2004 Jaguar XJ8 on a budget

[MichaelXJ]

This is my second foray into the X350 Jaguar. My first one I loved dearly and got for a steal at £700. It required some light work and as soon as I got it finished I wrote it off which was genuinely devastating. I definitely felt my time with the X350 chassis was far from over and I have been on the classifieds ever since the crash (just before Christmas 2020) for the correct replacement. Prices were WAY higher than when I bought the first one back in May 2020. I noticed a 4.2 V8 Jaguar with very good spec on eBay with a starting bid of £1800 on 113k miles. The listed faults were as follows:
Air suspension light on
Eml on for evap system
Fob doesn’t work need to unlock by using the physical key
Lacquer peel

I thought even with these faults they’re easily sorted and on the 20” sepang wheels (worth circa £1500 in good nick with decent tyres which they are) the car is easily worth around £3500 which I just didn’t want to have to pay. With the starting bid being fairly low I thought I would offer him £2300. He came back to me and said he wouldn’t accept a penny less than £2400. I booked the next train down to Cambridge and met him in the car park. The Spec of the car is really top draw, heated steering wheel, heated front and rear seats, full rear blinds all in good condition, interior in really good condition, as mentioned the 20” alloys, full tv package, boot opens which is nice and the bonnet mechanism is nice and smooth, engine is bone dry top and bottom as is the gearbox and rear diff, slight knock from the front right suspension.

I am really chuffed with it and the power of the v8 really suits the car well with super silky gear Changes. I have ordered the air suspension pump rebuild kit, the only codes on the car are for the purge valve flow and reservoir implausible so typical systems of a under performing pump. Excited to get stuck in and I have my old Jaguar as parts car now so I feel I can get this new one tip top on a real tight budget. I think with all the issues sorted and the paint I think this is a circa 4.5k car for well south of 3k. Pictures because of course!

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Really glad to see you back in one, it looks lovely!

A few questions/points.

• If the alloys are worth £1500 do you plan to A) keep them on, or B) sell them and get some alternative (presumably) alternative cheaper Jag ones?
• You say you have your old write off in your possession. Did you buy it back from your insurer?
• Cream leather is gorgeous, but takes looking after. Buy some LTT Deep Clean to get it looking back to its prime. Oh, and never wear anything not washed a few times (IE colourfast) or anything red, or any wet denim if seated in the car. Any of these are likely to cause dye transfer, which can be a bh to shift.

Oh, and RE the key fob - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Repair-Service-for-Jagu...SwAAOSwgZ5cYq2p

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Monday 8th March 20:22

[MichaelXJ]

I’m not sure. I have the 18” alloys off my old one which are very nice but the 20”s look fantastic!
Thank you for the link as well I will definitely look in to that and the leather comment.
Such a great car these and so glad to be writing positively about my XJ again! This weekend will be a busy one but I think will be very fruitful.

[Stedman]

In

[Geekman]

It's worth opening up the fob, giving everything a good clean, putting a new battery in, and then pairing it. The instructions for the pairing are here. https://www.autoreservejaguar.com/news/remote-fob-...

I've fixed a couple that way - good luck!

[dunc69]

Great to see you back in one after your previous disappointment.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

[MichaelXJ]

Geekman said:

It's worth opening up the fob, giving everything a good clean, putting a new battery in, and then pairing it. The instructions for the pairing are here. https://www.autoreservejaguar.com/news/remote-fob-...

I've fixed a couple that way - good luck!

I tried a different battery and cleaning the connections but no luck. I will get a new battery and try the programming sequence again but I didn’t hear any beeps or anything. I think it may be drivers door module related but no harm in a new battery anyway.

Thanks for all the kind words and advice guys. This weekend I will hopefully get my new phone back and I can get some good pictures of the updates.

[Mr Tidy]

Well with your user name you've got to have one!

And your latest looks lovely.

[MichaelXJ]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Really glad to see you back in one, it looks lovely!

A few questions/points.

• If the alloys are worth £1500 do you plan to A) keep them on, or B) sell them and get some alternative (presumably) alternative cheaper Jag ones?
• You say you have your old write off in your possession. Did you buy it back from your insurer?
• Cream leather is gorgeous, but takes looking after. Buy some LTT Deep Clean to get it looking back to its prime. Oh, and never wear anything not washed a few times (IE colourfast) or anything red, or any wet denim if seated in the car. Any of these are likely to cause dye transfer, which can be a bh to shift.

Oh, and RE the key fob - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Repair-Service-for-Jagu...SwAAOSwgZ5cYq2p

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Monday 8th March 20:22

Sorry I realised I didn’t do a very good job of answering your questions.

With regards to the old jag the insurance situation was a little unpleasant but not unexpected. I didn’t realize just how high my excess was, as I am only 24 there are young person excesses etc and it ended up with £1,250 excess. My insurance then did the decent thing and said the car was worth (and I am not joking) £1,249. Therefore the claim in invalid and they aren’t going to payout. I therefore said I am not going to claim (makes no difference but at least it goes down on my end as just a report of an accident). I therefore have kept the car and started breaking for parts, there has been a very easy 2k made from doing this so no monetary loss, actually a decent profit and I still have a lot left.

