To one and all. I am doing a little research into the reliability of these cars especially the engind. Everyone talks about the great reliability of the running gear, but I want to do a little more in debt study which I will post when completed. And I need you input.

I would like to hear from anyone that has experienced a major failure of the basic 6 cylinder engine such as a big end connecting rod failure, or main bearing failure of the crankshaft. Or any other failures such as cracked block or head. Along with this I would like to hear about the circumstances that lead up to the problem and what the indications were that something bad was going to happen. Pictures would also be nice.

Thanks in advance from all of you.

EZDriver 1995 XJ6 2000 XK8

 

In my time with Jaguar, 1968 till now, I have never seen a bottom end failure from actaully wearing out, and I have had a lot of Jaguars, and some were very SAD examples indeed.

The older XK 6cyl was rock solid and quite forgiving to owner abuse. Some I have rebuilt have had the oil pick up significantly restricted, and NO sign of bearing damage.

The AJ6 was a whole new engine and also rock solid, OK, it did have head gasket oil weepage on the early 3.6 units, but a head gasket upgrade fixed that.

The AJ16 was a next generation, and equally as solid, although some have had issues with timing chain rattle (mine included), and I am CONVINCED that lousy oil maintenence caused mine. new chains/dampers/tensioners, and it is as silent as expected, and of course good quality oil changed regularly will have this see me out.

The REAL engine, the V12, is just plain almost indestructable, but there will always be someone who gives it a good smack. Our Pre HE (S2 XJ12) has 480000kms, and still runs sweet as it should, YES, it loves fuel, leaks oil a bit, rattly tappets, but really, who cares, I DONT. The HE ('85 XJ-S) is still out daily driver (been that way since 1996) and averages 20k kms per year, and is SWEET.

I do ALL my own maintenence, NO EXCEPTIONS, and always have, so I have a very interment relationship with ALL my Jaguars.

 

It will be interesting to see if anyone comes along who has experienced such a failure.

FWIW, in my many years on several Jag forums I've heard of only two failures of AJ16 bottom ends. Presumably this is why it is so difficult to get engine bearings, pistons, rings, etc. There simply isn't any demand ....so nobody offers them.

The *only* failures I've heard of are a few head gaskets and timing chain dampeners.

Cheers
DD

 

There's a recent thread on xjr6.com titled 'burn-up' which is the only thread I've read about an 'engine' problem. Other than a cylinder head gasket oil weep on my 140k mile xjr there are no probs that I'm aware of. No problems on a 86k mile 3.2 AJ16 I own (but am breaking now). Can you contact any of the independent Jaguar garages in the UK and ask them? Actually, I can give you a quote from a mechanic at one of these UK indies...'Nothing goes wrong with these engines'.

 

Without question, the '95-'97 X300 6 Cyl. sedan was THE most reliable vehicle ever built by Jaguar Cars. Here is a link to a thread here on the forum about the longevity of these cars:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...0%5C330-53396/

I've been with Jaguar since 1989, owned 4 and can attest to the fact my '95 XJR has been the most inexpensive car to maintain I have ever owned. Other than maintenance, I've replaced a Secondary Air Pump, an antenna and a Memory Seat Potentiometer; it's currently at 123,550 miles. I can also say that when these cars came out, I felt it in my pocket book, big time! After the XJ40, the work slowdown was enormous. One other tidbit I'm aware of is that 7-8 years ago Unipart sold off a couple of hundred exchange engine assemblies, [they may have been long blocks, tough to remember] for $300.00 each. They felt they needed to get rid of them because they never [or very rarely] sold any! I wanted so badly to buy one, but I didn't have anywhere to store it.

I call that reliability!

My two cents.............

