Blown 4.4 AJ V8 engine

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Datatek said:
No idea, sorry. Can't ask at the moment either, all I know is that he said it's the AJ V8.
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If it's an earlyish one, (pre 2000) the failure is almost certain to be cam-chain tensioner related, 2000-2005s had very occasional similar problems - too few to call a common issue. Until they replaced the whole setup with an all-metal one. He may have noticed a slight rattle at idle when the engine was first started.
 
StuckAgainSteve said:
If it's an earlyish one, (pre 2000) the failure is almost certain to be cam-chain tensioner related, 2000-2005s had very occasional similar problems - too few to call a common issue. Until they replaced the whole setup with an all-metal one. He may have noticed a slight rattle at idle when the engine was first started.
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Could be, but it sounded to me more like it had broken something big and serious:eek:, It still runs and idles with what sounds like a rod flapping about:eek::eek::eek: It's been parked up at my mates farm for the last 10 months until he has the time/cash to sort it. My guess is a replacement engine.:mad:
 
StuckAgainSteve said:
If it's an earlyish one, (pre 2000) the failure is almost certain to be cam-chain tensioner related, 2000-2005s had very occasional similar problems - too few to call a common issue. Until they replaced the whole setup with an all-metal one. He may have noticed a slight rattle at idle when the engine was first started.
Click to expand...

OK the car is an early one but the engine was replaced under the re-call for the nicasil liner failures. It also had 4th generation chain tensioners.
He has the engine out and stripped, it's a big end let go. It has made such a mess of the crank journal that there was no appreciable drop in oil pressure.
New crank has been sourced and awaiting rods, bearing caps, pistons etc.
 
Datatek said:
OK the car is an early one but the engine was replaced under the re-call for the nicasil liner failures. It also had 4th generation chain tensioners.
He has the engine out and stripped, it's a big end let go. It has made such a mess of the crank journal that there was no appreciable drop in oil pressure.
New crank has been sourced and awaiting rods, bearing caps, pistons etc.
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Exactly as my first assessment probably, have seen it many times on many different engines. Big end bolt snapping or falling out does it every time. :):)
 
wammers said:
Exactly as my first assessment probably, have seen it many times on many different engines. Big end bolt snapping or falling out does it every time. :):)
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Not good news that it happened on a factory replacement engine with low mileage. The lad say's he has heard of several others with a similar problem, maybe not such a good engine after all. It looks like in the quest for lightness the big end design is marginal:eek:
 
Datatek said:
Not good news that it happened on a factory replacement engine with low mileage. The lad say's he has heard of several others with a similar problem, maybe not such a good engine after all. It looks like in the quest for lightness the big end design is marginal:eek:
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Other than the induction stroke little comparative weight is ever put on the big end cap. All high forces are directed straight down the con rod. It usually takes a mechanical failure. Eg, a bolt breaking or falling out, which causes the cap to open up over time and eventually fail.
 
I know a couple of Jag techs, they both say that big-end failure is not unheard of - but rare. The only common big-end issues they can think of were with an early batch of the V6 2.7 diesel where the big-ends were not torqued correctly. Both came out with the same story independently and work for different dealers!
 
It would be interesting to know, following an AJ failure which was down to bolt fracture, if anyone has bothered to get them checked for low load high cycle fatigue failure or whether they've gone statically, it's not that hard to spot. May give a clue towards a flaw in the bolts or just lack of end load (low torque).
 
StuckAgainSteve said:
I know a couple of Jag techs, they both say that big-end failure is not unheard of - but rare. The only common big-end issues they can think of were with an early batch of the V6 2.7 diesel where the big-ends were not torqued correctly. Both came out with the same story independently and work for different dealers!
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They would never admit a major problem even if you ran their testicles through a mangle:eek:
 
well, finally got time to take engine from car and in pieces.
the rod is cut in half and 1 piece of it has made damage to other side... hit 1 cylinder and then straight through the block, leaving a small hole for my amusement.
so, what i need is a complete small block, the head is fine, just need to change 4 valves from 1-st cylinder. the block is quite useless.
i have asked around over here and they told me, that it is no longer in production, maybe there is a small block in some shelf somewhere, if anybody knows where...i would love to buy it. the whole engine is something i could consider as well, depends on price tag.
thanks in advance for any help.
 
evo300 said:
well, finally got time to take engine from car and in pieces.
the rod is cut in half and 1 piece of it has made damage to other side... hit 1 cylinder and then straight through the block, leaving a small hole for my amusement.
so, what i need is a complete small block, the head is fine, just need to change 4 valves from 1-st cylinder. the block is quite useless.
i have asked around over here and they told me, that it is no longer in production, maybe there is a small block in some shelf somewhere, if anybody knows where...i would love to buy it. the whole engine is something i could consider as well, depends on price tag.
thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

"Over here" is where exactly? I thought the AJ V8 was current production for Jag/LR and Ford in the USA:confused:
 
sry, over here is in estonia and i asked in finland as well.
their system shows block as spare part, but dosent allow to make an order
 
StuckAgainSteve said:
All parts for production cars in the EU must be available for ten years.
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thats good to know, but so far all dealers in uk have turned me down too.
even for a whole engine i got a response "currently on back order and not available" ---whatever that means.

any contacts for factory or some sort of "main dealer"? in estonia and finland they can tell me the price of small block, but both confirm, that it is out of production and the only solution is to order whole engine, takes about forever to deliver and price tag will be around 15k euros. not really tempting offer.
 
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