Jaguar XJS

That's intersting, I don't think the UK cars had Catalysts until the final face lift (say 1992 onwards). I had a 3.6 XJ-S and loved it, but in the UK rust is a big issue. There are several condensation traps in the rear sails, wheel arches, chrome work and boot plinth strip. Also a rust stress line is very common, let's say normal, on the front shock absorber mountings. Most cars have a repair here in the engine bay. Here the V12 was supposed to be better; as the the warmth of the big block helped dry out the engine bay over night and reduced the rust... or so I heard. I've still seen V12's with rusted shock mounts.

Otherwise the inboard rear brake discs tend to cook the differential oil seals, which is quite a time consuming job (about 20hrs) by the time you drop the exhaust, rear sub frame, strip suspension, remove and rebuild diff and then reassemble. Later cars (1992-) moved to outboard mounted brakes and a new differential from the XJ40. So less of an issue (4,0 and 6,0 cars)

They can often break front road springs (again helped by salt and corrosion - UK) and bushings soften with age.

All in all they are not bad for a 70's design and mine ran well.

The 3.6 used to give about 230BHP and 28 MPG, but if you're only thinking of using it on weekends and high days then the V12 is the one to god for. Exceptional ride quality and effortless torque. Just ignore the fuel bills.

The only things I've heard on the V12, timing chains can get rattly on high mileage cars, Lucas fuel injection and distributor is not perfect in terms of reliability and the front two spark plugs are often in very poor condition....

To change 10 of the spark plugs is okay. To remove the front two you must remove the cruise control system from the valley of the V12, then the air conditioning pump to give proper access to the plugs. Hence you can find old plugs that are never changed or new ones cross threaded where someone has tried to wrangle the spark plug in without removing the obstructions.

Handling is competent, in fact I'd say good. But the XJ-S is definately a GT car, not a sports car. It is soft, heavy and comfortable. Also dammed quiet and has a big boot!


As for the XK, well it shows what 20 years development can bring. The V8 is great and the supercharged unit is just fantastic. The whole car is tighter and better to drive, although there is much heritage carried forward from XJ-S to XK.


You pay your money and take your choice.


David

 

Any X308 model.

3.2 V8 is good, a quick quiet car, but lacks some torque so gearbox shifts quite a lot.
4.0 V8 is much better and is only about 2 MPG worse (depends on your driving)
4.0 V8 supercharged XJ-R... I am biased. I am still morning the loss of mine. My employer insisted it was too old and had to go, but it ticked every box...

Exceptional ride comfort
Secure handling
Effortless and excellent performance (0-60MPH in 5.2 secs).

In 40K miles it had a new thermostat (£150) and no other failures.


David
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Beautiful cars, all of them. It seems the consensus is the later XK8/XKR is superior in every way to the XJS. A shame, really, as I find the XJS to be much prettier.
I saw a V12 coupe on the road just tonight and was reminded of this thread. It sure would make a nice daily driver, if it were reliable (a must, of course). With the family growing and me not getting any younger, and a wife who refuses to learn standard, the temptation for a GT like a Jag coupe is growing.
My biggest hesitation is the reliability as I'm drawn to the older styles.

 

I have a 1989 XJS V-12. I've had it for a few years, and I'm the second owner. Like all Jaguars, I have a love/hate relationship with the car.

I love the car because it looks fantastic. My wife always gets comments from multiple people if she takes it on a drive. The car has a huge trunk and a back seat large enough to stuff my kids into so it is much more practical than my typical 2 seat cars. As you would expect from a V-12, the car is extremely smooth.

What I hate most is working on the car. The fuel injection system is very poorly documented, doesn't support OBD, and has multiple variations. This is the only car that I own with parts that I don't know what they do. It drives me nuts. The car also drips oil. I'm still working on tracking down the source of my leak. Supposedly the cars (like mine) made after Ford bought Jag leak much less than the earlier cars. As was mentioned before, spark plug changes are way too difficult. Having said all that, I've had to do very little maintenance on the car.

If you buy one, you need to have reasonable performance expectations for what you are getting. Off the line, the car will feel slow relative to a good modern car. Once you get over 70mph things change, and it can effortlessly cruise at high speed.

