Here’s my new (to me) car, it’s a 1998 XJ8 Sovereign. It was my uncle’s car, but it’s been sat for at least 11 years having only been started and moved a few times over the years, most recently in 2019. He needs it gone now, and has given it to me to hopefully bring it back to life.

On first inspection of it, it looks to be in amazing cosmetic condition under all the dust, and most importantly it looks to be absolutely rust free. Sills are rock solid, all the arches are lovely, firewall looks to be perfect from what I can see. It’s been dry stored all this time so that had probably helped. It’s only got 66k miles and has a stack of history including a new gearbox just a few thousand miles before it was parked.

So far, all I’ve done to it is put power into the terminals in the engine bay to get the boot open, unfortunately the battery in there is completely beyond saving so I’ll bring a battery to it next time I go to the car. I’ve got a few questions about getting it back on the road, I appreciate any advice

first, the petrol in the tank must be stale by now so I need to get it out before i try to start the car. What would be the best way to get it all out? Can you easily remove the pump unit from the tank to put in a hose to siphon the bad petrol out, or is there a different way to do it? Id prefer not to have to get underneath the car, space is pretty limited where it’s parked and there’s always the possibility that the sills could give way if it’s jacked up, even if they look perfect. And what about the petrol in the fuel lines, how would I get that out?

Secondly, what work will it likely need before it’s ready to be driven again. So far, I’m thinking a full service and fluid change, maybe a gearbox and diff oil change aswell. Tyres are all old and probably flat spotted so it’ll need a new set. I’ve heard issues on earlier X308s of timing chain failures, so I’m thinking of getting the guides/ chain replaced. I’m not too sure what else it would need, obviously you can never know everything that an old car that’s been sat this long would need until you start digging in, but I’d just like to get an idea of how much work it could need.

Thank you for any advice

 

Getting through the Car Park exit barrier is going to be a terrifying experience. Hope he kept the latest ticket.

All fluids change is an essential but before you make the vehicle GO, make sure it can STOP. Handbrake and/or calipers could be seized or caliper seals could burst at the first pressure.

If you've doubts about body integrity (and you'll be extremely unlucky if it isn't sound after dry storage), jack the front under the spring pans and the rear under the A Frame instead of using the side jacking points. However you decide to drain the tank (siphon, crack a fuel line connection), don't run the fuel pump dry.

Good luck.

Graham

 

i bought mine that wasn't used much for an about three years, as far as i remember AC seals dried up and were leaking at first but stopped later on, brake booster vacuum line seal dried and there was almost no braking after start, i resealed it with silicone, valve cover were weeping but other then that it was fine, full fluid change is a must and to drain gas i would disconnect line at the injector rail and run pump but being careful to don't run pump dry of course

 

Yes, possibly timing chain swap:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...e-swap-266724/

Maybe someone has some suggestion of how to make sure that you are not going to kill the engine in that exact moment when you start the engine. Because if it was started up in 2019 for the last time (4 years ago), the oil would have been pulled into the sump over the years by gravity. There would be very little oil at the piston rings. I would be worried to scratch the bores by starting the engine in the current condition. Instinctively I would suggest to pour a little bit of engine oil (or WD40) in by the spark plug holes (after removing the spark plugs) before attempting to start the engine. Next I would crank the engine a little bit without the coil being connected, so that the oil gets pumped up BEFORE the engine start to run on a few thousand rpm. And only then reconnect the coils.

I'd go from there and check, what else the kitty wants.