 

Mine hasn't been so trouble free. Repairs from 30k to 103k miles with apprx cost (all DIY labor):


> -replace steering tilt motor $65
> -replace 2 front wheel bearings $30
> -repair door latch switch, right front $0
> -replace trans mount and spring $100
> -replace power steering return hose $30
> -replace one oxy sensor $100
> -replace intercooler pump $80
> -replace brake light switch $90
> -replace rear wheel bearing, right side $75
> -replace differential $400
> -replace water pump $60
> -replace air injection pump $110
> -replace idler pulleys $85
> -replace both exhaust manifolds $120
> -replace starter $170
> -replace 4 seat heaters $120
> -replace trans solenoids and speed sensors $120
> -replace gas gauge sender $50
> -replace 6 ignition coils $360
> -replace antenna mast $20
> -repair door latch switch, left rear $0
> -replace radio (several times) $200
> -clean throttle body (2x) $60
> -replace radiator upper mounts $5
> -replace crank sensor (added 8/25/11)



I have no doubt that I can get 200k + miles out of the car. But durability and reliabilty and "trouble free" are three different things :-)

To me, reliable means the car always starts, always takes me there and back, and never leaves me stranded. All three of my Jags have been totally reliable.

Durability means the car will last a long, long time. That's virtually a given with a Jag. Can't hardly beat 'em to death if you tried. No guarantee that it'll be an inexpensive experience though.

Trouble free.....well that's a different story.

Cheers,
DD

 

Geez, Doug, I'm a little disarmed by that. I've been on these cars since day one, and never run across one with a list like that. Your list did remind me that I have replaced the radiator mounts, too, so I had overlooked that. A friend of mine got a 1996 XJR after he drove my '95 once, and I have to admit he has had a couple of the issues on your list, too. He's asked "why me and not you??" before also. I do still have to say that as a model run, the X300 still outshines the rest.

Here's hoping your luck improves!!
Cheers,

 

In fairness many of the items listed have occured in the last 12-18 months. I figure that age and mileage eventually starts taking a toll on any car.

I can remember bragging about how trouble free the car was and Greg Wells at Coventry said "Just wait". He was right :-)

Also a few things were not outright failures. The starter was merely noisy. The p/s hose was just weeping. The rear wheel bearing was just abit noisy...many would have lived with it. I'm a little fussy :-)

But there were a few things I forgot to list like the droopy headliner (just happened) and the faulty trunk lock button.

I'm not complaining but I cannot honestly pitch thse cars, great as they are, as being trouble free as the years and miles creep up.

Cheers
DD

 

Yes, and in all fairness the list of items does not include anything that is in the nature of premature wear or failure of the engine mechanicals. In essence, the engine is bulletproof although some of the surrounding bits might need the odd repair. eg. ignition coils. V8 owners would wish to be so lucky.

 

Doug.....heated seat repair for $120? Interested. Mine give every appearance of working...red lights in the switches, relays click...no heat though...did you replace the grids in the seats for $120?

 

Yes.

I bought aftermarket grids off Ebay. The OEM replacements are about 4x the price.

Cheers
DD

 

True enough about the engine and taken indvidually none of the items were serious. Well, except replacing the diff at 75k. I was a bit disappointed at that. In an incredible stroke of luck, though, I happened across a rebuilt unit on Ebay for a bargain price....$400 including shipping for a 3.58 LSD.

Cheers
DD

 

hmmm ... some V8 owners would gladly pay double that just to be able to have a *real* LSD

 

Curious ... it's always been my habit to "replace in pairs" ... why replace the right side and not the left? For me, if I have to replace the right-rear brake pads, I'll replace the left rear as a matter of course, so that both sides "match".

For whatever it's worth, this list (well, much of the list) looks typical for any vehicle with the mileage range you state.

However, I'm "concerned" about the replacement of the differential and exhaust manifolds ... i've read about the exhaust manifolds - what's the low-down on that failure? In my experience (i've owned 30+ cars), I've never heard of this with any vehicle.

The radio "several times"? Why?

