Picking up my 1990 xjs later today. The guy selling it says it needs a new head gasket (which he is giving to me), but I'm not sure if I should just go with what he says or fully diagnose it myself. He already started taking it apart so I guess the real question is: Should I continue taking it apart and throw the new gasket set in there or would it be wise to put it back together and do a few tests and observe for myself what happens?

He didn't give much information as to symptoms of what was wrong. And from what I saw so far he has removed the manifolds, the valve covers, and some other stuff like air intakes and spark plug wires.

For $800 dollars this could turn out to be a total junker and I honestly would still be proud to say I owned a Jaguar in my few short years of being an adult. (22 years old).

I'll post some pics later when I get it home.

 

Grats on the new purchase and hopeful it will turn out better than you expect

 

i was gonna buy my jaguar today, but the guy called me yesterday and told me he sold it.

 

thanks! really dissappointed right now though. the towing guy I had come by to pick it up for me refused to drive onto the grass to load it onto his flatbed because he said he would 'sink in and get stuck.'

i dont know much about towing but somehow i dont see a truck with 8 wheels getting stuck in the back yard. :/ Tomorrow i'm going to try again with a different towing company, this guy definitely seemed a bit unreasonable.

 

sounds like he was afraid the owner of the lawn would get butthurt and sue. thats why ive got my own tow dolly.

 

get a head puller, i have one, its great for pulling the heads due to the corrosion between the studs and the head!!!! and why dont you try to towhook it out to the street, the car has one under the right headlight by the oil cooler.

 

+1 on the headpuller.
But you might want to look around for a used engine too. I found one with only 49K miles on it for just $100. Was much cheaper than buying head gaskets and a puller.

 

Any links for this head puller?