I acquired the car relatively cheaply so I knew it would need some things but so far, I'd have to say as much as I love it, I'm also putting in more than its actually worth. Nevertheless, it's been a joy to ride...

Here are a few of the things I've been doing to it:

* Headliner replaced
* Hood, roof, and trunk panels re-painted
* Minor rust damage re-welded and re-painted on the right-quarter panel in the rear
* New rotors and pads in the rear
* New tires
* Trunk hitch and release re-greased (was stuck)
* Alignment
* Detailed

Now it needs new front and rear catalytic converters. Sadly, while the rear was available from a supplier as after-market, apparently nothing after-market is available for the front catalytic converter and has to be dealer-sourced (read: manufactured on-the-fly by Jaguar) at a pretty steep cost.

I've looked around as best I could and I can't find anyone who has a compatible, new, after-market front cat. converter for a '96 XJR. All in, parts and labor, it's probably going to run around $3500 and that doesn't even include replacing the O2 sensors (but they are needing to be replaced at this point but eventually).

On the one hand, gas mileage on it will improve noticeably (it was pretty bad, like 10-13 mpg average according to the trip computer) but it's a pretty steep price to pay, unfortunately.

I like the XJR and they're a fun ride but the rumor remains true: these cars are expensive to own and maintain.

 

Have you actually *called* some Jag specialists to see what they have? I'm 99% sure there's an aftermarket replacement for the front cats. Try Coventry West, for one example 800 331 2193

Or perhaps a good exhaust shop can custom fabricate a front cat set-up?

Cheers
DD

 

Welcome to the forum,

Good to have you with us.
Sorry to hear about your problems, but some good advice there from Doug.

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

 

Thanks for the idea. I tried a number of other suppliers but not Coventry (only just recently discovered this forum).

I just called them and they're telling me they should be able to get that part and for a lot less.

I'm passing it along to the mechanics and hopefully the stars align. You may have just saved me $1500 or more. I might just owe you one (or many)!

 

welcome aboard Jaguarforums, good to have you here with us ....
If you add your car details to your signature it will help others to help you much more quickly.

Kudos to Doug.......hope it helps and waiting to hear

Jump on into the relevant section and the guys will help, I'm sure!!!

There really are some amazing and friendly guys here....you're in really good company to discuss anything Jag related or even just to have a few laughs!


A really great mix of information, camraderrie and fun

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

 

Speby,
Don't neglect to check with Welsh for those Jag bits. They deal in new and used stuff and sometimes the price is way low.

 

Hello and welcome to the best Jaguar forum ever!

Join in on the Off Tpoic and have some fun, we could do with more people posting jokes (apart from Jayt2).

I hope you enjoy your car!

 

Just to update myself on the topic, I guess Coventry had a rear cat. converter and a front cat. converter for the normal '96 XJ6 but not the right front cat. converter for the '96 XJR.

That was the trouble with this whole thing: the mechanics couldn't locate the proper front cat. converter. Bear in mind, this isn't a dealer, this is just a Firestrone (frankly, for as old as this car is, I'm comfortable with that) but I use them for service all the time and despite less specialized knowledge, they've done well and treated me well on all my other car needs.

In any case, what they found is that apparently there are 2 styles of cat. converters for the XJR? One with a head gasket and one with out that is more of a direct fit. Apparently, the style without the head gasket can't be located anywhere and to have Jaguar make an OEM part would cost nearly $3k. Turns out the style of front cat. converter I have in that XJR is the one with the head gasket and that one costs a lot less, around $600.

So even though Coventry West didn't carry what I needed, I'm still able to get what I do need for a lot less anyways.

I didn't try Welsh as someone else pointed out here but I'll look to them in the future. I just found the master list of parts dealers on the forum site here so that is also helpful.

Ok, last question... as they replace the front cat. converter, they did find that the O2 sensors are a bit rusted and while they work fine, removing them could be a problem. Anyone know for sure whether you'd need to remove them to do a front cat. converter replacement? And if so, if they are rusted (and thus a bit difficult to remove), do they break easily? They're just telling me that to remove them, there is a risk they could break or they'll unscrew just fine but that if they do break during the removal process, because of the rust, they might need to be replaced. Any insight appreciated...

Lastly, if they do need to be replaced, I'm guessing Coventry or Welsh might be good options to get aftermarket O2 sensors that fit. Are most O2 sensors fairly generic for '96-'97 Jags or were they specific to each model type (XJ6 vs XJR vs. XJ-S vs XJ8)?

 

Hello and welcome Speby,

From starting out with a very long list of problems fixed so far and others still to sort out, I'm pleased to see you've made a lot of progress (and saved a lot of $$) in two days.

This forum is the place to be!

