http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac...076545353.html

Considering buying that car. I called up the guy and he said that he had been driving and saw white smoke, though failed to mention if it was out the back or under the hood. He said he pulled over and stopped it, towed it home, and hasn't started it since. He put in a new battery and said it has been sitting for 6 months. Hasn't tried to start it yet. He specifically mentioned that the engine didn't lock up. He didn't seem to know a single thing about cars, but he could have been bluffing when he said he didn't know exactly what was wrong; that he only knew the symptoms.

So, $900 delivered for this car. I'm not new to working on cars, and I do just about any work that needs to be done on my 95 Regal and my 2005 Bonneville GXP (4.6L Northstar V8).

The mileage on this car is 63,000. I have an appointment to meet with the guy tomorrow. If someone can give me some advice or things to look out for, I'd greatly appreciate it. If I do end up getting it, you can be sure I'll be around here a lot more often.

 

The V12's are great engines, so long as you keep them cool. Things get very uncool otherwise.

That car likely has a blown head gasket or two, and once they've been run hot there is no way to insure that the valve seats are going to stay in the heads. If it's like the majority of similarly afflicted XJS, it will need a radiator, thermostats, lots of coolant hoses (I think 17 is the magic number) and both heads rebuilt. Then, from the looks of it, you'll have a nice car.

If you're paying for labor in Cali, I think the bottom line will be prohibitive. Of course, the smoking could be from a less serious cause: failed vacuum modulator sucking trans fliud into the engine to burn is one example. I agree with your assumumption that the owner has information to hide: why would you not at least get an estimate for required repairs before deciding to dump a decent car for next to nothing? Seems to me that most owners, particularly the ones without a clue, would have their broken Jag towed to a shop and wait for the news. And sell if they didn't like what they heared.

So it just depends on how much you want to invest in making the car roadworthy, and I would guess that it might take alot. Look around for similar cars that you can buy for 4-5K, which you can actually test drive, and think about it before you take a leap of faith.

 

If anything, I'd be getting this car to drive as a sunday car or to fix and flip it. He did specifically mention white smoke. As far as rebuilding the heads, I figure it would be a job I could do on my own. As I mentioned, I'm not new to working on cars, and I've taken on some pretty big projects before.

That being said, I don't have all the money in the world to burn on something like this. I'll see if I can jumpstart the thing and see how it sounds once its running. I was told that if the valve seats drop, it will sound like its crunching bones in there. I'd do all of the work myself, no matter how long it takes. The only thing I'm concerned with is the price of parts. I noticed head gaskets going for $180 ish a pair, which is a steep price for head gaskets. But at 63,000 miles, I'm really not sure what could have happened. Is there any other information you can give me about what this problem could have been and what it could cost me in parts to fix it?

If it is the head gaskets, is this a job I can do in a garage without pulling the engine out?

 

You're quite welcomed. And if you know much about cars, you know how to identify problems instead of listening to speculation, which is all I had to offer without being able to identify the problems.

 

Looks like a fairly decent XJS for the money. It would be a shame to have it end up in a scrapyard.

But, I gotta tell ya, getting it running is just the beginning. If its anything at all like most used XJSs it'll need a LOT of other repairs to really make it right.

If you want to to do the bare minimum to make it driveable....buy it and flip it sort of thing...you might come out OK if the the motor isn't too badly hurt.

Good luck
DD

 

Thanks for the replies guys. You've been very helpful. I've found some pretty amazing resources online, including a fairly large document made by someone over at jag-lovers.com specifically for the XJ-S. I'm not sure if its worth it to pick up this car. I might try to offer him less than what he's asking since he just seems to want to get rid of it, but if the heads did overheat to the point of dropping the valve seats, it won't be a cheap repair and I won't start on that unless the guy gives me the car for...say...$400. Its simply not worth it, and a dealer will charge you minimum $500 for each head and $360 for gaskets (if not more), on top of a ridiculous amount of labor at a ridiculously high rate. So he might just get rid of it since he mentioned he desperately needs it gone this week. I doubt anyone else will take it with those conditions, as most people looking to flip cars won't embark on working on a V12, but I'd love the challenge.

 

If you go that route, we sell a head puller for about $300. Be prepared to have the heads welded as well. I will bet the bottoms sides are badly pitted. Very common.

 

This is more like the kind of reply I was looking for. I haven't worked on one of these engines before, so unexpected expenses like a $300 head puller would be something I'd like to be able to account for before thinking I can replace the heads on this car like I could on a GM 3800.

The new price on the car is now $700 delivered to my house, so it looks more like it would be worth it to me. The cause of overheating is supposedly one of the thermostats. Some mechanic worked on the car and replaced only one of the thermostats when the car was slightly warming up before. All of the hoses are brand new as well.

This might sound like a dumb question, but what expenses should I expect if I buy this car? Why do I need a head puller in particular? Also, what else should I expect to purchase if I start this project? I do have access to a welder, but I'm not exactly sure if it would require an insane amount of expertise to weld these heads, which I simply don't have.

Do the heads need to be pitted because the engine block becomes pitted at the surface with the heads? I was thinking of buying used heads off of someone else. Thanks for the help. I don't have much time to make a decision on this, so any vital information you can offer me would be very valuable to me, such as whether or not I'd absolutely need a head puller, or any other special tools to do the job.

Quick question...is it even possible to reuse the existing heads?

So far, to get this job done I'm looking at having to purchase head gaskets for both sides, and heads for both sides. Am I missing anything?

 

why all my posts were deleted????

 

Take him 400.00 cash. Get the car home, try to get it to spin if not ceased up. white smoke could be just a leaking hose running out on the block causing white steam. If by chance motor is no good, I would look for a good replacement motor for cheap. There are 12 hoses, The 2 between the motor and firewall are a bitch to replace and I bet they did not get replaced, could be where the leak is at, which would cause white smoke. First thing to do is get a new batter, 850 cold cranking amps and see if it will spin smooth.
I was in a parking garage one day and white smoke came out from under hood at the firewall, looked like spraying for mesquitoes, it was just a split hose between firewall and motor.

 

At this price point you could just part the car out and make money

 

I suspect the car may have been moved on in the last 12 years since this thread was written!

Paul

 

This thread is from 2009....

 

Should be a limit how long a thread last, 12 years is to long, unless it is a tech thread.

 

can't go deleting threads just based on age. If the interest in a particular subject wanes the thread will die a natural death anyway.
That is what happened here until the corpse was exhumed.

 

It’s awesome when the OP shows up to post on a Lazarus thread. So in that case, its good that they remain. A follow up adds to the story, even if it’s sad.