I'm shopping for an early-ish XK8 as my first Jaguar and am busy reading everything I can. I don't see much discussion here on maintenance issues with the supercharged cars. Do they really require little or no more maintenance than the normally aspirated cars or am I missing something? Anything about the difference in specifications (tire/wheel sizes, gear ratios, etc) that should be considered?

Regards,


Lee...

 

The Eaton M112 blower is a very robust unit. Kits to replace wear items, if and when they wear out, are very affordable and pretty easy to do if you have a press and time. I've rebuilt the blower on my XJR and it was pretty cheap for parts and the time to do everything but the rotor pack front bearings was really reasonable (can't do the front ones without retiming the rotors, so I sent that part of it out). The blower is not a fancy twin screw unit with better efficiency, but it's a reliable roots style unit.

Mostly, change the oil every 30-60k, which is a half hour and 30 dollar affair and it's good for a very long time. Some things are harder to do, like valley hoses for the heater or fuel injectors, overall, not really a big expense increase to cost of ownership.

The 4.0 SC cars have some mechanical reliability enhancements over 4.0 NA CARS. Between a much better transmission, as well as the metal thermostat housing, and obviously more power, it's what I prefer. Not that the base cars are bad, it's that the SC cars aren't a relative maintenance nightmare that some might assume a higher performance variant of a car might be.

​​​​​ keep looking around, you might find the SC cars work for you.

 

I'd been thinking of getting a 4.0 XKR to replace my NA 4.0 XK8, but do not know if an XKR will have more maintenance issues due to the supercharger? Will the XKR be viable as a daily and only driver?

Any advice on this would be really appreciated. TIA.

 

I don't necessarily feel an old car of any kind, especially a special interest car is that easy to own as a daily. I've had to wait for parts quite a few times because I can't pop down to the parts store and just pick it up. This has been for numerous parts, most of which were in common with the naturally aspired cars, but still annoying nonetheless.

I personally have 2 Jaguars and a backup car (Pontiac). The Jaguars have actually needed less work per mile, but when they're down, I'm often waiting. I don't think the X100 platform is good for an only car situation unless you can tolerate some downtime, via using public transit, or other sort of get a ride option. If you are fine with a well maintained XK8 for a one and only, you would probably be fine with a well maintained XKR for a one and only. Keep in mind that the R being slightly more likely to have lengthier downtimes due to some R only parts having lesser availability and longer lead times.

 

Some great responses, thanks to all who chimed in. I'm just not that familiar with the other differences (if any) between the NA and SC engines. It sounds like the SC's have the better/upgraded thermostat system at least. Do they also have the later (metal) cam chain tensioners?


Lee...

 

[QUOTE= Will the XKR be viable as a daily and only driver?

Any advice on this would be really appreciated. TIA.[/QUOTE]

Any car is a good daily driver until it breaks down. :-)

I'm racking up a 100 miles a day on mine commuting, and am loving every minute of it.

In fairness, I do have a backup car, just in case.

 

I got my XKR last June. It's my daily and only car that I drive. I have no problems. 114k miles strong.

 

Only the very last of the 4.0 cars had the latest cam chain tensioners - so you need to check this whichever version you look at. As already stated the biggest difference is the gearbox - the 4.0 supercharged version uses the Mercedes gearbox, the non-supercharged uses the ZF unit. Do a forum search for "gearbox problems" to see what that means in reality - for me at least, the Mercedes unit outweighs any possible disadvantage of having a supercharger.

BTW the supercharged versions don't have VVT - another thing that can go wrong.

 

Okay, just got home with the 2000 XK8 Coupe I was looking at. Around an 800 mile drive with no problems. Flew Delta to Lafayette, La and drove it home in about 11 hours. That thing is a highway marauder! Easy cruising except for a lot of traffic on I-10. Sooo...I've officially joined the club.

Question 1: Is there a source on the Forum for a list of all the fluids, filters, and such that I should change? As far as I can tell from experimenting while driving and a walk around inspection once home, everything on the car is working except the right rear side light (ordered). The car was a small car lot trade-in and did not come with any serious paperwork. So, though I was told all the "fluids have been changed", I'm disinclined to take that as gospel. I would like to have the secondary cam chain tensioners looked at too and to flush and replace the radiator and change the engine, supercharger, transmission, and differential oil, as well as the plugs, oil and fuel filters, and air and pollen filters, etc. Is there a list of the factory recommended parts and fluids above and/or a pre-packaged source for all of it like there is with Formula Dynamics and Maseratis and Ferrari's?

