Discussion
BenWRXSEi said:
What a lovely thing. I've always had a soft spot for these - given tne number of Jags various family members of mine have owned it's only a matter of time before I succumb to temptation!
I would say buy now whilst prices are low! There's no doubt about it they're a lovely way to travel, just be prepared for it to enjoy a drink!RS Grant said:
That looks bloody lovely, I've always fancied one of these... do they suffer from any common issues, seem to remember a friends father being told his n/a V8 might have issues with liners IIRC. Do these have an LSD as standard??
Cheers,
Grant
Thanks Grant, I don't think they are LSD as standard, my XJS had an old fashioned Salisbury 'Power Lok' diff in which was like something you'd see out of a lorry. Not sure what they use in these! At the moment I confess the remote central locking isn't working on mine which is a bit of a pain. That's right about the engine the early Jaguar AJ-V8s like this one I believe had the bores machined direct into the block and then coated with an extremely hard 'Nikasil' coating. BMW were doing it at the same time too. At the time petrol still had a high sulphur content and this ate away at the coating causing compression loss etc. Cheers,
Grant
High sulphur fuel isn't used now so if you're still running an original Nikasil engine, chances are it's okay. I know a lot of them were replaced with steel linered engines by Jaguar and this is indicated by a tag on the back of the engine block.
The other known issue worth mentioning is the timing chain tensioners. The originals were plastic and not really up to the job, so metal replacements are now available but obviously it's a big job to fit them.
These are fab things. Me and a mate bought one a few years back. Very cheap and took it to the ring. The car was faultless all the way apart from the charge cooler overheating on track.
Bit juicy though we averaged 17.9mpg over the trip not that bad I guess.
Oh and no Ltd as standard.
Bit juicy though we averaged 17.9mpg over the trip not that bad I guess.
Oh and no Ltd as standard.
Awesome! That's not too bad, I'm averaging 19.6mpg at the moment on my commute to work, as you say not great but could be worse!
Front ball joints arrived today, I've just ordered a filter kit and engine belts so it'll be getting a thorough service and check over as it's due, the supercharger belt looks shiny and is squeaking from cold so it must be getting on a bit.
Front ball joints arrived today, I've just ordered a filter kit and engine belts so it'll be getting a thorough service and check over as it's due, the supercharger belt looks shiny and is squeaking from cold so it must be getting on a bit.
A bit more done today, changed the oil and filter, put a new air filter in and changed the plugs. A task considerably easier than it was on my XJ-S! 
Looking well used.
I've had a bit of a setback in that it's developed a knocking noise from underneath when letting off after hard acceleration or going over bumps in the road. I suspect it could be rear subframe related or even exhaust. The only catch came when I went to remove the wheels... no locking wheel nut key! I had a look at the front suspension just in case, and a good job I did too as one of the lower shock mounting bolts was visibly loose.
Looking well used.
I've had a bit of a setback in that it's developed a knocking noise from underneath when letting off after hard acceleration or going over bumps in the road. I suspect it could be rear subframe related or even exhaust. The only catch came when I went to remove the wheels... no locking wheel nut key! I had a look at the front suspension just in case, and a good job I did too as one of the lower shock mounting bolts was visibly loose.
Thanks guys, the strange thing is it would knock 'on demand' yesterday afternoon, I tried to show the noise it makes to a mechanic mate of mine last night and would it do it? Would it hell. The good news is I removed all of the locking nuts today using a fairly home brewed method.
For any would be wheel thieves, a 3/4 12 sided works a treat!
The worst bit was separating the wheel nut from the socket again, to the point that it required sledgehammer persuasion!
Looking on British Parts I can order 4 new standard wheel nuts for around £ 15 so I'll get those ordered ASAP. Unfortunately I didn't get round to changing the belts this weekend, hopefully it shouldn't be too much of a pig!
For any would be wheel thieves, a 3/4 12 sided works a treat!
The worst bit was separating the wheel nut from the socket again, to the point that it required sledgehammer persuasion!
Looking on British Parts I can order 4 new standard wheel nuts for around £ 15 so I'll get those ordered ASAP. Unfortunately I didn't get round to changing the belts this weekend, hopefully it shouldn't be too much of a pig!
bigtomjaguar said:
Lew,
I hope everything goes well and you can get to the source of your knocking.
The thing that got me is that you have exactly the same car as me (blue/cream/Pentas); perhaps we can start a club for prematurely-aged early twenty somethings?
Good luck with your car!
I also have the blue/cream/penta combination going on.I hope everything goes well and you can get to the source of your knocking.
The thing that got me is that you have exactly the same car as me (blue/cream/Pentas); perhaps we can start a club for prematurely-aged early twenty somethings?
Good luck with your car!
Wish I was still a twenty something though...
Great cars; bought mine earlier this year and find myself doing more and more of my daily driving in it, despite the ridiculous fuel consumption.
