Hi all, I'm new on here and have been to see a '98 xjr that I really like. I've agreed a price with the guy pending a successful compression test which I will carry out Friday morning. There is a receipt with the car for around £500uk from 2005 for timing chain and tensioner replacement and the car sounds smooth on startup. Do the tensioner s still need to be checked? Is there anything else I should really be on the lookout for and what compression value would be considered satisfactory for a '98 car with 93000 miles?

Thanks in advance.

 

Pabarret:
Welcome! Sounds like you've found an exciting new car. I hope it works out for you. I *believe* the XJR's came with a different gearbox than the standard models, which eliminates a primary weak spot for you. (Hoping others will confirm that.) If the tensioners have been done (it would be important to know - at least for me - whether it was the secondary AND primary, or just the more suspect secondary ones), mostly what remains are all the plastic coolant bits and water pump. If I were buying the car, I'd take care of those things right away if they hadn't already been one. (Ask me how I know…)

Anything else can of course go wrong on a 16 year old car! But those are the biggies.

Let us know how it goes and what you decide!

Cheers,
Scott

 

Welcome to the forum,
If the engine is original it will be a Nikasil block. I would be looking for even compressions across the cylinders.

If tensioners were done 9 years ago it may depend on what tensioners were used then and how many miles it has travelled since. Depending on the 'buy' price I would be factoring in some 'insurance' upgrades,as said thermostat housing was an issue.

Good luck with your decision...Neil

 

I'm pretty sure it has the original engine with the nikasil liners so that's my main drive for doing the compression test. I'm guessing anything above 110 psi would be good as the cars been parked a couple of years. Will doing the compression test bring up fault codes and if so how do I clear them?

 

A compression test will do no more than indicate bore wear or valve issues.

For fault codes you need a code reader. Any stored or pending codes will tell you more about a vehicle than any vendor is likely to disclose.

Graham

 

I guess bore wear is my big concern with this car. I have a generic obdii reader but I don't know if its of any use on this car. Is it.

 

I have a 98 XJR and I use a Bluetooth ELM 327 OBD 2 code reader with the android torque pro app on my phone. Had no problems in nearly 2 years with it. Prior to this I used a cheap old OBD 2 reader that just read the codes, that worked OK as well.