Thank you Danielsand. You have succinctly summed up my feeling about buying this Jag.
We are going to go ahead and buy it. My husband is mechanically inclined and he is confident he can take care of the Jag. What we aren't able to do, we have a great mechanic, willing and able to do the more involved jobs.

I don't know if it makes any difference but we plan on getting a back-up vehicle in case we run into issues with the Jag. While this car will be my mode of transportation, I am not an everyday driver. We live 13 miles from our primary shopping/business area. I average maybe 35 miles a week. I plan one trip into town a week. One 100 mile round trip to visit my 22 year old daughter, every 3 months. My husband has his own reliable vehicle. I will baby this car, just like I have every car I have owned. Be it an $800.00, $4,000, $11,000, or $20,000 vehicle, I always keep up with maintenance, follow recommendations on replacing parts, etc.

I must be at the height of my "Cat Fever!" LOL!

I searched for timing tensioners. Is this what we would need to replace the plastic ones? Is this a good price? Just trying to get some ideas...we plan on tackling the problem listed by Sean B.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/JAGUAR-V8-UPPER-TIMING-CHAIN-TENSIONER-RIGHT-PASS-SIDE-/350179590436?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories &fits=Year%3A1998|Make%3AJaguar|Model%3AXJ8&hash=i tem5188548124&vxp=mtr

You have taken the road to perdition. There is no turning back. Next thing you know, several kitties will be in the driveway and the kids will have no shoes.

Seriously, even though you have not taken our advice so far (and who can blame you) take the advice to get the tensioners fixed seriously. To replace the secondary tensioners is a sub $1000. job if you farm it out, less than $300 if you DIY, but the cost of repair is more than $3000. if they break. And they break on low and high mileage vehicles, its just a crap shoot.

It is the very first thing we are going to address! I hope not, but, I expect to come back here with all of the stated issues and hearing a lot of "I told you so's."

There is still time to change my mind, I guess. I am still a bit nervous about proceeding.

Ugghhh!

If you still can negotiate with the owner of your car, you can have a deal to buy yourself the tensioners and to have a free fitting by himself (when you see that you touched the bottom price being acceptable by him).
It is important to know what year was the donor car of the gearbox or if possible the serial number of the unit, it's on a green plate on the rear left of the gearbox. I just found from the UK forum that some later gearboxes have a reinforced A drum, making them trouble free.

Have a look on post 6 on this thread.

5HP24 pressure control valve

BabyKitty, et al.:

I feel sheepish about speaking too dogmatically amongst X308 owners since I have been one only a week, but years of driving XJ40s means I at least know how to do my research...

My car is in the shop presently having the tensioners done. Everybody talks about replacing the UPPER tensioners, but failure of the lower ones is equally as catastrophic. And, they're just as plastic, as are the chain guides. I think the reason folks only do the upper ones is because of accessibility and cost. Replacing all four is a much bigger project. But, to truly lay my head on the pillow at night in ease, I'm having them all done.

Having gone through this thinking process only weeks ago - and with much similar help from the generous folks on this forum! - I decided it was the only way to go. You'll have to decide for yourself, I guess.

The other thing, BabyKitty, is that if you have a non-Jaguar-familiar mechanic do this work, he/she will need the cam locking tools. There is a "zip-tie" method for the upper tensioners, but I don't know if anybody has used this home remedy on the lower ones. Best to know all that in advance.

Best of luck!
Scott

Scott:
All true except the statement that lower tensioner failure is just as catastrophic as upper tensioner failure. A long time ago, Andy (JagTechOhio) posted a challenge to find anyone who could claim a cylinder head crash due to lower chain failure. There were no takers then, and I have been watching for any claim since and have seen none.

So, apparently lower tensioner failure results in noisy enough operation to encourage folks to get it fixed before timing actually jumps a tooth.

Now, I agree the lower guides should be replaced with the newer design, and the primary guides on two examples I have changed were well worn and looking like thay might fail, but Some folks would defer changing the uppers until they copuld afford to do both, (since changing both is more than twice the cost of uppers alone) and that would be a mistake!

Ross has made the secondary tensioner change issue clear, but I have one comment to make on the transmission. If the A drum is not going to be replaced, at least have the pressure regulator valve replaced with the updated version. ZF claims this will help prevent pressure surges in the valve body, decreasing the risk of damage to the A drum. It is a very inexpensive part and only requires removal of the pan, filter, and forward valve body.

Enjoy your new ride!!
 

Babykitty, you've been smarter than most folks when buying a used car let alone a car like a Jag. You joined this forum, you've asked questions, you've done your own research and based on advice from here and your research, you've gone back to the seller and asked questions that showed you knew more than he did!!

With a mindset like that, I think you'll be fine if and when anything does happen. And if it does you will still have this forum to ask!!!

I've owned my Jag for almost 4 years, it's a 2003 XJ8, the last of the 308's. Until last October it was my daily driver and other than some leaking coolant issues, now taken care of, the car has been bombproof. My year had the benefit of the new tensioners and metal guides so no worries on that aspect.

They drive like nothing else and have a presence about them that makes people turn their heads. I'm from Scotland living in San Diego, so for me it's driving a little bit of home and i love it!

As was suggested take care of the issues that need to be taken care but most importantly, enjoy driving your Jag, they are a unique and rewarding driving experience!!

