from MY2002.5. Steel liners replaced Nicasil bores, plastic timing chain tensioners were up-graded to aluminum units, timing chains were beefed up and a new oil pump pick up got around main bearing oil starvation. Altogether, the 4.2 unit was a big improvement. Some people have retro-fitted the 4.2 which is far more robust and not impossible to fit to cars originally fitted with the 4 litre lump. That is worth considering but mods may need to occur by fitting a 4.2 power train control module together with various other additions.

I`d give Eurojag a call and talk your problem over with them.

Mike K

[keithc_1886]

Mike, thank you for your response. It’s been a while but progress has been made. I rang Andy at autoreserve, a very helpful and knowledgable guy. He offered advice and encouragement that was very much appreciated.

I decided to go down the road of the known good engine replacement as suggested by your good self. I did choose to source a 4.0 than a 4.2. After much searching I found a mechanically sound xjr of the same vintage. I’ve made the purchase and am now enjoying supercharged motoring whilst undertaking some of the jobs on the Daimler best done with an empty engine bay.

Hopefully before the summer I’ll be in a position to remove the mechanicals from the xjr and once again take to the highways with miss Daisy.

Thank you for your help

[Andy P]

Hi keithc_1886,
Sorry to hear about your bad luck but glad to hear your on the way to getting it sorted.
I admire your dedication to the cars.
The Daimler model is well worth keeping and looking after in my opinion .
That is exactly the route I would've took if it had happened to me.
I would probaly keep the XJR after and strip it for spares if it has succumbed to the tin worm.
If you have the space to keep it all that is.
Good luck with it all anyway.
Report back when you can.
Take care.
Andy