Hello Jag Forum!


Fellow Jag Friends I need Some help, for I fear Ive scr***d myself...
I recently bought the girl of my dreams, a 1999 xj8L from a mom&pop dealership in Dallas Texas. Ive dreamed of owning a Jag & I mean dreamed..well i saw it online two months ago as I was looking for a car and I went out & got it...
It had 91k, Carfax was good,body was great,interior is awesome, service record up until 81k. Manuals showed name of first owner along with all the good stuff like the old school manuals & the Jag VIP club Cards,,haha cool! In my lame defense this is the first car I've ever bought & I was so dumb so as to not take it to a mechanic prior to the purchase...I test drove it for about 30-min..came back for it the next day...life is good.

I drove the car for about a month & 2 weeks 90+ miles daily...I work far.. First flag was once as I was driving the traction fault yellow light came on...I freaked turned off the car... goggled the code started the car,,,it was gone..I drove the car home & never saw that code again,, . couple weeks later I had the low oil pressure red light come on...stopped the car at Autozone checked the stick & I was below the initial line,,,It took 3 to 4 Qts if I remember correctly to get it back to normal.... code went away,, I figured I was burning oil as I saw no leak,,i began searching for a jag mechanic nearby & picked up some extra shifts(i knew what was ahead ...two weeks after I see the Low coolant light come on,,I stopped the car, checked for coolant,, cap was all the way to the top,, Im 5 days away from mechanic visit....yet this is my daily driver and no bus or taxi can take me to work..I continued driving it.. then, about 3 weeks after the first oil incident as im driving,, the car began to stall going about 50mph as soon as i felt it,,I immediately stopped,,,It had been running good all day...lucky I was next to a gas station...got off first thing i did was check the oil and sure enough,, no oil,, yet I did not get the low oil light warning this time.. i bought again, about 4 quarts, it took them all! left the car off for about 40 min was about to catch a cab..& to my luck work call,,,network down,,, bad news,, I turn the key,, it starts the second time.. but now its shaky Im screwed..I drive it for about 10 miles at highway,, it feels week but i guess the highway sound cancelled out any weird noises... off the freeway,, car began to idle rough & shake a lot. no lights on my dash.. I get to work fix the network and called my buddy at the autozone behind us to put the scanner in it & check for codes..none..

I towed the car home.
I noticed that it emits a "burned" when its on... i turned it on once more at home ,, car runs like crap. I took it to 2x different mechanics since,, one quoted me 5000 for replacing it with used one...is it worth it? the other mechanic right off the bat wanted to simply quote me for broken Tesioners without even looking at the car,, it made me uneasy & I didnt go for it.. A good friend recommended a local guy who owns a BMW shop nearby and had some experience with my Jag as his Grandfather had one and he worked on it.I took it.. he replaced the intake hose as it was cracked where the pipe bend is.. he flushed the engine and added full synthetic 20-50w oil which killed most of the rough noise but later said that the compression test came back bad it was now spitting codes but I failed to ask him specifically what they where. i know.... he said misfire on 2 cylinders,,,bad engine.. bad compression test.. but when i mentioned the all common chain issue he said NOPE it was due to me running it with low oil,, Im just scared that he is leaning towards that diagnosis based only on what I told him,, what are your thoughts on the chain,,? maybe he knows something I don't? ...


he also told me that the coolant line on the top piece of the engine is cracked and needs replaced, & also my transmission solenoid?
I knew this was an issue,, the car would struggle a bit getting out of fourth...it felt like i had to sink the pedal to get out of fourth.or just go easy and smoothly and it was not too noticeable i would say... he quoted 2k on transmission replacement and 5000 on engine...yet I bought my ride for 6000 & to make things worse,,,its financed....


What are my chances here?? I dont wanna be a widow....Its just too early to have her go...

Thanks much for helping me out...I admit I'm a newbie , a bit ignorant and have much to learn.

 

With a bad compression test, you may have damaged the cylinder bore with no oil or bent a valve from a bad tensioner. These 4.0 cars have aluminum bores with an applied coating that can be damaged by an overheat situation or no oil. Once this happens, the engine is a paperweight. If you had the oil light come on and drove more than 30 seconds or so, the bearings would probably be gone anyway. The oil light comes on when the pressure is at about 2-4 psi, not enough to drive on, only enough time to put it in neutral, shut the engine off and manhandle it to the side of the road. If you didn't do this, you need a new engine.. These engines also have weak secondary cam chain tensioners that can break and cause bent valves. This is easier to fix than damaged bores but still pricey. In addition, if you are going through oil at the rate you mention, you either have a terrible leak or are burning oil like a mosquito control unit, neither is good but leaks can be fixed without too much pain.