If you decide to buy one, make sure you find a car with very few owners and a detailed service history. The car should also have regular miles put on it. A car that sits will probably have many more problems than a car that is driven with higher mileage. I looked at some very scary cars while tracking mine down. Also, if you want style, go for an earlier car with the rounded tail lights rather than the later squared off lights that Ford put on.

This is my wife's and daughter's favorite car so I think it will be in my herd for a while.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

 

Quite a few parts there with unknown function.

There are a million places that could be leaking, good luck "fixing" it. Fuel leaks are also a problem, many cars have gone up in flames.

 

This thread keeps me thinking. I do have one question: Any notorious rust issues?

 

yea they rust.

 

Yes, they do rust. I have mainly seen it in the wheel wells. The cars aren't too rare because they were made for so long. If you look around, you can find one that is rust free and in good mechanical shape for cheap.

Fuel leaks are a problem. That is the other leak I'm trying to solve. I have the faint hint of fuel in the trunk but can't track down where exactly it is coming from. It is time to put some dye in the fuel to see if that helps track it down. It may just be a vent hose, but this car has at least 6 fuel lines and vents plus two fuel tanks where 2 or 3 lines plus one tank would have functioned perfectly. Why Jaguar decided to do the fuel system this way is a mystery to me. When you are looking at cars, make sure you smell around the battery in the trunk. This is often the location of fuel leaks because there are so many components together in that area.

I guess with my car, I haven't spent much on parts, but I have spent time trying to track down leaks. The only fluid that doesn't seem to be slowly dripping is the coolant. I guess I can't blame just Jaguar for the leaks. I have to blame all the British because this has been the story with all of the British cars I've owned. Italian, German, and Japanese cars don't seem to leak.

If the XJS didn't leak and had a comprehendable fuel injection + emissions setup, I would 100% love the car. If you don't want to deal with these problems and are willing to sacrifice the V-12, there are a lot of kits to put a 350 into an XJS, but that is a whole new can of worms.

 

The "John's Cars" V8 swap only fixes part of the problem, the rest of the car has it's own issues. When the heater core or A/C evaporator springs a leak, damned near the whole dashboard has to come out to fix it (Ka-Ching!). This is true with other cars as well but I've seen a lot of Jaguars with this problem.

 

Check out jagbits.com and read the Kirby Palm guide for xjs owners. It's a must if you own an xjs. Don't worry it's free.

 

From a UK point of view, yes XJ-S's can rust.

Common areas:
rear wheel arch (double skin lap)
line from rear arch back along just above bumper
insider edge of sail panel
boot plinth strip - very frequent (a bolt on part - about £50 plus paint)
Front road springs (bottom coil can rust and break due to sitting on salty water on lower spring pan)
Front shock absorber mounting - inside engine bay.

I've heard tell of rust on body at front sub-frame connections, but I have not witnessed it on XJ and XJ-S's I've checked out.

Underneath depends on how they have been treated. Mine was far from a brilliant example, but it was, structurally, still solid end to end.


Remember we have a fair amount of wet and damp weather in the UK and we use a lot of road salt in winter. So all cars get a salt bath, which exagerates rust.


David

 

I had one and drove it year round in Wis. Handled great in the snow. V12 just kept pulling like it had endless power. Not a real quick car but it loved the freeway. Smooth as glass for passing. An XJS V12 is not too expensive to buy but can be to keep them up. Parts are not cheap. Watch for fuel leaks. The cause for most Chevy 350 conversions. BBQ of the 12 cyl. Rust can be a problem. Lots of places for water to get trapped. If the underbody rusts too far, rear end can get loose. Ask me how I know that. LOL I liked the car except that it seemed to be over engineered. Too complicated and too many parts. Lots of stuff can go wrong. If you want to buy one, be sure it was well maintained and it should give you lots of fun miles.

 

ive lived in my house for about 20 years... moved 1989-90.

my neighbor had an xjs sitting in his driveway. i loved that car. fast forward 19 years, that car is still sitting in the same spot, rotting away under a tarp. sad. such a beautiful car.

 

Amazing V12 sound in the TWR factory race car...libidinous!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if2j6yqZg0Q

Impressive driving aswell...