Also: When I deregistered my motorbike over 10 years ago I filled diesel into the spark plug openings - on purpose - to ensure that the engine would not seize. But that advise is a bit late your your Jag... And if I recall correctly, I also did that on my first car, a petrol car, which I parked over 5 years in another country, and no one started it during that time. I just can't remember, if I put the diesel into the spark plug holes before I left, or if I put it in after I returned and then let the car sit for 2 or 3 days. I think it was the latter. That car had a carburetor. After I then cleaned out the junky bits from the carby, the car finally started hulled in in a thick black cloud of diesel smoke, which probably had the size of a 10m diameter half-sphere.... But the car and engine were all alright again. I did not even take the "old petrol" problem into account - the car (VW Polo) started on the old petrol. Meanwhile I know very well that old petrol is a real problem. I swapped already quite a number of fuel pumps in my Ford Fairlanes ('97 & '98), as the motor in there is basically glued solid (seized) due to old petrol, which turned into something glue-like. The old petrol should be removed first, yes. You can get cheap (about $10) transfer pumps on ebay. With a bit of luck you might be able to remove it via the filler hole.

I am not sure, if there is a need to get the old petrol out by the fuel lines. That petrol has passed already the fuel pump - and that old petrol is most critical for the fuel pump. But if you want to do that, you could probably disconnect the fuel line in the engine compartment (the are cheap plastic tools to disconnect that line - it is not possible without that tool) disconnect the fuel line, attach hoses to channel the fuel into a waste-bottle when you operate the fuel pump by pretending to start the engine.

 

The handbrake was released in 2019 I think, right now it’s down so I don’t think it’s seized. Not sure about the brakes yet, but again they weren’t seized 4 years ago so I think the car will move at least. I am a bit worried about them not working after all this time but I can move slowly around the underground parking garage and hopefully stop on the handbrake for now if they are knackered

 

I think you're on the right track. Drain and refresh fuel of course but these cars are sort of notorious for the fuel pumps freezing up from sitting. I pulled my engine to reseal everything (oil pouring out the loose galley plug at the back)). Took me almost a year of random weekends and after I put it all back together, I was devastated when it wouldn't start, thinking I'd done something wrong. Turned out the fuel pump had frozen up during that period. That's when I read several other similar stories on here about the pumps seizing after a period of non-use.

I found that you can actually fish a stiff nylon tube down the filler neck to siphon the tank, just cut the tip at an angle and keep turning it till you get it to slip past the anti-siphon traps. And to make it easier to access the fuel line connection underneath the car (directly above the diff - engineer shoulda been fired and lost his license over that design, but that's a rant for another thread), remove the right side rear exhaust (muffler) section to make room to work. Unless you've got long arms, it's still a one-handed operation requiring Houdini-like dexterity, but at least you can get one hand in there with the exhaust section removed. And you might want to buy several different styles of fuel line disconnect tools. They're cheap. Maybe one will work for you but In the end, I couldn't get any of the ones I had to work because none were quite the right dimensions to fully engage the release spring and so I fashioned my own tool out of some of that same nylon tube.

Also, assuming that nobody flushed the brake fluid in a decade or more, you need to be careful bleeding the system. Brake fluid of course absorbs moisture over time and will cause rust inside the system. Usually the master cylinder bore rusts much worse at the ends, beyond the "normal" range of piston travel so what happens, you open a bleeder screw, your helper presses the pedal all the way to the floor and tears up the piston seals as its pushed across the extreme portion of the cylinder wall where all the rust pitting and jagged rust flakes are. (I've not taken an xj8's master cylinder apart but I'm assuming its like most cars and not sleeved with stainless steel.) On the plus side, now you'd know you need to replace the master cylinder, but on the minus side, now you couldn't even drive the car at all till it is replaced. If you are counting on just getting the XJ8 running and then driving it to a shop for more extensive work, you may want to save the brake flush for in the shop or use an external pressure bleeding system instead of the old helper on the pedal method.

 

Tyler: So the handbrake is your biggest concern? Not that the engine starts and preferably without destroying it in the process - as I wrote above?

 

When you get a new battery in it, find out how much bad gas is in it when you turn the key on without trying to crank the engine over. As much as one would be tempted, I wouldn’t try to crank it if I were you.

 

definitely not my biggest concern, just one of many. As you said, the engine not dying is pretty important, but I can’t even consider that yet until I sort the petrol out. And getting it moved out of the very tight spot it’s in would help with working on it. Thank you for your advice though, I do appreciate it