Question 2: Cam chain tensioner. Is there a "how to" write-up on how to check the secondary tensioner? I'd like to have it confirmed one way or the other whether or not mine has been upgraded to the metal type.

Edit: I have now run across several YouTube videos on this subject and think I understand what is going on a bit better. I notice though, that some sources say you only really have to change the secondary tensioner and others (on YouTube in particular) which say you need to buy a full timing replacement kit which includes all four tensioners, chains, guides, etc. Can anyone shed any more light on this?

Thanks for the help! I have to say this is REALLY a nice car. I've only driven it two days (albeit 800+ miles) and it's already a (if not the) favorite in my garage.


Lee...

 

Sorry, forgot to mention specifically; there is a company called Formula Dynamics that provides Maserati and Ferrari owners with excellent "service kits" for replacing all the fluids, filters, and spark plugs, etc I mentioned in the post above (among a great many other upgrades, etc). I have not been able to find such a source for these same products for the XK8. I guess I was hoping someone would be able to steer me to such a source in at least a partial answer to my first question. The Formula Dynamics servicing kit (for my Maserati 4200 Coupe for example) is a little expensive ($685), but is quite comprehensive. Hard to beat a box full of everything you need to service your exotic car, shipped right to your door.

Regards,


Lee...

 

Look for the spec books here:

JaguarXK8ElectricalOBDIIcodes.htm

Pay triple attention to the engine cooling fluid. It started with the usual "green" fluid, then at some point moved on to the "Orange" DEX-COOL. The spec book has the correct specification based on the VIN. Then, on top of what fluid is _supposed_ to be in your engine, double check what _is_ already there to make sure you are not mixing incompatible fluids (they reputedly gel and clog it all up).

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Cam Tensioners - Best route is to just pull the covers if you have any doubt. It's easy and if the gaskets haven't been changed, they may already be leaking and you can check while fixing the cam cover gaskets. I recommend changing the spark plugs too; you're already there anyway and it's cheap. Plus pulling them and inspecting can tell you a lot about the engine condition.

Secondaries or whole deal: This really depends on things. I have done just the secondaries on my cars, using the zip tie method instead of the locking tool and such. I don't know how much the VVT complicates this on N/A cars, as I do not own one. For about $250 you can do secondaries (buy the tensioners, new bolts [DO THIS, LENGTH IS DIFFERENT], cam cover gaskets, and spark plugs). If I ever need to take the timing cover off the front for anything or even get close (a couple accessories removed), I am probably going to do the rest of it, but no ill effects yet. The biggest risk is the secondaries, although primaries *can* fail as well as there be issues with the guides.

For fluids on an N/A car, the ZF gearbox in your car uses a fluid that there are opinions on. The issues people have with the 5HP24 is not related to the factory Lifeguard fluid, but due to "sealed for life" and A-Drum issues, and I've never heard any issues at all with the factory fluid. Here's a link to the Lifeguard 5 fluid for your application: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/zf-...FQm5wAodNLsPwQ

Oil and filter you'll find tons of debate on. Change it on a regular basis, use quality oil and filters. Nothing too unique like 10W60 oil or anything.

Coolant has been mentioned.

Power steering fluid is Dexron III ATF; I recommend swapping it just to keep it clean and good. Easiest way is partial swaps, just use a simple turkey baster to take a bunch out, put some in. Then operate the car a bit. Do this a few times and the old fluid is be decently swapped.

Brake fluid, every 2 years is a good method for bleeding but a lot of non-DIY people neglect this since shops charge a bit for this easy job. I like the Valvoline Dot3 fluid thats widely available and has a very solid dry and wet boiling points, especially for the price. Very good street use fluid. Just bleed it the good old fashioned method with a friend pumping the brakes or get a vacuum setup.

Differentials are a bear to do on these cars if you don't want to cut holes and you won't see a bunch of threads. I'm going to be doing my two cars at 100k this year (XKR at 101k, XJR at 96k), and the fluid is Shell Spirax Super TS90 JLM 20255 1.9 liters (2.0 U.S. quarts). I am just going to use a 75W90 gear oil per my research and learnings; so Mobil 1, Castrol Syntrax, or Valvoline Synpower all offer solid offerings in this arena in the $13 range and are very available.

 

80sRule: Great response! Sorry to take a day to acknowledge the info you provided but it is very helpful indeed. This car is running so well, I'm a little anxious about opening it up at all. I'll do so over the next 2-3 weeks at the most but in the meantime it's informative posts like yours that give me the confidence to do so. Your suggestions are ideal: Specific and detailed. I've got a nice spreadsheet of this information going on the XK8/XKR in general and on my car specifically. Your info is all going right in at the top.

Thanks!


Lee...