Hi there,
I'm looking for a 'new' used Jaguar, and my budget would perfectly fit a X300. Now I've owned a 1989 Daimler 3.6 for about 5 years, so I'm not really a newbie to Jag's, but I don't know all that much about the changes that were made between.
For instance: XJ 40's had this hydraulic rear suspension that would cause problems sooner or later...is still an issue with the X300 series?
Also, many XJ40's (including mine) needed their differential rebuilt after 100'000 miles or so...what about the x300?
Does the interior roof lining still come off after a few years (not that big a problem, but not so easy to fix, actually...)?
I had a significant power loss because of a clogged catalytic converter, did anyone experience that problem on a X300?
Oil leaks still an issue on those Jaguars, I guess?

On the contrary, the engine and gearbox were in very good condition, even when the car had almost 200'000 miles on it...is the life expectancy still about the same?

What are the typical signs to look for on 94-96 X300 with about 100k-130k miles on it? And which model's are the most reliable (I don't care that much about speed and extra power, although I will consider buying a supercharged one if I find one.) Is the supercharged model more prone to failure and troubles than the other ones. I understand that some people like or don't like the V8 for 'philosophical reasons', but apart from that, are both engines about equally desirable in terms of reliability and life-expectancy?

Well, many questions here...thanks in advance for providing me with some advice.

Kurt

 

Hi Sapporillo

The X300 you are thinking of was a seriously improved XJ40 made from late 1994 until 1997, with much better style, (curvy), and everything put right that went wrong in the XJ40. In fact the XJ8 that came after the X300 was a bit of a disaster for Jaguar Cars as the engine was seriously unreliable; they had to swap a lot out under warranty. The AJ16 engine in the X300 was one of the best engines ever produced by Jaguar and many have run 250k miles !! Having said all that, it is mostly an XJ40 underneath with a few minor changes. It even uses the XJ40 doors, with better locks

Springs - steel coil all round and no "funnies"
Diffs - no particular problems AFAIK.
Headlining - no issues, at least not here in the UK
Catalyst - no particular issues, but the Lambda sensors can give out; also the exhaust manifold can crack unnoticed and affect cat.
Oil leaks - no issues

These cars can run and run !! I would avoid supercharged models as the charger is expensive to replace. Go for the normal six, which in the US will be a 4 litre, (there was a 3.2 for the UK and Europe market).

One foible is the rear springing, which is superficially the same, but the coils are not secured to the damper, so must be compressed before dampers and springs can be removed for attention.

 

The X300s are generally quite reliable although, as the years roll by, a definite pattern of failures is apparent....most being small items, thankfully: radio problems, clocks, interior lights, "memory" seat electrics, and such

The ZF transmission still seem to soldier on forever, though, and, yes, the diffs don't seem to hold up very well (replaced mine a 70k)....and axle/hub/rear wheel bearings seem to be a problem as well.

Suspension bushings seem to be a problem over 100k miles...listen for excessive clunks.

The 4.0 engine is very durable although some chain tensioners are being replaced on cars with over 100k miles...an easy job, as I understand it

The days of oil leaks, corroded Lucas electrical connectors, overheating, heavy oil consumption....all that sorta stuff....are a memory with an X300, although exceptions can surely be found

Watch for rust as always!

Cheers
DD

 

My very very 1st Jaguar was '88 Daimler which was a nightmare . I can see your concerns about suspension maintenance .
Gladly, from late XJ40s (my "93 XJ40 too) you don't deal with clumsy hydraulic things.So, you can set your mind at ease .
I owned a '95 X300 too . That felt more powerful than 3.6 liter engine yet more reliable in almost anything you could imagine .
X300s are reliable cars at least far more reliable than earlier XJ40s . Reliability seems a vague term or sounds like that .

 

About my 1989 Daimler....you remember that fancy electronic dashboard? In 5 years, I could never get it to NOT give out any warning at all...

 

Oh yeah fancy dashboard lol
However, that dashboard had some good points over "traditional" gauge cluster such as you could see PRND32 , trip computer ,odometer separately .

 

I actually did like it a lot...it had the classy Jaguar-looks, and was still amusing my inner child...lol I heard they rewrote the owner's manual later, stating that the yellow warnings could happily be ignored whereas a red one could mean an occasional check-up... (just joking).
We got a little of topic, but I'm interested in the timing-chain problem. AFAIK this happens with aluminum blocks, once they're warped.. or is it just the tensioner that's fading? Then it should be possible to change just the tensioner, not the whole chain, shouldn't it?

 

The XJ40 was notorious for telling you there was something wrong with the car every time you started it. Not conducive to happy owners and rising sales !

AJ16 cam tensioners are not a problem, but clearly everything wears out eventually. I believe the tensioner itself is bolted-on from the outside on the RH front of the block. Of course there eventually comes a time when the timing chain chest needs opening up to replace the chains and chain sliders, but only after serious pan-galactic miles.

It was the later V8 exhaust camchain tensioners that caused all the grief.