Recently bought a 1999 XJR. At start up with a cold engine (overnight) there is a rather large cloud of smoke that comes out of the exhaust. Is this normal? Have other seen this situation? The dealership states that this is normal, but I a bit concerned.

Submitted by NE52-32043 on Mon, 05/24/2004 - 17:25

Have you talked to the dealer about it? It's a 1999, but some engine problems are being warranted by Jaguar even if your base warranty has expired. In particular, the V-8's before 2000 had Nikasil (not sure of spelling) treated liners rather than steel liners in the cylinders. The nikasil coating has proven to break down after a period of time due to sulfur in the gas, leading to premature wear in the cylinders. You might want to talk to the dealer and have them do the blow-by test to see if you are suffering from that (assuming the XJR engine also has nikasil rather than steel cyliners). I've read in the British Jaguar enthusiast magazines that Jaguar is making good on the engines even if out of warranty. But don't quote me as the authority for that information. ;-)

May not be the problem, but something you might want to check out.

Steve Weinstein, JTC-NJ
'72 E-type 2+2
'70 XKE FHC

Submitted by bonnettoboot@e… on Sun, 05/23/2004 - 14:20

Re your smoke; yes it's normal, BUT it isn't correct. It's most likely oil seeping down through the valve stem seals after the vehicle sits for a while, -light blue or greyish smoke-. The answer is to renew the seals, you should wait until it gets bad enough or, until other engine work needs to be done. It could also be fuel seepage, sometimes if an injector is leaking, the fuel will collect in the cylinder and blow out the exhaust, unburnt, on start-up, -white smoke-. The tell tale here would be hard starting when cold.

Jaguar affectionado and etc.