Quick question

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LadfromManc

Original Poster:

94 posts

125 months

Monday 14th April 2014
quotequote all
Am looking at buying a 1996 XJ 3.2 with the straight six. Am I right in thinking that the Nikasil problems only applied to the V8's?
Also anything in particular to look out for?

a8hex

5,830 posts

223 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
quotequote all
Correct, only the early V8s had this issue.
The straight 6 doesn't suffer from this and is generally regarded as being very reliable.
I've had mine for 18 years now.

Jaguar steve

9,232 posts

210 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
quotequote all
Providing its been maintained well and all the fluids are clean the six cyl car is almost mechanically bombproof.

Your main concern will be corrosion - look all over the floor pan, jacking points, sill closing panels, bottoms of the wings and doors, rear arches, round the front and rear screen rubbers and the join between the inner wing and bulkhead. Check the bumpers are not loose as the brackets can corrode away too.

All XJs are hard on brakes and suspension so check for clonks, knocks and rattles. A good indication of suspension condition is to feel the tyres - if they have uneven wear, especially the inside edge of the fronts then the car has excess negative camber, that will probably be shagged wishbone bushes. Slight tyre feathering is acceptable, uneven or excessive feathering is usually an indication of a geometry fault. Braking should be straight and judder free.

Apart from the obvious like condition and general wear and tear you'd have to assess on any old car other things to look for are a dropping headlining, faulty clock display and make sure all the electrics work. Diffs can get whiny once the oil has warmed up

A good example of the 1994-1997 XJ with a long MOT and half decent tyres is probably the cheapest way into XJ ownership.

LadfromManc

Original Poster:

94 posts

125 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
quotequote all
Thanks Ken and Steve, good information to have. Having a look at a couple this week. Cheers