 

I to am interested in more details regarding the exhaust manifolds and differential failures. I have heard the differentials are so rugged that they are used in race cars due to the independent suspension. Do you think these failures are more likely to happen on the XJR rather than on the XJ6? Also are there any other items that are more likely on the XJR than on your Xj6?

I really hope this thread keeps going. Really getting some great info.

EZDriver 95 XJ6 2000 XK8

 

Differential: The old style ("inboard brake" type) Jag differentials were very rugged and those, along with the earlier IRS, are indeed used in many hot rods. The one used in the XJ40s and X300s...not so much. Failures are not entirely unsual. I think the extra power of the XJR may be a contributing factor if you drive the car as it was intended to be driven....as I do.

Exhaust manifolds: I heard/read of many cracked exhaust manifolds so I wasn't surprised when I found mine were cracked. What IS surprising, though, is that there's no audible clue. I'm betting that if more people pulled the manifold shields for a visual inspection we'd be hearing about even more failures. I think the castings are just too thin. This might be more common in the XJRs if they are driven hard....more heat, perhaps?

Radio: the Alpine unit is notoriously unreliable. I've had display lights fail, backlighting fail, CD output signal problems. I was able to fix a couple only to have other failures occur. I found three good used ones for next to nothing and two "rebuilt" units, still sealed, from a liquidator who got them from a defunct radio repair shop. I got both for $30! One is in the car now and works fine except the display light that just recently failed. Time to swap in the other rebuilt unit, I reckon. I have quite a collection of partially inoperative Alpine/Jaguar radios.

Since I'm down to my last spare I should go in and fix the lighting problems so I can put a couple of them back into circulation


Wheel bearing: In my case it was easy to determine that only one side was noisy so I replaced just that side. Brake pads are sold and replaced in pairs to eliminate any problems coming from a difference in fraction characteristics. It's not important, however, that left and right wheel bearings "match". Besides, there's no normal operating conditions where the pads on just one side would need replacing as they normally wear evenly. If they don't, there's an underlying problem !


Cheers
DD

 

There is a difference ... brake pad replacement is a maintenance operation while wheel bearing replacement is a repair operation.

Some items just do not require replacement of all matching parts. For example, if a headlight is cracked, most people would only replace whichever one is cracked. The exception might be if the second headlight came really cheap, or the second headlight is also in bad shape anyways.

 

(HE MEENS ****) ITS A CLUB IM A MEMBER OF TOO

 

I HAVE A BRAND NEW ONE IN THE BOX FROM JAGUAR LSD WITH 3.58. I WANT TO FIND AND INSTALL STEEPER GEAR THOUGH. AND A TURBO TO FAB INTO THE CAR. I LIKE THINGS THAT ARE FAST BUT DONT LOOK IT. (MY SUBURBAN, MY FRONTIER. THE EL CAMINO LOOKS IT, BUT ITS UNGODLY FAST AT LOW 9 SEC IN THE QUARTER ON MOTOR) THE JAGUAR IS THE ONLY SLOW CAR I HAVE

 

Heh heh, yeah, Ok :-)

I really DO like to keep up on all repairs and services. And I fix things that many people would just ignore.

I'm the guy who replaces a starter as soon as it sounds funny. I don't wait for the other shoe to drop....even though I know it might "sound funny" for a long, long time before actually failing. But, then again...you never know :-).

Some people tease me about my over-enthusiastic servicing of my cars. Perhaps coincidence, but I haven't been on the back of a tow truck in many, many years. Decades, actually.

(Ok, there was ONE time a few years ago but the problem was my fault---I left an ignition connector only partially seated. Grrrr. )

My ex-wife (and still dear friend), the crazy Eye-talian girl from Queens, always brags (in fun) about how reliable her Toyoata and Acura are. "I never have to fix anything on them". Whenever I drive 'em I remark about the noisy wheel bearings, the broken seat heaters, clunking suspension, pulsating brakes, etc etc.

The fact is, she just doesn't notice or care about those things...and therefore "never has to fix anything" :-)

Cheers
DD