New member looking to buy my first XK8. I've learned a lot from this forum and I want to thank everyone for their informative posts.
I have found a 2000 with 100,000 miles fur just under $10,000 which I have determined has the Nikasil but shows no smoke and runs great so I'm not to worried about it. No noise on startup but I would do the tensioners to prevent a problem. My concern is there is a metal plate under the drivers footwell near where the crossbrace attaches. It has advanced corrosion and actually has a hole rusted through the middle of it. Is this a big concern or a no big deal?

 

It's a common complaint you can find several threads about it here's one https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...09/#post506528
As to whether it is a big deal or not depends on the extent and your tolerance to cutting out rust and re-welding.

 

Hiya:

I live in probobly one of the rusty places in the world ( with salt air and salt sprayed roads ) Cars have come along way from the 70s when you could watch them rust. I bought my xk8 and rust was one of the major selling points ( lack thereof ) It was a southern dry car and it shows. Not to put you off your potential ride. I have always had a rust code and that is to avoid any car with it if you can. They all have a bit but you can always add parts to a good body but if rust has got a hold of the body I would avoid it. Anywhoo just my 2 cents worth. And the title of my reply says it all !!!

 

Thanks for the replys. I am in Minnesota and they use a lot of salt on the roads in the winter. The car comes with a set of snow tires so I know it has been exposed. If I had found a lot of corrosion I would run away but otherwise the car is solid. No other signifigant corrosion anywhere, just that one spot which is about as big around as a dime.

 

I put these pics up on another thread but here you go











I now know someone producing a proper repair section for this problem if you are interested.

 

It's a consequence of the manufacturing process and not an indication of sloppy maintenance.

The plate under the vehicle is used on the production line. When the seal breaks down and water gets trapped, it rusts through the floor.

Other than the work involved in stripping the moulded carpet out of the way to access the floor, it's not a difficult repair.

Graham

 

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After reading more I guess I have learned something and another thankyou to all in the forum. Did not know about these plates and the other trouble spots. If thats the only rust on the car you are thinking about it does not seem to big a deal. Looks like its fairly easy to get at. Will check my car. Wow they are alot better than they use to be. I guess they are plating more of the sheet metal inside and out as most manufacturers are these days

 

The JTIS, Section 501-00, has a drawing showing all of the parts that are zinc coated.It looks like just about all of the sheet metal is zinc coated, except for the floor pan!! I wonder if that has something to do with the floor pan being a carry-over from the XJS, which would put it's origins back in the '70s.

 

Thanks for the pics, XKRacer! That sure looks like the area where I saw the rust on the one I am interested in. I'm going to have to take another look at it and see how advanced it is. At least I know it is repairable.

 

I took my son who is much more flexible than I am to look at it today, he didn't think the rust was a big deal. He did find evidence of coolant spray on top of the radiator though and discovered there is a hole worn through the bottom of the upper radiator hose where it was resting on top of the fan shroud. I guess that explains the low cooland alert in the display! Unless the experts here think this isn't a big deal I think I am going to keep looking, I'm not too crazy about buying an aluminum engine which has been run low on coolant and an unpressurized system for who knows how long.

 

Even if the rust turns out to be right through the floorpan, it's not too difficult to fix and then wouldn't be a cause for further concern.

The radiator hose wearing from rubbing against the shroud is another regular fault. Are you saying it's worn a hole right through the hose and leaking coolant? If someone is selling the vehicle without fixing this, it raises suspicions about what else they may have skipped in maintaining the vehicle.

Graham

 

Yup - hole through the hose. The car is at a local dealership and they allegedly replaced a leaking valve cover gasket. Not sure how they would miss checking the coolant level. They called me today and dropped the price, it is down to $9250. The price is very attractive but I am concerned about what problems I may be getting into. Besides the rust and the hose it otherwise runs and drives great and everything seems to work.

 

hi all , does anyone know of anyone making rust repair panels in australia ?

 

$8500 max (Edmunds.com) with a new hose and a long test run to see if you can cause an overheat. Probably looking at a hobby car with that age and milage, esp. if you like to take on weekend projects, although my '99 has been pretty reliable after taking care of the usual weak spots. For that money, the car is either disposable and don't worry about the rust, or your pride and joy which will take some maintenance $$$. Either way, it's a fun car. Make sure that the engine upgrade to new tensioners has been done, or get an allowance off the price of $500 - $1000 because the car will soon die without it.

 

If I hadn't found the hose problem I would have bought it, but who knows how much coolant had been lost and how long it had been driven like that. On my test drive the engine temp was normal but thanks to this forum I discovered the temp gauge is more of an idiot light so who knows how hot it was actually running. The possibility of engine damage, the corrosion and some advanced wear on the interior made me walk away. It is no longer listed at the dealership so hopefully it found a good home. My search continues, I am hoping to find one a year or two and several miles younger! Here in the snow belt the pickings are slim though.

 

Just my two cents worth. My XK8 is in perfect condition, upper tensioners replaced, 46K miles no rust anywhere and I don't think I could get $10K for it in this market. With that kind of miles on that one and rust with a leak in the radiator hose that may have caused an overheat with old tensioners the price seems very high. I think you could do a lot better for that kind of money or better with a lot less money. Go on Ebay and look around or any of the online auto trader web sites.