Hopefully getting an lpg conversion done next year though by a company that my brother-in-law in Czech Republic recommends.
They use a kit which has individual gas injectors for each cylinder but also injects petrol at bigger throttle openings so no drop in power.
Estimated cost works out about £1000-1200 so significantly cheaper than a similar job over here.
A fairly boring update from today's spanner session. An advisory on the previous MOT was that the front ball joints were worn, I can only assume this was true as you could feel the front end was a little wayward at times. This morning I started the job of changing them and came home at 9pm with the job still not complete! It really was a royal pain in the arse and everything was either tight or seized.
A few pictures of the stripdown:
Getting the hubs off was relatively easy, although breaking the taper on the lower joints required the backplates to be removed otherwise my fork splitter started to hit them.
The ball joints on these are pressed in, after a lot of swearing and head scratching I decided to remove the wishbones and try it in the vice as I was getting nowhere with a G clamp and socket.
Even on the bench none of them were coming out in a hurry so out with the grinder, chop them off flush and remove the insides allowing me to get a socket and hammer on them along with a bit of heat. The last one wouldn't budge for love nor money so I ended up drilling a hole in the middle and carefully sawing to its outer edge with a junior hacksaw like so, after that a few persuasive taps with a large variable pressure applicator and out it came.
The wishbones were then cleaned up with some Scotchbrite and heated carefully, with a light smear of copper grease ready to tap the new joints in using a big 3/4 socket.
A few pictures of the stripdown:
Getting the hubs off was relatively easy, although breaking the taper on the lower joints required the backplates to be removed otherwise my fork splitter started to hit them.
The ball joints on these are pressed in, after a lot of swearing and head scratching I decided to remove the wishbones and try it in the vice as I was getting nowhere with a G clamp and socket.
Even on the bench none of them were coming out in a hurry so out with the grinder, chop them off flush and remove the insides allowing me to get a socket and hammer on them along with a bit of heat. The last one wouldn't budge for love nor money so I ended up drilling a hole in the middle and carefully sawing to its outer edge with a junior hacksaw like so, after that a few persuasive taps with a large variable pressure applicator and out it came.
The wishbones were then cleaned up with some Scotchbrite and heated carefully, with a light smear of copper grease ready to tap the new joints in using a big 3/4 socket.
Edited by LewG on Saturday 12th December 23:06
Cheers Lance, I might not be this enthusiastic if it was any other car but I think it's worth doing while I have a bit of time!
The rest was all buttoned up today, refitting the front springs was an absolute nightmare as conventional spring compressors don't fit in the recess where it sits. It required some innovative use of a big ratchet strap to hold it compressed and then fit it. I was bricking it as obviously I was well aware of the forces involved!
I took the car for a test drive this evening and it seemed to be pulling quite heavily to the right, the wishbone shafts have eccentric washers sitting between tabs to pull the wishbone in/out and set the camber so despite my attempts to get things back where they should be I obviously haven't been very successful!
The rest was all buttoned up today, refitting the front springs was an absolute nightmare as conventional spring compressors don't fit in the recess where it sits. It required some innovative use of a big ratchet strap to hold it compressed and then fit it. I was bricking it as obviously I was well aware of the forces involved!
I took the car for a test drive this evening and it seemed to be pulling quite heavily to the right, the wishbone shafts have eccentric washers sitting between tabs to pull the wishbone in/out and set the camber so despite my attempts to get things back where they should be I obviously haven't been very successful!
Thanks! I will definitely be having a look prior to MOT time. The front end of my XJS used to have a distant rattle and again that turned out to be shock bushes, a facet of having a big heavy car I suppose.
I got the car 4 wheel laser aligned today by a garage round the corner from work, my God what a difference! The car tracks dead straight and it seems to be far better planted on the road, the new ball joints have made the steering ever so slightly heavier but overall, good results.
I got the car 4 wheel laser aligned today by a garage round the corner from work, my God what a difference! The car tracks dead straight and it seems to be far better planted on the road, the new ball joints have made the steering ever so slightly heavier but overall, good results.
Well a few developments with the car over the last week!
On Monday night with work looming the following day at about 11:30pm I got home, opened the door and could hear a hissing noise. Puncture on the rear RHS! It's all plugged now but changing for the spare at midnight really wasn't what I needed, especially when the scissor jack moved and managed to put a dent in the sill.
Today I went clay shooting so it was the obvious gun bus of choice. A 12 gauge fits across the boot quite nicely!
Also spotted rotting on the farm:
On Monday night with work looming the following day at about 11:30pm I got home, opened the door and could hear a hissing noise. Puncture on the rear RHS! It's all plugged now but changing for the spare at midnight really wasn't what I needed, especially when the scissor jack moved and managed to put a dent in the sill.
Today I went clay shooting so it was the obvious gun bus of choice. A 12 gauge fits across the boot quite nicely!
Also spotted rotting on the farm:
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