Hi All,

I've decided to buy an XK8/R and have been checking out various examples over the past few weeks - there aren't too many to choose from in Dublin, and because of the hugely punitive motor tax regime here not many people go for a 4-litre car in Ireland! Today I think I found 'The One', but there was one issue that made me hesitate - why is there always a fly in the ointment?!

It's a 2000 XK8 in saphire blue with 70,000 miles on the clock. A very clean and genuine example with a full Jag service history (I called the Jaguar garage that did all the servicing and they gave me its entire history which was squeaky clean really). I took it out for a seriously good thrashing and all was going well, except when we came to a stop at traffic lights and I noticed a smell of burning. It wasn't overpowering but it was enough to get me worried. I told the salesman on my return to the garage and he spotteda small amount if oil near the rocker gasket and said it was probably that, not to worry, etc. I suppose I just want to get some thoughts from you XK-philesto try to ascertain whether this sounds really worrying or if it's a common enough issue. The dealer told me he'd give me a 6-month warranty which isn't bad for this type of car, but I will walk away from the purchase if that's the consensushere.

Also, I noted that the timing chain and tensioners were never replaced. There was no rattling coming from the engine on start-up, but I've heard that this is a major cause of breakdown with XKs. Is the timing chain likely to fail on a 70,000-mile 8-year-old XK8??

Advice please!

Thanks,

Jonathan

 

cam covers leaking are a normal failure.. not a biggie. when they do the cam covers they can have a peak at the tensioners and see what shape they are in.. if the plastic iscracked.. could cause failure down the road..