Hi All,

I recently purchased a 1998 XJ8. It's Navy Blue and has 111,000 miles on it. The interior is immaculate and externally it's in great shape. I purchased it from an older gentleman who kept it well maintained and he even had service records. I purchased it for $4k. There was an issue, the seller was upfront about it, it would not start (not that he could lie about that). I checked the internet and I kept finding links to this site and the issues that I was seeing made me feel comfortable that the issue wouldn't be too expensive to fix. Turns out, that was the case; I had to replace 3 relays and that solved to no start problem. That was $43 from Jaguar.

I have a wonderful mechanic, he has done great work on my Mazda 929 (believe it or not, the 929 is a very intricate car to work on) and he went through the car and found that I need to replace the driver and passenger side Valve Cover Gaskets, I need a new Serpentine Belt, both lower front ball joints and the Brake Fluid Level Sensor needs to be replaced. That's all that he found. Getting it towed from High Point, NC, which is about an 1.5hrs away, plus the labor of 4hours of going through the car, the labor for the work and shop fees, I am looking at under $1k. So, for about $5k, I am looking at a fully functional and mechanically updated XJ8.

This is the why I am typing this, are there other things that I should be aware of or keep an eye on, that have been routine to go out on this car? Anything you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Check the service records to make sure the secondary timing chain tensioners have been replaced. If not, replace immediately. They can be changed at he same time as the cam cover gaskets.

 

Thanks Dan. I will do so.

 

Yep, what Dan said. Those tensioners are the big issue. If you can't find service records have him take a picture of them and compare them to the pictures/videos you can find of the new and old ones. Also look for oil on the air filter and in the air box and air tube. This could be a sign or another common issue that's been covered in depth here. Congrats on the car btw they are dead sexy!

 

Thank you. Yes it is quite sexy, I am really loving it.

I appreciate the tips. The more I can tackle now, the better.