Hi,

I do not own a Jag yet but I am getting close.

I have been driving a 1986 corvette convertible every day since 1999 (when I bought it in San Fransisco area). I have been back in France since 2002 and the corvette continue to give loyal services, provided I give her the little attentions her age require. Recently went through replacement of engine head valve stem seals, rear hubs and U joints, front ball joints. A bit painful to do at home but eventually everything went almost smooth with time and a couple of special tools like a ball joint extraction kit.

Now that the family gets bigger, it is time to look for a bigger car. I decided that I did not want to look for a larger sport car but rather keep the C4 corvette for when we are just 2 of us and look for a sedan for familly use. I have had a look at Mercedes and BMWs for some time. I was hesitating between BMW850i or Mercedes 600SL but never jumped the final step. It is not until recently that another idea come to my mind. I could recall some fuzzy images of Jaguar sedans with 4 round head lights. So I jumped on google and fouud out that the car I need is Jaguar/Daimler XJ8 supercharged from the 1997-2002 period.

So after discarding a couple of them that were showing little signs of care over the past recent years, I found this one:


(hmm, preview not showing, maybe I am too much a newbie)

Anyway, car look OK, 1998, under 100kmiles, several 4 digits bills in the recent years (front seats restoration, front suspensions/brakes/bal joints) and 10k€ price tag.

But no indication of timing chain tensioners replacement; and probably for this model year, the nikasil engine. I guess the engine is free from sulfur gas risk after so many years. Will check air filter for oil leaks and oil gauge orifice for blow by. As for chain tensioner, will listen for noise on a cold start and pray that it is not going to fail until I have a chance to throw a new timing kit at her.

Going to see her in 10 days. Anything else you can think of apart usual visual inspection and driving test?

By the way, many thanks to the forum members and in particular for providing easy access to JTIS and EPC and plenty of nice pictures on the timing chain tensioners upgrade procedure.

Cheers,

Bruno

 

Welcome Bruno,

You won't be able to post a photo of the XJ8 until you have 10 posts and 3 days forum membership.

You've clearly done your research and know the potential problems with the V8 and the 4 digit bills show it must have been well cared for. Long term Corvette ownership suggests you're no stranger to workshop tools!

With any Jaguar, my preference has always been to prioritise bodywork and interior condition ahead of mechanical concerns but head to the X308 section for help with other things to check.

Graham

 

Welcome to the forum Bruno,

Good to have you with us.
The XJ8 guys will help you in the tech section.

You should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.

 

thanks for the welcome.

I just discovered earlier today that my insurance does not like to insure the Daimler. They have a quote for a Jaguar XJR but they say they are not autorized to insure the daimler. I said they are similar cars with only cosmetic differences but it seems they can't handle these considerations.

Strange because they accepted years ago my 1986 C4 corvette, and classified it as a stingray! which was the closest model they had on file.

Anyway, I am on the road to find another insurance...

 

Welcome to the site. I've got a Corvette also, one 'generation' older than yours. There's quite a few Corvette guys here come to think of it. Great minds think alike it seems.

 

Hi Bruno welcome to Jaguarforums, good to have you here with us ....really cool intro, thanks for sharing.


If you add your car details to your signature it will help others to help you much more quickly.

A really great mix of information, camraderrie and fun
In the meantine ......I've manually upgraded you to full forum access so you can better view the site and all its features
so jump on in and enjoy

 

Hi Jim.

Was not expecting to have to jump into the mechanical forum that soon but I might have to: the current owner called me yesterday to inform me that a tranmission fault message has popped up while driving the car to the mandatory pre-sale control.

Car is at the mechanic and my visit possibly posponed (haven't seen the car yet, just pictures and documents, car is ~1000km away).

Got mixed feeling at this time. Better it happened before the sale than after. But I am not sure if I am going to trust the repair, hoping that this thing will not pop up again on my way back home. I guess I need to wait for diagnostic and repair feedback for the time being or look for something else.

There is another super v8, same price, same mileage, more recent 2001 model, but with significant paint work, less top-condition upholstery, and no bills in recent years (very few kms in recent years the owner says).