Discussion
Just bought a cheap xj8 that I was told was flooded. Put new plugs in charged battery and tried starting with my foot on the floor. After about 30 seconds a loud bang and the air box flies up in the air smashing in the process.since read I should have unclipped the top and bottom of the filter casing. Anyway do i get another and try again or does it sound like there could be something else. Also if I were to call the aa out would the car need to have an mot
Remove all plugs. One squirt of engine oil down each cyclinder. If you have a method of heating the spark plug get them nice and warm. With the intake off but airflow meter still connected check the throttle butterfly opens when pedal pressed.
Check that the throttle is hitting its stop on the throttle body. If not wind the stop in located in the footwell.
Refit plugs. Plant your foot to the floor,and crank it over until it fires. Then obviously release your foot.
It will be very smokey so do this outside.
AS A SIDE NOTE: DO YOU BELIEVE THE SELLER AS BACKFIRING LIKE THAT COULD BE A VALVE TIMING ISSUE. THERES A CHANCE CHAIN TENSIONS HAVE FAILED. WHICH BY ATTEMPTING TO START YOU COULD BE CAUSING MORE DAMAGE.
Check that the throttle is hitting its stop on the throttle body. If not wind the stop in located in the footwell.
Refit plugs. Plant your foot to the floor,and crank it over until it fires. Then obviously release your foot.
It will be very smokey so do this outside.
AS A SIDE NOTE: DO YOU BELIEVE THE SELLER AS BACKFIRING LIKE THAT COULD BE A VALVE TIMING ISSUE. THERES A CHANCE CHAIN TENSIONS HAVE FAILED. WHICH BY ATTEMPTING TO START YOU COULD BE CAUSING MORE DAMAGE.
If the car ran ok after tensioner replacement then its safe to assume that the college lads did the job correctly.
It might be worth speaking to the seller again and asking if he had been shunting the car around. Short, stop start cycles like moving in out or a garage used to make these cars flood.
If he confirms this and you trust him then use my above method. If you doubt him and you want a 100% piece of mind then I would recommend removing both cam covers and visually inspecting the top chain tensioners.
Let us know how you get on.
We had the local Fire Brigade turn up after one of us put a bit too much oil down the bores of one these flooded V8's.
Our extractor fans vented out the top of the roof and a local resident reported our garage was on fire !!
It might be worth speaking to the seller again and asking if he had been shunting the car around. Short, stop start cycles like moving in out or a garage used to make these cars flood.
If he confirms this and you trust him then use my above method. If you doubt him and you want a 100% piece of mind then I would recommend removing both cam covers and visually inspecting the top chain tensioners.
Let us know how you get on.
We had the local Fire Brigade turn up after one of us put a bit too much oil down the bores of one these flooded V8's.
Our extractor fans vented out the top of the roof and a local resident reported our garage was on fire !!
melhookv12 said:
Remove all plugs. One squirt of engine oil down each cyclinder. If you have a method of heating the spark plug get them nice and warm. With the intake off but airflow meter still connected check the throttle butterfly opens when pedal pressed.
Check that the throttle is hitting its stop on the throttle body. If not wind the stop in located in the footwell.
Refit plugs. Plant your foot to the floor,and crank it over until it fires. Then obviously release your foot.
It will be very smokey so do this outside.
AS A SIDE NOTE: DO YOU BELIEVE THE SELLER AS BACKFIRING LIKE THAT COULD BE A VALVE TIMING ISSUE. THERES A CHANCE CHAIN TENSIONS HAVE FAILED. WHICH BY ATTEMPTING TO START YOU COULD BE CAUSING MORE DAMAGE.
If the valve timing has slipped it can only be one tooth retarded or the engine would lock - and retardation is unlikley to cause a backfire through the induction system. More likley the OP has suffered a crankcase explosion through excessive fuel/oil mist building up in the sump and breather system whilst cranking. Check that the throttle is hitting its stop on the throttle body. If not wind the stop in located in the footwell.
Refit plugs. Plant your foot to the floor,and crank it over until it fires. Then obviously release your foot.
It will be very smokey so do this outside.
AS A SIDE NOTE: DO YOU BELIEVE THE SELLER AS BACKFIRING LIKE THAT COULD BE A VALVE TIMING ISSUE. THERES A CHANCE CHAIN TENSIONS HAVE FAILED. WHICH BY ATTEMPTING TO START YOU COULD BE CAUSING MORE DAMAGE.
