I know, your initial post looked like you had some doubt to the validity of my statement…hehe…
The Nikasil problem usually manifests itself with engines that consistently do not reach operating temperature before switch off, sulfur in the rich unburnt fuel attacks the Nikasil coating, once the coating is compromised the underlying alloy wears away very quickly. Major engine damage at 30,000 miles is not unheard of.
Both BMW & Jaguar replace faulty Nikasil engine with steel lined non-Nikasil engines, you can’t get a Nikasil replacement even if you ask for it.
Motorcycles however may be less suceptible to this problem since the engines tend to warm up faster and are less likely to be used for local shopping trips…there is a limit to the number of cases of beer you can carry on a motorcycle.
Pity it didn’t work, but at least on cars it didn’t. Limited testing before production cost BMW & Jaguar a great deal of money and since the root problems of fuel sulfer and peoples driving habits cannot be controlled I’d guess Nikasil for motor cars will be history very soon.
Good report, Scudder. I have been contemplating buying a Jaguar (Looking for a 1 or 2 year old) but never heard about Nikasil engines. I think you may have saved me a lot of grief. Thanks.
np.
I posted a response to an earlier enquiry on this subject : http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/1007215.page
More detail is included there.
A 1 -2 year old Jaguar shouldn’t be a problem, Jaguar Nikasil engines ran from 98 - 2000 and many of those cars had engine replacements under warranty.
There is one other factor to beware of with steel liner V8 cars…it’s a little strange but can cause oil consumption and compression problems.
There is a fairly rare condition for steel liner cars where the original owner decided to gently ‘run in’ the engine. This is totally the wrong thing to do, the Jaguar V8 should be treated with respect when new but should also be ‘used’. There have been occasions where new owners have used their new Jag on the highway from new and have ‘toured’ at 55 with the intent of running in the engine.
Unfortunately this has the opposite effect, the liners glaze under this use and the compression rings don’t bed in properly, the smooth glazed bores will not retain any oil and the engine suffers compression blow by, the only remediation is an engine strip and glaze busting the bores.
~ expensive.
As I said, this is a fairly rare condition but it is out there. I’d always recommend a leak down test for that V8 due to the repair expenses if it has problems.
On a final Nikasil note, if you find a good Nikasil engine with good compression and plan to use it for highway pounding with good quality gas, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t buy the car. Nikasil engines work fine under these circumstances and the plated liners work better than steel liners and give lower engine resistance. You just need to be careful what you’re buying and how you use it. Same goes for BMW V8s.
Thanks, again. What is a “leak down test” and how is it performed? I would have no np pounding the highway - that’s my main reason for considering a Jaguar (also because I like the looks and the name, being a cat admirer) because I’m thinking of moving out West to where the highways go on and on.
