Thread: Jaguar XK8
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Wichita, KS
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Nikasil was used to line the cylinders on the V8 Jags. Unfortunately, Nikasil reacts with Sulfur in gasoline, which would eat the lining off of the cylinder. The eventual effect is loss of compression, the only fix is engine replacement. BMW also had the same issue with the E34 540. Some states were worse than others, some gas was worse than others. For instance, if you lived in CA (mandated lower sulfur levels earlier than most states) and used Premium (lower sulfur) the engine would probably be fine. My '95 540/6 was a CA car with the original engine, no issues. When the next owner sold it at 170k, it was still going strong.

Here's a great article on the Jag Nikasil issues, it breaks them down by VIN.
http://www.jag-lovers.org/cjw/#0504x
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Old 12-03-2008, 10:46 AM
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