Looking to purchase a fairly decent xj 4.2 v8 a friend of mine is selling. He got it from someone he does business with. Car starts and seems to run fine but I notice the oil is low and the coolant reservoir seems to have water in it. No telling what I’m getting myself into for $2000 because I cannot even find the Obd port. No cloudy oil and not sure what the water is about but thinking the engine is drinking coolant.?

 

Price could be great or not so great, any service records?
Do you have a Jaguar specific code reader?
Port is on the right hand side of steering Colom, instead of the left.
Best of luck to you.

 

I have a car soft Obd and Know my way around the aj-v8 from my two decades spent with my 4.0 s type. Definitely a Few differences in the 4.2 layout from what I can see but I know they are bulletproof engines. If he still has it this weekend I’ll bring my scanner and see what the fuel trims look like. The water in the coolant tank and restricted performance error have me leaning towards passing this one up.

 

With your prior experience I think you would be an ideal candidate for that car. You are aware of what could be coming in the future. As you know there will be a lot of maintenance at first. All the coolant hoses need changed, transmission service, suspension bushings (This is in addition to the air suspension).

I would be afraid of the air suspension as the rest of the car is fairly solid. BUT the steel spring swap is very common and a good thing to do if you plan to keep the car.
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Didn’t realize the car had air suspension. Definitely sounds like some bushings are shot but I only drove it around the parking lot. Will make a decision by the weekend and let y’all know.