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Goes like a bomb

In March 2009 I bought a used Jaguar XF, previously owned by Jaguar, Brown’s Lane, Coventry. On 31-12-2009 at 39,000 miles, it suffered catastrophic engine failure. The car started to speed up without my accelerating. I tried to slow it down, but as I did so the car "blew up", with black smoke belching from the car, and a loud bang. The car started to shut down and the steering stiffened, despite the fact that I was heading onto the M25 at approx 60mph. The engine was replaced under warranty but, despite my requests, I was not told what had gone wrong. The car was returned to me on 12-2- 2010.

Asked on 19 June 2010 by B.H., via e-mail

Answered by Honest John
Presumably this is a 2.7 diesel? If so, and if the turbos overheated, the turbo oil seals could have failed and siphoned sump oil into the engine. The engine would then run on the sump oil and revs would be impossible to control. You would have to stall the car to stop it. The lack of oil left in the engine indicates that the engine ran on it and
used it all up.
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