Hello,

I'm looking at purchasing a 2000 or 2002 XK8 Coupe. I've read this forum and the great book "You & Your Jaguar XK8: Buying, enjoying, maintaining, modifying" by Nigel Thorley and I see a list of items to watch for: Nikasil cylinder liners, upper timing chain tensioners, water pump, lower A arms and ball joints, transmission service. I also read that many of these items were fixed or enhanced in later models because Jaguar learned as they went along. Is there any list of what improved by model year? For example, do I need to worry about the water pump in a 2002 like one in a 97? I've seen something about the Nikasil liners getting replace after August 2000, but I'm not finding much else.

I ask because most cars I'm finding in the local area (Seattle) have had many owners or don't have service records and carfax only shows what was done if it was entered by the dealer doing the work. I'd like to be prepared before walking onto a dealer lot or someone's driveway.

I'm handy with a spanner (I have a 71 XJ6 Series 1 project car in the garage - long story!), so I'm not afraid of doing some mechanicals. I just want to avoid the $5000 engine replacement if I can.

Any advice or links to good forum entries would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

I would recommend this new book by the same author, available from Amazon:

 

By '02 almost everything had been upgraded but even early '02 cars still had the plastic tensioners, mine did. About the only thing left was the top hydraulic hoses which were never fixed.

Best choice is to stretch into an '03 or later. You get a slightly bigger engine and a much stronger transmission.

 

Frog and Test Point,

Thanks for the reply. Frog: I actually have this book on order from Amazon US and it hasn't published in the US yet so I'm on the waiting list. I noticed the link you sent me was the UK site. Will take a look at that.

Test Point: When you mentioned hydraulic hoses are those for the convertible top? I won't have that problem with the coupe.

Not many 2003's or later for sale around these parts (Seattle). Seems like they are being held onto, probably for the reasons you mentioned above. But thanks for the advice!

Cheers,

 

If you can find an 02 with an engine bulid after 07/01 you are clear of the tensioner issues as well. DaleD

 

Dale,

I am not sure what your financial situation is like, but if you have the cash to do so, I would highly recommend looking out of state for the right car.

I searched the entire US for the perfect combination of Model Year, Color and mileage. Cars.com and autotrader are good as well as e-bay.

There were basically none near me. I ended up purchasing a 2002 XKR Convertible with 63,000 miles from Dallas, TX. I got the service history as well.

It cost about $400 to fly there and drive back (900 miles from Iowa). I ended up with an awesome car without a spec of rust or corrosion.

Just a thought. I can't imagine spending the money on a car that I just settled for because there were not many around.

Good luck.

 

As a master ASE tech I can tell you "THE ESSENTIAL BUYER'S GUIDE FOR JAGUAR XK8 AND XKR" by Nigel Thorley...is totally useless unless you never
bought a used car !!!!!...every thing worth anything in this book could been
printed on one page....don't waste your money !!!!

 

pity we are not all ASE techs..if we were would we be on this forum?

 

@ Bill Hegerty
Everyone is entitled to there own views.
But why join this forum to condemn some 18 month old information/thread, with your first post???!!!

 

Welcome to the forum Bill,

Maybe you will find the time to drop by the new members area and introduce yourself?

New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

 

STUMPY
dont know if your remarks were aimed at me..but as you say were all entitled to our view..the book writen by Nigel Thorley is regarded by some people including me as a bible to xk buyers and a good read. to slag a well regarded book on a first post is a very negative way to introduce ones self.

 

Welcome to the forum Bill,

I look forward to reading a little more about your own experience in your second forum post to New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum New Member Area - Intro a MUST section.

Graham

 

No, aimed at Bill Hegerty, not you dennisw.
Have edited my post above to make this clearer!

 

thanks stumpy..hope ive not offended you.

 

I know this thread is 2 years old, but in case anyone else needs to know ...

The lower tensioner on the left secondary timing belt broke on startup ... wedged itself in the engine real good. 2 valves hit, but not much damage so I avoided replacing the head however ...

1) if the tensioner that broke had not, one of the other timing components would have ... they were all severely cracked. One had a 1/8 inch gap in it.

The coolant hoses in the engine were all shot. Near the fittings they were white, and when touched they turned into powder.

The transmission cooler fittings were also shot, and high likelihood leaked.

The amount of carbon buildup in the engine was incredible. Looked like what I would have expected in one of the old "leaky" jags that burned oil by the gallon. Literally an 1/8 inch thick gooey deposit on most cylinders.

The good news here is the repair bill dropped from $3500 to something north of 2 when they opened it up, but the bad news is that all the hoses and coolers that need to be replaced probably took me back up to 3.

This car came from Michigan ... 2nd mechanic now that bitched about all the rust and corrosion.

 

How or where do you find the information on the year of the engine, I'm sure it would be in the ven number, but I don't know how to read these code numbers?

 

It is NOT in the VINumber.

The key is the engine serial number. The number is in the format of YYMMDDHHMM. The conversion to metal tensioner occurred on August 13, 2001 which would produce an engine serial number of 010813HHMM.

Any Jaguar dealer can produce a build sheet if asked nicely based on the VIN that will include the engine serial number.

 

See post #5 in this thread:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-number-54779/

If your car is 2001 or newer, then it is on location "A" in the diagram.
You have to get under the car on the left side of the engine to see it (or use a mirror). I was able to find mine, but it is very difficult to read because there are engine components blocking part of it.

 

Hi All. I have a 2002 XK8 with 29000 miles. How many miles do you think I can reasonably get out of this engine and transmission? And any estimates on the convertible roof life? I've replaced the hoses once already. Last, the cloth headliner is dirty. Any cleaning materials or techniques that you like?

Thank you for any input.

 

I have a 2002 XKR that has made it through the hands of a few family members for the past 14 years. Just passed 80k miles.

The car has seen all kinds of road conditions as well as periods of heavy use and non-use.

There has never been an engine or drive train issue.

The only problems occurred in quick succession around 65k miles:

1. Convertible mechanism decided to give up on life with a sudden
splash of fluid. Top needed less than $1k in repairs, but the top didn't need replacing.

2. Dashboard around driver's side decided it was time to give up on life, needed repairs to the hardware that keeps it upright. Less than $500.

3. Sport Mode button and cruise control button in J gate decided to leap into the the bottom of the center console. Less than $500 to reattach them.

I would be interested to know if there is some big problem lurking that I should watch carefully for.

This car turned out to be one of the most reliable cars my family ever owned... which came as a huge surprise considering everyone told us we would have nothing but problems from a Jaguar.