2001 Jaguar XK8 Convertable.
Been a while since I have posted due to been a while to get this car repaired.
Finally, has taken quite some time to find the shop that knows how to work on Jags, or wants to work on older Jaguars.
Lot of balony from a lot of independant shops , even from various Jag dealers.
Turns out the constant miss fire was the result of bad head gaskets.
Various shops, dealers all wanted to do the quick temporary fix such as coils and plugs.
Sure the car ran fine until the head gasket leaks fowled the plugs again and again and again.
Yeah this is the car that had the dented quarter panel bought form a local auto dealer ship in Houston.
Had the heads redone, chains and tensioners replaced and the car is finally fixed correctly.
Bought the car with 73k miles put maybe 500 miles on it taking it to various dealers and independant shops.
They all " knew how to work on Jags ", turns out not to be the case.
Car now has 82k miles and the wife loves it!
So if you have the constant misfire you maybe looking at head gaskets.
If your looking for a Houston area shop thats knows Jags, that place is Motor Cars Ltd Houston.
I do not work at or have any interests in Motor Cars Ltd Houston.

 

Wow, it has been a while!

I'm happy to hear that you got to the bottom of it eventually.
Motorcars Ltd are well known and used to be forum sponsors, I'm not sure if they still are.
Good to know they took care of you.

 

Hope it hasn't taken the full 18 months to fix!

1. was it on one bank only?
2. where exactly was the leak/blow?
3. just the new gaskets cured it - head(s) true and no skimming required?

Graham

 

GGG,
I bought this car used with about 73K miles.
For some reason this car had a new head on the driver side.
Head bolts on both heads were found loose.
Both heads were pulled. Heads and block were checked and found ok.
New head gaskets, new chains, new gears, new tensioners and new guides were installed. Water pump upgrade was installed also.
Head leaks were on both head, I don't know between which cylinders.
Appears head gaskets alone would have repaired this car.
Repair time was close to one year.

 

That's been a combination of both good and bad luck in big slices. You must almost have forgotten what the XK8 looked like by the time you eventually got it back!

Block or head damage would probably have needed a replacement engine but a good Jag mechanic should have diagnosed the gaskets. As you say, there's a lot who claim to be experts but in fact lack the knowledge.

Now you've found them, I'm sure you'll be sticking with Motor Cars Ltd Houston for any future work.

Let's have a celebratory pic.

Graham