Car is a convertible and I know of a couple of issues with that year, thermostat sticking closed and belt tensioner breaking and the usual electrical gremlins.

1) Is it reasonable to even try making this car a daily driver (94k miles) ?

2) I have seen posts about blown hydraulic hoses, are they the only problem with the tops? i.e. is the top dependable

3) Any common problems I should look for, when inspecting the vehicle?

4) I have seeen a couple things on the internet about seat leather wearing out rather quickly, is this a real problem.

5) Any handling issues or quirks with this car?

6) How does the paint hold up?

7) Anything I miss or should know?

 

I bought a 2000 last year and really love the car. When I bought the car I wasn't aware of any of the cronic problems. But I became aware real quick after buying the book "Jaguar XK8" by Nigel Thorley. Scared hell out of me. But the car only had 37,000 miles on it so I decided to have a go. Went to a speciality shop nearby and asked how much to fix the tensioners. They thought they had failed and told me $8,500 since they had just fixed a jag with 74,000 miles that had tensioner failure. We corrected that misconeption. I continued my research and decided to do the upper ones only myself (search my post for complete pictures). Changed the antifreeze and brake fluid. At first I was concerned about the nikasil cylinders which I have due to oil consumption. Looks like I am getting about four to five thousand miles per quart. No problem.

I bought the car for my wife and she drives it almost every day doing her thing just like any other car. We now have 43,000 on it after a trip in it last fall. We both love it and I intend to keep the car and use it just like any other car while monitoring it. At 50,000 miles I will change the transmission fluid and maybe the main tensioners. But the price was low enough and it looks and handles so great that we believe it is worth the problems we might, and I say might have. It also helps that it has never been driven hard and won't be. I also added the resistor in the top motor to reduce the pressure so as not to have a green shower.

Have fun with it.

 

Do they sell the replacement parts in a kit for the tensioners or do you have to buy each piece separately?

Also, do you know what year they stopped putting the plastic tensioners in the 4.0?

 

You can buy a kit online, numerous places have them. I got mine on ebay, which was the new design tensioners along with gaskets that you need for the repair.

I believe 02 was the cut-off year. I have an 02 and am still doing the tensioners just in case. If you search for "upper tensioners" ypu'll get all the details.

 

Are there only the upper tensioners or is there more I should replace.

Also, how hard is this, as a DIY project?

 

From my experience as a new-ish owner of an 02 XKR, that's the main thing. Id also consider the following:

- are the valve covers leaking? = gaskets
- is there any sign of coolant leaking? = possible heater "octopus" replacement
- is there clunking noise from the rear suspension? = new rear shocks, or just lower shock bushings
- has the tranny been flushed (receipts available)? rear diff? = flush to be safe, can be a bit pricier if done by shop though
- seats worn (especially in the side bolsters?) = redye kit (~$50, or if really bad, new seat cover for ~$300 or so)
- handling wise no quirks really, just if you have the adaptive CATS suspension be ready to pay extra $$$ for replacement shocks (has CATS if you see wire leads going to top shock mounts in the front, under the hood)
- paint holds up great in my opinion
- my 02 xkr coupe is a daily driver, no complaints


In this category of sports coupes (XK, SLK, 911, CL...) it seems like there's always little things to fix, but the above listed are no big deal, nothing near the woes of merc ABC suspension issues or 911 engine failures. One of the reasons I picked up the Jag is that everything seems to be DIY, and there's plenty of help and support on these forums for people willing to do the fixes themselves. In my opinion I'd rather have the jag than any other sport coupe of similar generation out there right now, in large reason due to the DIY aspect. Good luck!

 

What is the heater octopus?

Is that like a heater core?

 

-> https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk8-xkr-17/found-my-coolant-leak-ive-been-chasing-add-current-list-dos-38404/

"It is a mass of molded hoses, couplings, check valves, etc on the firewall behind the engine."



Some people have issues with leaks with this "hose matrix", but again, replacement is DIY and about ~$150 in parts.

 

If you do a search on my threads "EZDriver" and look for upper tensioner replacement you will find eleven detail pictures showing the step by step proceedure along with detail descriptions and problems encountered. One problem was almost a show stopper which I solved in a unique way. It is not a hard job. But it is a detailed job that has to be done right. The pictures tell the story. They also show how the tensioners start to fail along with a comparision with the new metal ones.

Starting in very late 02 they switched to the metal tensioners and the primary chain was changed to a morse chain. We had one example of this with the 4.0 engine that was a late 02 model. All 4.2 engines are the latest and greatest.

EZDriver 2000 XK8 1995 XJ6

I just looked up the posted thread. It was posted on 04-06-2011 and is titled "Exerience & pics of replacing the upper cam chain tensioners (2 post special pics)" Just search on EZDriver and go to second page and look for that date and tidle.

I would like to see this become a sticky

 

Here's the link
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...al-pics-52653/

EZ I'll add a link to your post in the FAQ's rather than just a how to it helps people to understand the difference between the tensioner types and why they should change them and not procrastinate.

 

Thanks for the link, but I cannot see any of the pics.

 

Randy, you need 3 days since signup and a post count of 10 to see the pictures and get access to all the forum features. You are almost there. BTW, welcome !

 

Thanks WhiteXKR

Now, where can I get the best price on the tensioner kit?

 

For those wishing to save a few dollars on the 4.0 secondary tensioner upgrade I have verified (on my 2001 XKR) the equivalent Ford Lincoln LS (3.9L) parts:

Ford PN 2W9Z6K254BA Right Secondary metal bodied Tensioner (1 required)
Ford PN 2W9Z6K254CA Left Secondary metal bodied Tensioner (1 required)
Ford PN W500301S300 Bolt (4 required)

I got good pricing at http://www.sunroadfordparts.com. The Ford parts even said 'JAG' on the box.

Additionally, a good quality, fully compatible and complete gasket set (valve cover, full set of grommets, spark plug seals) is Felpro (Part # VS50724R) at a great price ($37.09 last I checked) from Rockauto. http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...parttype,10710

 

nice tastey mosel of inforrmation meatloaf