OP's gonna need a very strong battery too...
chasdad said:
I've taken plugs out to dry and I'm charging battery today. Going to give it another go tomorrow. Is it advisable to connect a jump pack at the same time. I'll be gutted if I don't get it going its a nice old thing
Yep, exactly as Mellhook says. Hot plugs, drop of oil down each plug hole and all the battery amps you can get connected. Crank on full throttle until you get a hint of compression then modulate throttle whilst continuing to crank to a point where the engine starts firing. Keep going until stabilised and then go for a hard fast drive to get the engine really hot.Barbaric and hard on starter, battery and wiring but it usually works.
If you're as anal as me then change the oil as it may well be fuel diluted. Oh, and don't do it again. Unless the engine is FUBAR'd it'll be cold start and stop flooding that's killed your X308.
Oily? Mmmm. Whereabouts, all through the intake trunking, throttle body and breather pipes?
You may have blown some of the contents of the sump around the induction snd breather system when it went pop but oil deposits are also a symptom of Nicasil bore erosion which causes loss of compression. There is a school of thought that if a Nicasil lined engine - assuming its a pre 2000 car on its original engine - has lasted up to now it'll be fine for ever but there's still a few non starter cars poping up on ebay exhibiting symptoms which suggest they are either eroded or flooded.
Before you completely muller the starter motor get a code reader on it - that'll tell you if any sensing component is out of spec or any electronics are dud. You could also do a compression check but all that will do is tell you what compression - if any - you have, it won't tell you why it's lacking.
If its lost compression through flooding and theres nothing else wrong you ought to be able to get it running, if the bores are erroded all you can do is ring the scrapman.
You may have blown some of the contents of the sump around the induction snd breather system when it went pop but oil deposits are also a symptom of Nicasil bore erosion which causes loss of compression. There is a school of thought that if a Nicasil lined engine - assuming its a pre 2000 car on its original engine - has lasted up to now it'll be fine for ever but there's still a few non starter cars poping up on ebay exhibiting symptoms which suggest they are either eroded or flooded.
Before you completely muller the starter motor get a code reader on it - that'll tell you if any sensing component is out of spec or any electronics are dud. You could also do a compression check but all that will do is tell you what compression - if any - you have, it won't tell you why it's lacking.
If its lost compression through flooding and theres nothing else wrong you ought to be able to get it running, if the bores are erroded all you can do is ring the scrapman.
Pretty much all the way through. Not sure I'm putting enough oil down the bores. Surely I'd depends on how many miles the cars did before the petrol was changed 2000 wasn't it as to whether it's affected the nikasil. It's been into jag twice before for flooding issues. Once at 28000 miles. Do the early xjr v8 suffer too as I'd like one if those
You need one or two good shots from an oil can down each bore. Not enough won't work, too much - within reason - will work but will also make a smokescreen James Bond woud be proud of. And you must keep going and going and going and going continiously on the starter with the throttle wide open until there's an attempt to fire, then start modulating the throttle to a point/s where the engine wants to keep firing. Keep going until it becomes self sustaining. Deviate from this procedure and you won't get it started. Once it's started get it properly hot before swiching off.
High Sulphur fuel was the root cause of Nicasil erosion. According to a number of commentators whether or not a particular car was affected depended on mileage, pattern of use, frequency of servicing and geographical area of supply as well as which refinery was using which base stock at what time.
It's possible you'll find a very early, very high miles V8 thats been hammered up and down the motorway all it's life in perfect condition - I've driven a 1998 187k mile example on its original Nicasil lined engine that went like a scalded dog - or a much lower miles V8 thats just been pootled to the corner shop and back all it's life thats absolutely shagged.
If there's a lot of oil contamination in the breather and induction system that's a strong indication of Nicasil issues. You may be making that call.
High Sulphur fuel was the root cause of Nicasil erosion. According to a number of commentators whether or not a particular car was affected depended on mileage, pattern of use, frequency of servicing and geographical area of supply as well as which refinery was using which base stock at what time.
It's possible you'll find a very early, very high miles V8 thats been hammered up and down the motorway all it's life in perfect condition - I've driven a 1998 187k mile example on its original Nicasil lined engine that went like a scalded dog - or a much lower miles V8 thats just been pootled to the corner shop and back all it's life thats absolutely shagged.
If there's a lot of oil contamination in the breather and induction system that's a strong indication of Nicasil issues. You may be making that call.
chasdad said:
If I don't get it going how hard is it to remove and fit an engine in one of these. That's if I can find a non nikasil one cheap enough
I've no idea. It's a tight fit and no doubt a lot of work - given the low value of the X308 it's not a job I'd even contemplate anymore. There are differences between the AJ26 Nicasil and AJ27 Liner engines, and how they would impact on a engine swap would need investigating too.Edited by chasdad on Friday 6th February 18:23
I'd persevere with the one you have and sooner or later you'll either get it going or reach the point where you realise it's a scrapper.
Edited by Jaguar steve on Saturday 7th February 07:50
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