[alec.e]

Following. Those Sepang wheels look fantastic, definately a great buy there!

The TVs are not Jaguar OEM sadly though.

I had to replace the microswitches on my XJ6 to fix the keyfob, however my Super V8 needed the drivers door module.

How many parts do you have, I am looking for near side front chrome bumper trim...

[Usget]

Looks great but definitely needs the Sport grille on it!

[MichaelXJ]

alec.e said:

Following. Those Sepang wheels look fantastic, definately a great buy there!

The TVs are not Jaguar OEM sadly though.

I had to replace the microswitches on my XJ6 to fix the keyfob, however my Super V8 needed the drivers door module.

How many parts do you have, I am looking for near side front chrome bumper trim...

Shame to hear the TVs are non genuine however I suspected this as it looked different from the pictures in the hand book. One key is now working but I think it has some memory function attached to it as it keeps changing the seating position when I unlock it and with re to the breaker all the chrome has gone I am afraid.

[MichaelXJ]

So quick update.

Air suspension light on dash:
This was for reservoir plausibility error, I therefor was fair confident we had a worn piston ring. Ordered a new one and now fitted (no pictures today I am afraid as still don’t have my new phone). Light has gone off and seems to have fixed it BUT I suspect i will be doing this again but with the replacement bore as well as it was a little scored from the amount of rubbish that seemed to find its way in there! I have cleaned it all out fitted new o ring and fitted as said and it’s working but I suspect maybe 6 months down the line I will be addressing this again.

EML:
So with this it’s for the fuel evap purge valve showing insufficient flow. I thought I can nick the purge valve off my old one however having looked at it and trying to figure out how it comes apart I quickly decided that I didn’t understand the connections and needed to have a quick look online perhaps for what I was missing! So this remains on.

Central locking on fob:

So a quick update on this is I have taken the key apart and cleaned it up and then put in a known good battery. The car now opens and closes but you cannot use the key more than once every 5 minutes say? Very bizarre and also the drivers door can’t be opened from the inside when it’s locked. All slightly unusual but I’m getting the sense either the battery I just put in has died again or I have a problem with the drivers door module.

Knock from front drivers side suspension:
Not sure on this just yet as haven’t had time to investigate.

Overall condition:
VERY nice. The paint work has quite a bit of lacquer peel but I might have a go at repairing that myself as I don’t think it’ll be too hard (famous last words). The car has NO oil leaks and is very dry and tidy, nearly all the original fixings are in good shape and it looks to be a gooden which I am very happy to say.

Watch this space as more will follow when I have the time!

Edited by MichaelXJ on Monday 22 March 13:25

[Stedman]

Purge valve being the one in the NSF arch liner, yes?

[MichaelXJ]

Stedman said:

Purge valve being the one in the NSF arch liner, yes?

Correct. I will see what’s what I eventually

[robinessex]

I have Sepang 20's on my XJR. The previous owner tried to give them a quick re-paint, which was rubbish. Was going to have them powder coated, but when new tyres were fitted, I was told the 2 rears are lightly bucked (slight vibration at circa 70mph). They are bloody expensive, I think new is £650 each. Also heard rumours they tend to be weak anyway. If I do decide to change them, might go for a very similar look and style, but, hopefully, cheaper and stronger.

Edited by robinessex on Sunday 14th March 10:43

[Stedman]

MichaelXJ said:

Correct. I will see what’s what I eventually

It should be really easy to change (although fiddly if you have big hands if I remember correctly).

Just a few click and push connectors I think, just don't force them.

[MichaelXJ]

Stedman said:

It should be really easy to change (although fiddly if you have big hands if I remember correctly).

Just a few click and push connectors I think, just don't force them.

I’ll have another crack. I need to buy a new one though as the one I tried taking off my old jag cracked up from age I assume

[MichaelXJ]

Stedman said:

It should be really easy to change (although fiddly if you have big hands if I remember correctly).

Just a few click and push connectors I think, just don't force them.

Had another shot but they aren’t budging. There’s a translucent ring on the connector which I assume you push down and then pull off? I can feel it press down slightly but try as I might it won’t come off and I’ve given it a real good yank.

[MichaelXJ]

Update.

Air suspension light has stayed off for now.

Evap purge valve has now been swapped over to the new one and code has been cleared. Fingers crossed the eml stays off.

Key have received a new battery and the problem still persists. I suspect now its going to be the drivers door module. I don't like the idea of taking the door card off as I am scared I will brake something while popping it off or ot won't quite go back on as well. I've taken a few door cards off these now and I don't like how much force I have to use to pry it off. I also would need to invest in a proper interior trim removal kit to avoid using screwdrivers.

Ordered now track rod ends for both sides as I believe the drivers side is knocking when going over bumps and it looks pretty snagged so needs replacing one way or another. I will do this next weekend.

Day to day driving. Such a lovely silky smooth ride just like my old one, made all the better with the V8 torque and a much smoother gearbox. Getting 18mpg around town in fairly heavy traffic so can't grumble too much. On a run it returned around 34mpg doing 80 which I am very pleased with. Very happy with myself and the car so far!