Is my XJS dead - oil pump chain

[cml]

My garage tells me that the fact I have no oil pressure is probably due to the oil pump chain breaking and that to fix it is a big job (more than I can afford). Is this right?

Symptoms : very noisy top of the engine, no oil pressure, oil light on although it has plenty of oil

Sniff

If this is true then...

Sniff

[Jaguar steve]

Which engine is it?

If it's the AJ6 or 16, replacing the oil pump drive chain means removing all the ancilaries and taking off the engine timing cover.

You can replace the OE chain using a split link one so there's no need to disturb the duplex timing chains in front of it. It's a fiddly job though, and FFS don't drop anything in the sump.

When it's stripped and if you see that the chain has broken try to turn the oil pump drive sprocket, if the pump has jammed, causing the chain to break, then it's a sump off job to find out what has caused the jam.

Very unusual problem though. Are you sure the garage have got this right, and it's not simply a blocked oil filter? Have they tried an mechanical oil pressure gauge attached to the block?

Whatever, don't run the engine for a second longer than needed for diagnosis or it will be shagged anyway and not worth reparing

Hope this helps

[cml]

Sorry should have said - it is the 4.0 AJ16

Not sure how long it was running before I noticed the awful noise, a few minutes possibly, maybe more.

Just spoken to the garage and he says he has never had an oil filter get blocked but will check.

Sigh...

Edited by cml on Saturday 24th November 12:00

[Jaguar steve]

cml said:

Sorry should have said - it is the 4.0 AJ16

Not sure how long it was running before I noticed the awful noise, a few minutes possibly, maybe more.

Just spoken to the garage and he says he has never had an oil filter get blocked but will check.

Sigh...

Edited by cml on Saturday 24th November 12:00

I'd agree with the garage...blocked oil filter really was clutching at straws. It's still worth trying a seperate pressure gauge though, if there is any pressure, then how much there is will be a good indication of any engine damage.

Never heard of a oil pump chain snapping though, but 'fraid to say a few minutes may be long enough to wreck the engine with no pressure. Very unusual....how many miles has the engine done?

If you're any good with spanners, replacing the chain is really not that hard to do. I have all the Jaguar Technicial info you will need and by coincidence a brand new Jaguar oil pump drive chain left over fron a AJ16 rebuild you can have at cost plus postage if you fancy a go yourself.

[cml]

160,000 miles on the clock

I am rubbish at spanners and live in a flat so doing it myself may be tricky. I do have a mate who works in a garage though - maybe we can do it together.

I may have done a few miles before the light came on...

Thanks for the offer of the chain!

Edited by cml on Wednesday 28th November 12:09

[Jaguar steve]

Might be cheaper and less risky to replace the engine with a good secondhand one. Try Eurojag to see what they've got and how much it'll cost. Engine swap is not too bad on these, but you might want to consider if it's all worth it, and at that mileage what else is just about to go wrong

[a8hex]

You might even be able to find a super charged one :-)