Question for a noob. Trying to figure out what all the X308 models are. I'm good with the basics... XJ8, XJR, VDP, Super V8. When I look at the wiki page, it lists a few dozen models, but you have to sift through the text to figure out context which isn't all there. Some of them like the Daimler versions I assume are Europe-only?

I know the Super V8 was pretty rare in the states. I know that anything (X308) with the supercharger got the Mercedes trans instead of the ZF. I also know that X350s all got a ZF regardless of supercharged or not.

Then I encountered a 2000 XJ8-L. Is that just a VDP without the swanky VDP options? Just a long wheelbase XJ8?

I'm so confused. I had been holding out for an XJR (or Super V8... but in two years I've only found two) because my 13 years running transmission repair shops tell me that if I can avoid the ZF, it's always a good thing. Not that Mercedes boxes are any cheaper, but at least they have a chance at surviving.

Help me understand some stuff. I feel like I'm approaching this with minimal "outsider" information, and I would like to hear from folks who actually know.

I know that timing tensioners are a thing. Was there a certain year of X308 where Coventry/Dearborn fixed the issue, or are they all susceptible?
I know which ones have Mercedes and which ones have ZF. Am I overthinking the ZF debacle? I just know that they were absolute headaches for my shops.
I have heard nightmare stories about pre-2000 Nikasil stuff. Then I've heard that some think it's a non issue.

I also don't want a money pit. I'm an ace mechanic. I've worked custom/hot-rod fabrications shops, general repair, transmission repair, and I'm not afraid of doing my own work... but I also just moved and lost my 40x40 shop with two lifts, now I have a shed with barely enough room to hold all my tools. Right now I'm not even doing my own oil changes because winter. I rebuilt a Ford 4.0L this past spring in my driveway, but I can't even reach the shed to air up my tires right now. Can y'all help me find an X308 that doesn't suck? What I truly want is a Super V8, but I also want to live in reality. XJR suits my go-fast tendencies, and it is just a sweet cat. But in reality, what else should I consider that gets me in the game? I want a car that I can drive coast-to-coast if I want and not worry about dying in Kansas.

Link to the XJ8-L I found... I have dealt with this used lot before and have had good luck, but they won't have any clue if the tensioners have been done, or what its history is. He scored it from the auction, washed it, and slapped a number on it, but it seems to be priced well.

 

You’re correct about the XJ8-L which is a LWB XJ8.

If you got the car that’s in the link and the transmission seems good, then just have the Transgo upgraded pressure regulator valve installed and it should be fine after that. I’m sure other people will bark at me for saying this but, if I just bought that car, I’d flush out the transmission completely and install the Transgo. Not necessarily in that order but that’s what I’d do. The best thing to do until you get that done is: When you start the engine up cold, wait about 15 seconds or so until the idle calms down to about 900 rpms, then you can shift into gear. The worst thing you can do is start it up cold and immediately put it in gear. If you think about it, it’s kinda like doing a neutral drop.

Just assume the tensioners haven’t been done and plan on replacing them.

If you’re dead set on getting an XJR, don’t settle for an XJ8.

 

Exactly, don't settle on an NA car.

 

The door panels look sun-burnt like its not been stored in a garage. At the top of these forums, there are How-to sections, to include what Addicted related to ..tensioner replacement, detailed by Blackonyx. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...k-links-20090/ ...much of the untitled stuff is very early postings. As time has worn on, the newer postings are title detailed as other issues arise.

Being mechanically capable, you can bore scope the guides and the upgraded tensioners are metal, the old guides and tensioners are orange plastic. You'd have to pop the cam cover. I'd be sure to pull at least one plug as well.

Keep in mind, these girls are over 20 yrs old.

Drive her over a semi rough road and listen to the rear for a thunking...this could be worn shocks and dampers need replacement. Look under the hood, do you have wires hooked to the shock towers (this is a CATS setup). Check the tower bushings for shedding (little rubber granuals lying about), they are breaking down and need replaced. Check things like the passenger fender for a VIN sticky, ..no sticky...probably a wreck replacement. Jags have VIN sticky's all over them to include the trunk rail. Does the antenna mast work?
Just some quick eye viewing clues. Feel free to take pics and post them for us to give you more insight.

