WHICH JAG XJR TO BUY
Discussion
A 6 cylinder XJR will almost certainly be reliable providing it's been looked after and not abused - apart from corrosion round the rear arches, screens and floorpan, and the inevitable worn suspension and brakes you'll have if it's been driven hard. The clock will not work - that's standard.
Dispite it's similar apperanace to the earlier 6 cyl version an V8 XJR is a completely different car.
Pre 2000 V8 cars occasionally suffered engine failures due to high levels of Sulphur in fuel - phased out on 1 January 2000 - that's the Nikasil failure you may hear about. They also had inferior throttle bodies, water pumps and occasionally suffered thermostat failures. All V8 cars had plastic bodied secondary timing chain tensioners which degenerate and fail through age making the retro fit upgrade to the later metal bodied versions essential.
V8 Gearboxes are sealed for life which means no oil changes in the service schedule. Essential to get oil change done which is a fiddly job but any indy should be able to do it.
V8 cars occasionally corrode badly where the front subframe V mount is bolted to the body. Check both sides very carefully behind the front shocks and have a prod around the front jacking points too just in case.
Bear in mind both these cars are nothing more than fast old bangers now - a set of tyres will cost a large proportion of the purchase price, so will a brake or suspension overhaul and an engine replacement or gearbox rebuild will also cost. Dispite it's relative fragility I'd choose the V8 - it's a vastly superior car in terms of driving dynamics and performance. Whatever you choose buy with real care and make sure you get the best example you can possibly afford
Dispite it's similar apperanace to the earlier 6 cyl version an V8 XJR is a completely different car.
Pre 2000 V8 cars occasionally suffered engine failures due to high levels of Sulphur in fuel - phased out on 1 January 2000 - that's the Nikasil failure you may hear about. They also had inferior throttle bodies, water pumps and occasionally suffered thermostat failures. All V8 cars had plastic bodied secondary timing chain tensioners which degenerate and fail through age making the retro fit upgrade to the later metal bodied versions essential.
V8 Gearboxes are sealed for life which means no oil changes in the service schedule. Essential to get oil change done which is a fiddly job but any indy should be able to do it.
V8 cars occasionally corrode badly where the front subframe V mount is bolted to the body. Check both sides very carefully behind the front shocks and have a prod around the front jacking points too just in case.
Bear in mind both these cars are nothing more than fast old bangers now - a set of tyres will cost a large proportion of the purchase price, so will a brake or suspension overhaul and an engine replacement or gearbox rebuild will also cost. Dispite it's relative fragility I'd choose the V8 - it's a vastly superior car in terms of driving dynamics and performance. Whatever you choose buy with real care and make sure you get the best example you can possibly afford
Great advice from jaguar steve.
Go for a V8 engined XJR for the full on experience, dont worry too much about Nikasil its an ancient issue and if its running well now then your pretty safe.
Look for one that says tensioners upgraded or changed (this job costs £1000+) otherwise budget to do the job if you want to keep it more than 6 months.
Then start shopping for an upagrded exhaust system and supercharger pulley
Go for a V8 engined XJR for the full on experience, dont worry too much about Nikasil its an ancient issue and if its running well now then your pretty safe.
Look for one that says tensioners upgraded or changed (this job costs £1000+) otherwise budget to do the job if you want to keep it more than 6 months.
Then start shopping for an upagrded exhaust system and supercharger pulley
Look for one that says tensioners upgraded or changed (this job costs £1000+) otherwise budget to do the job if you want to keep it more than 6 months.
That's a more realistic price for a whole timing gear change - chains, tensioners, guides and oil seals. Difficulty is most garages will quite reasonably want to do all the work - more money for them and a job they can gaurantee as well - but the only actual weakness is the secondary tensioners.
There is a case for changing all the gear if it's worn of course, but if not and all the chains are tight and the sprockets are not worn and there's no excess groving on the slippers and guides then just the secondary tensioners can be changed saving a fortune. It's actually not a difficult DIY either - you can hire the timing tools from the JEC and if you're as mean as me recycle all the gaskets too which'll bring the total cost to less then £150.
If you're even meaner then me
you could fit brand new second generation plastic bodied tensioners which I've seen on ebay for less than a tenner each - OK they are a crap design and won't last forever but chances are you'll get 30/40k worth of peace of mind out of them which on a 100k plus car being run on a tight budget might be worth the saving of the price of a tank of fuel compared to the £90 or so the metal bodied version and the new bolts you'll need to upgrade to the proper ones.
That's a more realistic price for a whole timing gear change - chains, tensioners, guides and oil seals. Difficulty is most garages will quite reasonably want to do all the work - more money for them and a job they can gaurantee as well - but the only actual weakness is the secondary tensioners.
There is a case for changing all the gear if it's worn of course, but if not and all the chains are tight and the sprockets are not worn and there's no excess groving on the slippers and guides then just the secondary tensioners can be changed saving a fortune. It's actually not a difficult DIY either - you can hire the timing tools from the JEC and if you're as mean as me recycle all the gaskets too which'll bring the total cost to less then £150.
If you're even meaner then me
you could fit brand new second generation plastic bodied tensioners which I've seen on ebay for less than a tenner each - OK they are a crap design and won't last forever but chances are you'll get 30/40k worth of peace of mind out of them which on a 100k plus car being run on a tight budget might be worth the saving of the price of a tank of fuel compared to the £90 or so the metal bodied version and the new bolts you'll need to upgrade to the proper ones. 
an old post, but well worth a read http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=85&...
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