The wife said Friday when she turned onto our street that the LR3 started "shaking". She pulled in into the garage and shut it off. Didn't tell me about it until Saturday morning when it wouldn't start. No codes, just cranks and cranks. Want to start, fires for half a second, but wont run.

Yesterday I have it hauled to a indy shop (supposed to be great with imports, but I have no personal experience with them) Guy calls me today and tells me he thinks I need a new engine. Confirmed the no start condition, and went straight to a compression test. Said he tested cylinders 1 and 4, and got 40 and 50 psi. Suspects a catastrophic failure of the timing system. When I mentioned it has a chain, he replied it has both a chain and a belt.

Im getting a second opinion, just hoping someone here with can give me something to hope for.

 

Sorry, this is an 05 HSE with 92k miles. Was previously running flawlessly. Oil changes every 5k.

 

The words "thinks" and "catastrophic" always make me want to reach for a second opinion. Especially if you've no history with this shop and no evidence that they understand LR, "import" or not....

 

So I just spoke to the tech instead of the service manager. Said he did confirm the engine was getting spark and fuel. He thinks it jumped time, but he didn't think it was an interferance engine. That would be a much better (cheaper) outcome.

Can anyone confirm weather or not the 4.4l is an interferance engine?

 

Not sure what part of the country you are in. there are a number of wrecking yards in the LA area that have wrecked LR3s, The Rover Spot (Ash) or Elite Auto Salvage. There is also one in San Diego, La Paz Auto. Eddie is the guy to talk to. (I have no relation to any of them) If you need a new engine, one out of a wreck may be a cost saving option for you. Phil

 

Washed cylinder walls is exactly what I think is causing the low compression. initially I thought my fuel pump had died and when i was troubleshooting it in my garage Saturday morning I ended up turning it over so many times it drained the battery. Turns out the fuel system is fine, confirmed by the tech. So all the fuel that was dumped on top of the cylinders during that cranking sat there for 3 days before I could get it to the shop. The tech told me that when he added some oil to the cylinder it took the psi from 40 to 80 instantly. Not to mention hes compression testing a cold engine. I didn't make the connection at the time, but after a few days of mulling it over, washed cylinders sounds much more plausible than the engine "jumping time", or mysteriously cooking the rings in all 8 cylinders.

So if that's the case it solves the low compression. I still have the issue of the no start to deal with, but my money is still on my original bet of a crank position sensor there.

Overall I'm really disappointed that the "reputed import specialist" came to the conclusion that low compression could only mean I need new engine.

 

Washed cylinders on a Jaguar engine is something I am very familiar with...having owned a XJ8. We initially thought it was another fuel pump failure, but fuel was present. Next was spark...yep, it was there and the engine would sorta try to start.

What started a very lengthly process was when I asked my son to move the car from the street to the driveway...and I forgot to remind my son to drive the car around the block before parking it. You see, the Jag's apparently do not like to be started cold then immediately turned off or only ran for a short period without the opportunity to warm up and the fuel stage to change. So after 3 years of ownership, we had successfully avoided the condition...until that one day.

What followed were troubleshooting steps to determine the cause as to why the car suddenly would not start...fuel-check, fuel pressure-think so, spark-check. What was obvious was the speed at which the engine was turning over...turning over very rapidly...an indication of the lack of compression.

So what followed was a lengthy process of removing covers, coils, spark plugs etc and adding a certain amount of oil to each cylinder...then buttoning it all back up to attempt to start the vehicle. It did take several attempts at this process before it worked...but it did work. Word of caution...smoke...when it does start, it will smoke like a freight train, no 10 freight trains for a long time. So make sure the vehicle is not in the garage and that your neighbors are not outside enjoying the afternoon, because the smoke will be be abundant for quite awhile. Good luck to you!

 

80 psi is still low compression. A good reading would be 140-160 psi. Add a little oil to all cylinders and take compression test with fuel pump relay removed, throttle held wide open. If your readings varie widely good possibility it jumped time. There are known issues with the chain guides wearing out