 

We generally warn people "no records = no sale". All the organic materials in the car are breaking down at 20 years old. I wish I could find the post to give credit, but somebody on here about four or five years ago wrote that "its really a $10,000 used car, you just pay $5,000 to the seller and $5,000 to your mechanic." By 100K miles and 20 years old, these cars need a lot of "deferred maintenance" - basically everything on the maintenance schedule that was listed as "check and replace if necessary". Well now its necessary. Everything is going to leak and squeak. Leaks you might can live with, keep topping up and wiping down but suspension bushes are a safety issue. There's also lot of organic stuff you don't even think about like the foam surrounds on the stereo speakers are most likely all toast at this point. Maintenance records will indicate how much you should have to expect to pay to the mechanic vs the seller or since most buyers don't do any of it and just take their chances, how much risk you are assuming.

Working in a transmission shop you only ever saw the aftermath of the A-drum catastrophies and likely never dealt with the prevention. The cause is not the A-drum itself, but inadequate service contributing to a prematurely worn bore for the main pressure valve. Eventually the wear gets so bad the valve hangs and its like putting that A-drum in a hydraulic press. There's two valve body kits, the Transgo which leaves the wear in the bore, but replaces the valve piston with a new one that both rides on an unworn section of the bore and on plastic o-rings instead of direct steel on aluminum contact OR there's the Sonnax kit that requires a special jig for reaming out the bore and replacing the piston with a slightly larger diameter one that also rides on o-rings. And the tensioner design was changed sometime around mid-August 2001 as I recall, but you have to look for the build date on the engine and not the body assembly date (tho I'd guess probably by October or so they were all installed with the updated design).

Good luck with your hunt.

 

Thank you all so much. Really good detailed info in here.

Back to looking for an XJR. I just missed an 03 that went pretty cheap. By the time I clicked on "message the seller" it was gone.

 

Found THIS SUPER V8 and reached out to the guy.

He's had it for a month, it has a salvage title, and he doesn't know if the tensioners were done. Grrr. Another Super that I can't pull the trigger on.

 

It would be nice to know where you are located . . . twenty year old cars in the Northeast will have rust damage (or in the UK!). Southern CA cars are better buy. Clearly the preferred is an 03 (US) XJR . . . with under 100,000 miles, garaged from day one, from an original owner in Scottsdale AZ. But even so, as noted above, twenty year old cars have repair issues . . . a wad of receipts in the glove compartment is useful . . . but any you find under $10,000 is better than an equivalent Camry or Accord. And as an Ace tech, you will find these simple to work on . . . providing you can find the parts . . . this forum will save you time, money and heartache . . .

 

Why won’t you consider getting that black SV8? Is it because of the tensioners or salvage title? Assuming it’s not a rott box, the price is cheap enough to warrant getting it.

 

you must have left the business a while ago. any shop that can’t reliably fix a ZF needs to close their doors. they wouldn’t be able to work on late model fords with 6HP designs either lol.

don’t let it put you off from an SC 350

 

@curtis73, good advice from several good sources.

The Nikasil bores, if not subjected to high-sulphur fuels, can outlast the steel sleeved ones. If you find a Nikasil engine, it's survived long enough for this to be a non issue.

If the vehicle has a service history, look to see if the primary and secondary timing chains, guides and tensioners have been replaced with the latest metal-bodied versions. The primary chain guides are prone to cracking and dropping into the sump causing a rattling sound from the primary chains. Easiest way to tell is to remove the cam cover(s) and inspect.

As with any vehicle twenty years old, suspension bushes and dampers are going to be worn.

Use a scanner to determine if the vehicle has any stored DTCs, even if the MIL is not on.

 

Oh... oops. I assumed I had entered it in my profile and it was displayed like everyone else's is.

