i recently purchased a 2002 Jaguar xk8 and it seems to run properly but today I took off some "jaguar" cover pieces that was covering part of the odometer and it revealed some engine messages and ember and red light. it says ASC not available and battery not charging and engine coolant low..the seller says all the coolants and oils have just been topped off and its ready for smog..the oil light turns on when stopped at a red light or when sitting in drive and then turns off when I start to accel and get speed. I do believe the engine got very hot when riding it home because the tempature gauge on the side went to hot and I pulled over and let it cool down before driving it home. it has 151k miles, engine looks somewhat clean interior is bad

 

sounds like someone covers the gauges so you could not see the warning lights?????? All of that should be clear as day when they come on.

 

Take it back to seller and get your money back. Get a lawyer involved if he doesn't give you your money back.


Covering over dash warnings lights (like rolling back an odometer) is fraud. That car sounds like a lemon. I hope you didn't pay more than $3,000.

 

+1, getting hot is an engine killer. Sounds like the OP purposely concealed the issues. Other than overheating damage everything else "may" be cheaply repairable.

 

Does the car have Navigation and not the 3 gauges?


The Oil Light comes on when the Oil pressure drops towards zero (you could see this on the gage if you have gauges) Going around corners fast with only 4.5 quarts in the car can make the light come on in a good motor. The oil light coming on at idle with 6.9Q of oil points to a bad motor. It's not a good sign at all.


The volt gage of the three gauge panel would tell you if the battery was really charging. If the battery isn't charging you will run down the battery in a day or so, so you will know soon if the battery is not charging. The ASC goes out when voltage is low, just before the battery dies and the car shuts off. An alternator replacement should fix this.


As Jandreu said, the overheating is the killer. On top of the other issues, I would punch out, now.

 

I took it to jaguar place(luckily it got there) and I had a green shower all over the front part of my engine. green fluids leaking all over the top, the tubes for coolant were taped up by the PO and nothing has been replaced only cheaply "fixed" and this made me
Mad. The PO no longer has my money and it looks like I need new coolant hoses and thermostat housing oh and also probably some new vacuum tubes. The jag repair guy Said the engine was strong, i didn't drive it at high tempatire for very long at all, what's your guys' estimate on the replacement cost for this? Thanks again all of you were much help, and also I paid 1K and a trade for it so I guess I didn't get so screwed over..

 

Welcome to the forum Rogerdavis,

Now we know you've haven't overheated the engine, let's get some of the heat out of the discussion!

The reality with an older XK8 is that most need coolant hoses replacing, often a new thermostat and replacing the OE plastic thermostat housing with an aftermarket aluminium equivalent. You would almost certainly have had to do this anyway so maybe it's just a bit sooner than planned or expected.

The 'low coolant' message is usually a faulty sender in the Expansion Tank.

The covered up warning lights is more concerning. The PO was definitely trying to conceal something. These vehicles are very sensitive to battery condition and a partially discharged or failing battery can throw up all kinds of error messages. Have the battery checked/charged and replaced if necessary.

There is likely to be a number of error codes set to have triggered the warning lights. Have the codes read to get a better idea of what's happening.

Low oil pressure is always a worry. At worst it could be a failing oil pump but is more likely to be a faulty relief valve.

When you get a minute, please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some info about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see. In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham

 

The coolant should be orange, but not a big deal if its all green.

There are lots of resources on the web site to fix all of the problems, but there are likely many, many more than the current, obvious failures.

By 150K miles, the suspension/brakes should on the their rapid downhill slide and need replacement: (shocks, shock mounts, bushings, tie rods, wheel bearings, rotors, balljoints, etc). Based on the neglect shown for the rest of the car, I would guess this is not the case. Hopefully the previous owners spent all of their money on suspension and didn't have any left over to fix the motor issues.

Once you get the motor sorted, it and the trans shouldn't be a ticking timebomb like the earlier models, so you won't have to spend a bunch of money there, but plan on this car being a money pit. If the car was a 1999 in the condition you describe, it would likely be at the recycler, providing parts to other XK8's.

Even given its a more desirable later model, if you cut your losses now, you can probably buy a nicer, 30-50K mile less XK8 for the money you will have in fixing this one. However, if you love a challenge, this car sounds perfect.

 

If you are not doing the work yourself, or at least some of it, you're going to need deep pockets. I have always been told that it's better in the long run to pay more up front and get a solid car than to buy one that is cheap but needs work.