XJ XJ8 / XJR ( X308 ) 1997 - 2003

New XJR owner, what necessary work to be done?

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Old Nov 8, 2020 | 04:47 PM
  #1  
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Default New XJR owner, what necessary work to be done?



Greeting All! I am a new jaguar owner and this is the first jag I have ever owned. I purchased this car with 90k miles but there is no maintenance history. There are no apparent issues, there was no rattling when the car started up cold. I drove the car four hours home from wisconsin and it felt great the whole time. Since i do not know the history of the car, is there any required work that needs to be done on the car for peace of mind? Timing chain guides?

 
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Old Nov 8, 2020 | 07:17 PM
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Linas,

A beautiful car!

Yes, you should definitely investigate whether or not the primary and secondary timing chain tensioners have been replaced. Inspection is pretty easy, remove the passenger-side valve cover to view the upper tensioner, if it is red plastic it is original, if it is "white' steel colored, it is the later type.

The marque can suffer from leaking heater hoses at these ages, they are located under the intake manifold and it is preventative maintenance to replace them, along with the 3-way plastic connector located under there too.

Check your ride height, it should measure 15.25" front and 14.6" rear measured from the center of the wheel to the apex of the fender arch with a full tank of fuel. If you find that the car is sitting low, it may need rear suspension donuts and/shocks, and front suspension upper shock plates and shocks.

The engine mounts (two of them) are liquid filled and can suffer from deterioration after this number of years. Signs of failure include evidence of leaking and/or engine movement/vibration.

The compound drive shaft is supported by a flexible center carrier bearing which can collapse over time. Symptoms are a vibration at 50mph-70mph.

The SC version like yours has a Mercedes transmission which has a reputation of being sturdy and trouble free.

The ABS unit can suffer from cracked internal solder joints over time, this produces a "ABS Control Unavailable" warning, with an accompanying "Reduced Performance" warning, but the ABS unit is easily removed for repair.

On the whole they are a reliable vehicle, only suffering age related problems similar to other vehicles of this vintage.

Welcome to the forum.

 
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Old Nov 8, 2020 | 08:23 PM
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Nice car, welcome.
 
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Old Nov 10, 2020 | 01:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Carnival Kid
Linas,

A beautiful car!

Yes, you should definitely investigate whether or not the primary and secondary timing chain tensioners have been replaced. Inspection is pretty easy, remove the passenger-side valve cover to view the upper tensioner, if it is red plastic it is original, if it is "white' steel colored, it is the later type.

The marque can suffer from leaking heater hoses at these ages, they are located under the intake manifold and it is preventative maintenance to replace them, along with the 3-way plastic connector located under there too.

Check your ride height, it should measure 15.25" front and 14.6" rear measured from the center of the wheel to the apex of the fender arch with a full tank of fuel. If you find that the car is sitting low, it may need rear suspension donuts and/shocks, and front suspension upper shock plates and shocks.

The engine mounts (two of them) are liquid filled and can suffer from deterioration after this number of years. Signs of failure include evidence of leaking and/or engine movement/vibration.

The compound drive shaft is supported by a flexible center carrier bearing which can collapse over time. Symptoms are a vibration at 50mph-70mph.

The SC version like yours has a Mercedes transmission which has a reputation of being sturdy and trouble free.

The ABS unit can suffer from cracked internal solder joints over time, this produces a "ABS Control Unavailable" warning, with an accompanying "Reduced Performance" warning, but the ABS unit is easily removed for repair.

On the whole they are a reliable vehicle, only suffering age related problems similar to other vehicles of this vintage.

Welcome to the forum.
All good advice. I would only add that mine was showing the ABS warning and thankfully it was just a loose sensor on one of the wheels.

You might also want to have the oil changed in the supercharger if there's no evidence that it has been done. Much cheaper than a rebuild.

 
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Old Nov 11, 2020 | 02:49 PM
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Read through the forums and you'll find out a lot. If you're near the suburbs I can help out with some stuff
 
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Old Nov 12, 2020 | 10:12 AM
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Carnival
Your XJ* looks exactly like mine - except mine has 1K
 
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