Hi all, I've retired my 03 XJR from daily driving and "upgraded" to an 04 XJR for daily driving duties. Thought it didn't have any major issues based on the test drive. Boy was I wrong. Seems it has all the issues: A-arm bushings are shot all around. Has the transmission surge, only when warmed up, so I didn't catch it. Drive shaft vibrations as well around 60 mph, again didn't catch it.. Aside from a saggy headliner and uncomfortable drivers seat the car's exterior & interior are in great shape. Doesn't leak or burn anything and zero check engine lights since I've had it for 3 months. The P.O. also did the coil over conversion. Paid $3800 which is right around book value with 167K on the clock. So the question is, to get it sorted I'm looking @ min $5k probably more? I don't mind having 10k into the car if it's fully sorted. Just worried about spending that, then X happens, and then Y happens, and then on & on. I do work on my cars when I can but I also have a wife, 2 kids, a job, a 45yr old sailboat, a triumph spitfire, the other jag, a 100yr old house.....you get the idea.

Thanks for any insight,
Kevin
Milwaukee, WI

With that sort of mileage, I am not surprised at the suspension needing work, but astonished it has not been done before. Actually not astonished because so many owners, when finding out what needs fixing tend to move the car on for the next owner to fix. XJRs tend to be harder on suspension as owners use the performance whereas normal versions can be gently driven by old men like me !!
Here in England, we have a roadworthiness test, and cars are essentially impossible to sell unless they have this "MOT" (Ministry of Transport Test). So worn out suspensions get fixed earlier and by the selling party. It seems to be the case in the USA that you seem not to have any official tests at all, apart from emissions. Drive train vibration could be the flixible couplings at the ends of the prop shaft. These wear out and are replaceable but the part is listed for S-types not XJs.

The a arms are cheap. Very inexpensive and easy to replace. They are typical ford parts used o many cars and are the first thing to go in the suspension and have likely been replaced at least three times already. I’d do a fluid change on the transmission and get the adaptation reset. Check motor mounts.

these cars are not expensive to maintain however if you don’t maintain bad things happen. My opinion based on experience!

Question on the surge issue. It seems to happen only when the car is in Drive. If a gear is selected the problem goes away or is imperceptible. If the TC was at fault wouldn't the problem exist either way?

Thanks again for any insight.
Kevin

Changing the transmission fluid, filter, and electrical plug is a good start. Use a OEM pan/filter. ZF are less than 50.00.
After checking your motor mounts look at the transmission mount. Mine seemed fine, but was leaking oil at 115K. The XJR are hard on this. Does run smoother now after replacement. Gave my daughter a ride recently and she commented it seemed smoother.
Bite the bullet for arms, but spray the rubber with 303 protectant. Might add years.
BTW, purchased a Eurospare tranny mount for 108.00 delivered. I hear they are good for 100K in a XJR.
Hope your drive shaft is fine. Balancing seems to be a job.
Check the wheels. There alloys (pot metal) wheels bend easy.

For the drive shaft vibration check your Guibo or rubber flex disc. Be aware that Jaguar will not service this separately but it is available with a bit of looking on this forum.
Might be a cheap fix?
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I'm sure not ALL Jags are money pits.
But after 16 I'm still looking.
I'm not a quitter.
Would not have it any other way.

Apropos the transmission surge. Is this just slight 200-250 rpm surging on warmup or all the time ? The earlier cars suffered from this and it was due to a software thing coupled with the torque converter lock-up system. If the surging is all the time and bad, then it could be the torque converter is worn-out. Gearboxes normally last a very long time.

Adding to this you can get the TCM reflashed to rid the surge warm up function. But Frasier brings up good points as well.

These gearboxes are typically bullet proof as long as the box is serviced every 50K to 60K and no leaks.

Transmission this:Everything about your ZF 6HP26, 6HP19, 6HP28 transmission issues | BMW LOGIC7

Actually you can buy one from Jaguar --- you have to look in the S-Type parts list----there are two part numbers one for manual transmissions and one for auto transmission. You want the latter. On-line price in Canada today is $183 Can. (Or about $ 110 US after the last weeks carnage in the financial markets!!)

After driving it around the past couple weeks it pretty much surges all the time and getting some vibration too, separate from the driveshaft vibration. Time for a new TC.

Thanks for everyone’s input!
Kevin