 

+1!! My daily driver is a Series III XJ6. 121K, going strong and ohhhh that magic carpet ride

 

Toronto308, If you are considering buying a sporty Jag as a daily driver I would recommend the XK8/XKR models. I have owned my XK8 convertible for quite a few years now and I have loved every minute of it. I have not yet experienced any mechanical issues with it what so ever. In my opinion the XK8/R gives you more for your money. Now days, a later model XJS cost roughly the same amount as an early model XK8.
I am no expert on XJS's but I am aware that they experience quite a few mechanical and cosmetic issues that can be extremely expensive to repair.

If you would like to drop buy my house sometime in the summer months, I would love to take you out for a ride in the XK8 and maybe perhaps change your mind! I would also like to see your 79' 308.

Good Luck on your decision, choose the car that feels right for you.

Best Regards,
Ron Zeraldo

 

I've had my XJS V12 for just over a year now.... it took some work to 'get it right'... however, now it is an absolute joy to drive.

Maintenance was, apparently, not a priority with the previous owner, and it was very labor-intensive to get the engine running properly... but, not it's done, and for the past four months I drive it to work three days a week...

As has been said before in this thread, it really draws a crowd and gets comments.

Mike in Kuwait
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Beautiful !

 

Thanks TS.... it was a lot of work to get it right... but well worth it.

Mike in Kuwait

 

What a stunner...is that a black pin-stripe or is it silver? (my monitor is a bit poor!)

 

Love it Mike.

I expect to get one soon. What engine issues did you have...what should I look out for?


Beev

 

It's actually red.... to match the interior.

Mike in Kuwait

 

Beev,

Obviously, heat is an issue here (from May through October).

The harness for the fuel injection lays in the valley between the heads. Couple high heat with very thin wiring, and you end up with cracked insulation. What I ended up doing was removing everything off the top of the engine, and literally rewiring the injector harness from scratch. That, and cleaning all the injectors, solved about 80% of the roughness at idle, and the "Check Engine" code (FF13).

Other than that, again I believe because of the heat, I had to replace all the body bushings, the trailing arm bushings, and the A-frame bushings... essentially everything that was rubber under the car. Most of them were just... gone. Not hard, cracked, and chipped... but gone. The trailing arms literally fell of the body mount when I removed the clamps holding them to the axle.

I also had the radiator rodded and new end caps installed, and because of a recurring ABS light, found a small plastic connector on the hose from the brake fluid reservoir to the ABS booster that was cracked and letting air in the booster. It was unavailable from Jaguar, so I took it to a machinist who fabricated one out of brass for me that matched exactly.

Let's see.... other minor issues....no code for the radio (if you ever disconnect the battery, there's 4 digit code you have to put in the radio).... found it written on the side of the radio. Replaced the self-extending antenna, did A LOT of engine cleaning and detailing...

The ONLY issue I can think of with the car right now is that the glove box latch is spotty. It needs a new closing latch, but none are available here, and haven't had the chance to go on line an look for one... It's closed now, but if anyone were to open it, it would take 10 minutes or so to get it to latch closed and stay closed... and it's NOT an adjustment issue... apparently there are parts missing on the existing latch.

Replaced one cracked headlight and both badly cracked front fog lights.

Of course the usual, new tires, checked the rims for runout, new battery, replaced all the fluids (especially the trans, power steering, and brake fluids.... the heat here KILLS them).

OH! I almost forgot...ALL the carpet in the truck was either gone or a complete mess. So, I had it all replaced and had a cover for the spare tire and a tool bag made from the same material... looks better than new, now...

Mike in Kuwait

 

Hi Ron,

Sorry I haven't been here for a bit and thanks for the offer. I will take you up on it! Of course I'm happy to bring my 308 and we can swap seats for a bit. Sounds like fun!

Esteban

 

Thanks Mike,

I just spoke with my British car expert/mechanic here and he says the XJS 12 cyl are great cars (6 cyl just as quick and more economical, but he personally prefers the 12)...he recommended replacing all the engine hoses as soon as I purchase the car (heat/age issues)....he figures about $1000.00 should do it.....he also says that the convertibles have more rust issues around the rear where water gets in and the the metal structure in that area is weak compared with the coupe. Engine is supposed to be almost bullit proof.

I will own one (coupe) next summer for sure and maybe Esteban and I can meet up.....since we are two Canadian car enthusiasts with similar car taste!


Beev