To the OP (Baby Kitty),........I just reread your OP, and something jumpped at me. You mechanic is a "flipper". He bought this car from someone else with blown tranny, stuck a tranny in it, and is selling for profit. Or,....someone gave him the car to fix, didn't want to spend the money (after it was diagnosed that it needs a "new" tranny), and left the Jag with the shop. Since your mechanic does not have the dealers license, he had to transfer the car to his name, but he never actually "owned" the car. Many private people "skip the title" (without transfering it to their names), but for a shop owner it can be DANGEROUS (if caught, he can be put out of business).

I think this is the story behind your car. And why am I telling you this? Because you need to get the full disclosure from the seller. There is nothing wrong in what he is doing with the car, but why not tell you the whole story? Ask him directly how he came in the posession of the car (maybe he is a kand of guy that doesn't volunteer any info unless asked), run the VIN through Carfax, and find how many owners the car had. Trace the last owner (before the mechanic), and give him/her a call. Ask what happened, why they dumpped the car,....etc. They will tell you.

Just by finding out who was the last owner (social status, income, age, etc.) you will be able to tell if the car was potentially neglected, abused, or whatever.

Ideal scenario? Older person owned the car from new. He/she got tired of it (maybe someone passed away), all the maintenance was done on time, and when the big expense hit (tranny), the decision was made to let it go rather than fixing it.

Oh,....one more thing. Call the Authorized Dealer in your area, and give them the VIN to search. They WILL tell you when they saw the car for the last time, and whether all recalls, and stuff was done. Ideally,......in the scenario above, they will have ALL records from when it was purchased.

Any deviations from the "ideal stuff" I mentioned, is a good point in negotiating the price. Do your homework/research and go in quietly with guns at ready!

Ross: Thank you! Yes, I read those older posts but I guess wasn't convinced. (Keep in mind, I am NOT a mechanic. What's worse, I studied the Arts in college!) If the lower tensioners keep the engine in time, and if they are made out of plastic and are susceptible to failure, just because nobody has reported that they have caused a catastrophic problem, doesn't mean that they cannot. I guess I'm wondering what then (besides the noise) would be the result of a lower tensioner failure. Or, does even a failed lower tensioner keep enough tension on the chain to keep the engine in time? Honestly, I'm quite ignorant. I'm about to google V-8 function... :)

I suppose it's an academic point for me, because I'm having it all fixed. But I do desire to understand, especially since I hope to be of use to others in the years to come.

Cheers to all! Happy to be learning so much!
Scott

I can certainly understand the temptation. I can't think of any sub-$5000 cars that can compare. To get as nice a ride quality, you have to jump up to much bigger cars like the Lincoln TC and they're harder to see out of and to park, etc. One other thing I don't see mentioned is to recognize that you do need to use premium gasoline. But since you don't put on that many miles, it may not make that much of a difference to you.

I do recommend that you check it out and given that you've now decided what kind of car you want, mabe not jump on the first XJ8 that you've found. These cars are not particularly rare or hard to find. There's plenty of them in the market and being as cheap as they are in the first place, the premium for a one-owner car, private-party sale with a complete maintenance history is not that much greater than a typical used Jaguar with unknown history off a car lot. I went one state over and bought mine directly from a proverbial little old lady who'd been meticulous about keeping the receipts from the Jaguar dealer. I think one of the advantages of buying a used Jaguar is that they're not just a luxury marque but also something of a "driving enthusiasts" car. That means that many XJ8s were very well cared for from new and there are still some out there like that. Good luck.

We have 1998 XJ8 it was given to me with 100 km on .Its a beautiful car to drive but I have done the timing chain tensioners ,water pump .I have back up car for my wife to drive if something happens.
Mike

I have spent $8,000 over 2 years on a $3,300 car..... No regrets, but it is expensive to
maintain. Not a car to own on a tight budget. If a major problem occurs, the local
junk yard will give you $300. My 98 XJ8 runs, looks and drives better now than when
I purchased it. The dealer can no longer get trim parts, airbag system parts etc. I would
not own one as my only car. With enough $$$ you can make it dependable.

I for one would not recommend you getting this car. Nor any of the cars on your list. Instead I'd look at an older Camry or Accord. Good ones can be found in your price range. By good ones, I mean late 90s/early 2000s cars well maintained and cared for. Jaguars do not corner the market on dotting owners. There are plenty of Toyota and Honda owners that take maintenance of their cars as seriously as we (jaguar owners) do.

Just because its an older car, it doesn't mean that repairs will be cheap. True, some repairs will but some will put a huge dent into your budget. What's the point of owning the car if you will lose sleep worrying what can happen with it tomorrow? The car you are looking at has no maintenance history. Transmission out of a used car is no guarantee that it will last long. I would also be leery of a non-jag specialist working on my jaguar.

Anyway, you asked for an opinion and that's what I'm offering...

The secondary timing tensioners are very, very easy to change. I only removed the fans, the intake tube, and the valve covers, nothing else.

The fans were removed so we could get a socket on the crank pulley bolt to turn the motor to where none of the cam lobes were putting any pressure on the cams, so the cams easily lifted out of the way to get the old tensioner out and new one in.

One tip I suggest is to use a battery powered drill with a socket attachment to do most of the unbolting and bolting (before torquing to final spec). This will save you an hour of labor. I could probably do the whole job again in 2 hours total, and I am by no means a trained mechanic.

Here is a video of the hardest part: Changing secondary timing tensioners in Jaguar XJ8 or XJR or XKR 1998-2002 - YouTube

Really, it was that easy.

Oh and DEFINITELY buy one of these upgrades http://www.welshent.com/product_info...th=722_764_770


p.s. this would be a good time to change the spark plugs with easy access.

p.p.s. This IS a jag, so you WILL be fixing it from time to time, regardless of doing all the regular maintenance.

Do it.