I'm in Harrisburg PA. I don't mind a fly-and-drive, but my schedule is a bit nuts. As I had mentioned above, I have done fly-and-drives many times before, and as far as Texas and Florida, I just can't fathom getting two days off right now until after mid-February. I'm a theater tech director and we have a huge tour being built and I'm the only builder. I'm doing a lot of 70 hour weeks, then I can relax a bit.

The SV8 is in the midwest, but this guy has only owned it for a month. It could have begun life in SoCal or Maine, hard to tell. I did request the VIN so I could sleuth the webz for clues about it.

 

It's like long distance online dating. You have to take the person's word. It's one thing if it were a 20k mile Camry, but when it's an 80k unicorn with a salvage title and the seller says he's desperate and "it was just a dent on the bumper," you kinda get trepidatious about buying a plane ticket. Having said that, anyone near Elkhart IN want to make $50 checking it out for me?

I've also had two salvage title vehicles. They are all but unsalable. If I decide to sell it someday, I already know that my buying pool is smaller for a Niche car, and I reduce that tiny number to an even tinier number because of the title. The tensioners would be an issue if they aren't done because right now I'm living in a place with a shed instead of a garage. I can't really do much work on stuff here so it would either be a long-term work on it under a tent kinda thing or pay someone to do it.

He's already down to an offer of $5500. I might say $4000 and see if he bites.

 

Yup. Left the business in 2008. We were also a general transmission builder, so when you spend 90% of your time doing $2400 4L60Es and Honda three-shaft transmissions, it tends to make the builders pucker a bit when a Jatco or a ZF comes in the door.

I could be swayed to a 350, but I much prefer the classic look of the 308.

 

VIN on the SV8 is SAJDA25B92MF40984
Anyone know how to look up service records and how bad the salvage is?

 

PM sent

 

Now that you have the VIN, you could run a carfax on it. That’s what I did when I was checking out my SV8 last year.

 

So, the carfax isn't pleasing to the eyes.

Originally sold in Columbus OH and stayed there until Indiana.

- 7 owners
- Structural damage reported in 2003 at 7500 miles. A couple months later, salvage/total loss title issued, which to me means it got f'd up and half way into tearing it apart they supplemented the claim and it put it into "it's screwed" territory
- Sold at salvage auction (makes sense)
- 12/03, rebuilt title issued

From there it's just like the town prostitute. Everyone has paid their money and taken a ride.

So the good news is that it has successfully been rebuilt at 7500 miles in 2003 and has lived for another 80k miles. It was also religiously maintained at a Jag/Rover dealer by its fourth owner between 8k and 24k, but then it basically falls off the radar other than registration renewal and emissions inspections. The bad news is... How bad do you have to smash a $70k car that the repair costs exceed 80-85% of its value? Even if it depreciated to $60k and they totaled it at 80%, that's $48,000 worth of damage. Also, what does it say that 4 additional owners had it and sold it?

I gotta pass on this one unless he does something stupid like offers for me to take it for $3500. This thing screams money pit. The seller screams Curbstoner. I found his name in Elkhart and he runs a detailing company out of his home garage.

 

I spoke to the guy/kid who owns the 02 SV8 as well. He knew nothing about the title being rebuilt until I asked him what color it was (unfortunately, not green! LOL). Something else odd was that he bought the car sometime in January, but the title wasn't registered until Nov.? Did he not insure it, but drove it for 10 months? He started out asking $7400 for it. Same car also shows the owner is in Chicago, IL (there is a second listing), so now I'm starting to think there is some scamming going on? I'm in the same boat as you, been looking for an '01 - '03 XJR or SV8 for three years now. I live in Michigan, and there just aren't too many X308 in this State still in good shape. Anything that is halfway decent gets snapped up fast.

 

I check listings regularly, though mostly for VDPs, not for XJRs. I believe at the moment there are 2 or 3 XJRs within about 100 miles of DC. One's in Fredricksburg, Va. you might want to take a look again.