 

Welcome to the forum,

You've not had the the greatest first experience of Jaguar ownership.

To get the best advice, you need to give more details. The actual codes and the compressions on each cylinder.

Running that low on oil is likely have done damage but I'm surprised you weren't pouring out a smokescreen behind the vehicle. If it isn't burning then it's leaking.

Graham

 

Thank you oldmots & GGG for replying....
I am getting the car back today but I will ask him what the codes where and what his diagnosis was.. I called two other local Jag shops which quoted me around 4k for replacement of engine, installed with updated chain & water pump,,, I think that's fair...Is it?
I am wondering if this lady will be able to be a daily driver once I update it...Or is this one that I shall only take out for the special ladies? I drive an hour to & from work...
any suggestions? Thoughts,,,

Thanks Guys,,, thanks for the help

 

I'll leave it to US members to comment on the quote as repair costs are very different on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Unfortunately it does put your $6K buy into $10K territory but a Jaguar has never been low cost transport.

We have some members who use their Jaguars only for weekends / leisure and others who have them as daily drivers.

Once you get the issues resolved, there is no reason to be concerned about commuting to and from work with it. If anything, the regular users have less issues than the limited mileage drivers.

Graham

 

Hi Errod

First off, I am really so sorry to hear of your experience with your first Jaguar; believe me they are not all like this, but Jaguar to their everlasting shame, introduced a new V8 engine in 1997 before it had really been proven.

You have posted into the forum for the X350 model of XJ saloon, that dates from 2003. It is completely different to your car, (its even built totally from aluminium like an aircraft, riveted and glued together too !!).

So if you feel up to it, put your post into the X308 forum where there are experts in the V8 engine of your car. They will tell you whether the price you have been given for supply and fitting another engine is OK or not. There will be used engines out there, the trick is to make sure they are OK. Any engine from 2001-2002 is likely to be OK, and maybe 2000, depending on engine number.

Basically, for your information, the dreadful oil consumption is caused by the Nikasil cylinder liners (used up to 2001), flaking off and the piston rings running in bare aluminium. This wears out the cylinders, and causes huge oil consumption and low oil then leads to bearings failing etc. Essentially your engine is scrap metal. Now I know this prognosis will be hard to bear, but the only cure is another,, known good, engine, preferably a later one with steel cylinder liners. BMW tried the same Nikasil technology, and it cost them millions in warranty claims.

 

Hi Errod88:

The other guys have given great technical advice; perhaps I can provide some psychological. If you spend another 4-5 on this car, you still have a car that can be hugely expensive to maintain. And if you financed the first six, I'm guessing you'd have to do the same to cover such a huge repair bill; and then you'd still only end up with a car maybe worth 4. I wouldn't do it. If it were me, I'd let it go, buy myself a beater, and get a second job to pay off the debt a quickly as possible and get myself back to even. On the one hand, yes - it's 6K. On the other, it's just 6K. You can knock that out pretty quick if you set your mind to it. And don't feel bad about the car. Every time I buy a used car, I always say to myself, "it could die tomorrow" and I have to be at peace with that. But I can certainly understand what a bummer this is - especially because it was such a nice car in every other way.

All the best!
Scott

 

If this will be a 10 year car for you, an engine investment will be a small price to pay for years of driving pleasure- in principle, I agree withe midwest, but it sounds like you are in a pickle- no car, need to get to work, cash low. I have been there. Get it fixed, and stay on top of checking the fluids and knowing what to watch out for by reading up here.

Driving an hour to and from work is easier in a jaguar comfort-wise, and ANY used car could put you in this exact situation. I would put in a good used engine and chalk it up to life experience. Skip the transmission solenoid if that helps in the money dept until you can pay off some of the engine costs. If you can, put away $50-100 per month for potential repairs and you will have the cash ready if and when another repair is needed.

My $,02

 

Amen!

 

The older Nikasal coated cylinders will not forgive you for overheating. $4,000 for a used engine installed with warranty is fair. You will still have a old car that is more expensive than most to maintain. XK8's tend to have lower miles and that make them better donor engines. Do it if you can afford it, but there are much less expensive cars to provide transportation.