Graham

 

I *think* what's being referred to is the way the converter assembly joins the exhaust pipe under the car: A) a slip fit (where the converter pipe slips over the exhaust pipe) or B) and "olive joint" where the two pipes have flared ends that are butted together with an "olive" seal between. Many would refer to the "olive" as an "exhaust donut".

As far as I know there is know there is operational difference between the XJ6 and XJR car converters. Not 100% sure.

** In any case, Google Bosal 0991375 for an aftermarket XJR front converter **

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks Doug. I see it looks like you have a '95 XJR? That would mean our two XJR's are probably nearly identical.

What I'm told (and have read) is that the cat. converters are definitely different between the XJ6 and the XJR. A less readily available supply of any of the specialized parts that an older XJR might need wouldn't surprise me given that there were certainly a lot less absolute number of XJR's sold in any given year versus regular XJ6's. But still...

Thanks for the Google reference. I actually came across that in my own research but apparently that wouldn't work from what I was told.

Doug, have you had any cat. converter replacements in the life of that vehicle? I would imagine by now it may have needed a new one, depending on the number of miles and such.

 

Yes and yes ;-)






In what respect? I'm asking, not arguing







Right. XJR/6-specific parts can be hard to come by. Only about 6500 cars were built and certainly far fewer than that remain on the road. The demand for parts can't be very high so suppliers/vendors/manufacturers naturally don't invest much money or effort.





Any reason given as the why? AFAIK Bosal was the OEM manaufacturer of the X300 exhaust systems. If that's true...and I'm pretty sure it is....I'd sorta expect their line-up of Bosal-labeled replacements to be right on the money.





No, I haven't. I have 117k miles. near as I can tell the converters are OK.

Cheers
DD

 

To clarify a bit, I think we should try to narrow down the exact differences, if possible, between the XJR converters and the standard XJ6 converters....then we can determine if the standard type is a suitable replacement.

The differences might be very minor. If so, an XJR owner could perhaps save himself lots of time and money by using the more common XJ6 type.

The exhaust manifolds are the same between the two so there should be no problem there. The oxygen sensors are also the same.

We know that two different joints were used at end of the pipe....but that would be a very easy matter for any exhaust shop to work around.

That leaves us with:

1) the pipe diameter, with the XJR presumably being bigger...if there was any difference at all

2) the construction/function of the converters themselves. A different internal matrix or chemicals? I dunno, but it seems unlikely

3) the fit of the converters relative the the right side of the engine. The only differnce I can think of would be a slightly different routing alongside the 4L80e transmission....but even that's a bit of a stretch, I think

I'll do some checking and see what I can find out

Cheers
DD

 

Not being funny but have you looked here?
Genuine Jaguar Parts and Jaguar Accessories for Classic Jaguars

The website above is Jaguar Cars Ltd own classic parts website, giving all part numbers for the X300 and recently added X308 - they list a USA spherical cat for £339, not $3,000!

Any part ordered through this site will be delivered and supplied through your local Jaguar Dealer, yes in the USA too - the website has a page about how Jaguar are making it's presence felt with this aspect of parts supply through the dealer network within the US,

sometimes it's best to contact the people that actually made the car, in England, just saying.....

 

Heh heh, I was sorta right and sorta wrong. It isn't a stretch at all.

In reading the service manual and "tech specifications" guide, the *only* difference mentioned relative to cat converters is that the supercharged cars used a converter with a shorter down pipe to clear the transmission.

I'll keep digging for more but if that's the only difference then, again, I think any exhaust shop could tweak things for a correct fit

Cheers
DD

 

Welcome to the forum.

Good to have you with us.

 

Thanks everyone for the continued updates. I took the car back for now; it currently runs just fine albeit with the check engine light on and the error codes for the front cat.

I took it into a Jaguar specialist called Jaguar Services in Lansing, IL. They've been doing Jags since they came out many years ago. So far, turns out it is not the spherical joint as suspected but in fact the slip joint style of primary (front) catalytic converter.

Since the "factory OEM" part is so expensive and not even available anymore from what we can tell, we're either going to go with a rebuilt cat. (yes, I know buying/selling used cats is illegal) OR using a generic aftermarket as many have suggested here.

Due to the differences between the primary cat. of the XJR vs. the XJ6 being the shorter downpipe, I am going to pass this on to them at Jaguar Services and see if there is anything else that can be done such as retrofitting an XJ6-style primary slip joint cat. to be used with this XJR.

I do agree, though; how different would one expect the cat converters to be between a supercharged and non-supercharged car?

 

Speby, nice to see you're working your way through your issues.

This is the new members section though and not the place for it........I'm closing this thread down.
Can you please continue with this in th relevant section.

thanks and good luck