The "timing advance" mechanism went out almost immediately. We used a local independent Jaguar garage and it cost $5,200.
Within 30 days, the timing chain cover began leaking, we then took it to a different garage; cost to repair: about $1,000.
Within 30 days thereafter, the car simply stopped running. There was no knocking, no excessive oil consumption, no warning. It started up one morning, then quit, and has no compression!
It has now been out of service for another 30 days, with mechanics scratching their heads over the problem.
When we 1st purchased the car, our local Jaguar dealer supplied various maintenance and repair services (minor), was excellent and very easy to work with, but has the reputation for being very expensive. However, our next step (last resort) now is having the car towed to them for their opinion as to the problem.
This car is an extreme pleasure to drive, and an extreme pain to own! My wife purchased this car to use in her real estate practice, and only drives about 12,000 miles per year. However, she's gotten nowhere near that far in this one, and has had to revert to our smaller Chrysler for business (this after having sold her large Chrysler).
Her cars are pampered, and generally remain trouble free. This V-8 Jaguar, however, has been trouble with a capital "T".
We have owned several other Jaguars over the years (usually as a 2nd car), and, with the exception of the old Lucas electrics blackouts, have been reliable, enjoyable, and the (6 cylinder) engines seemed to run effortlessly forever!
I have a friend who just traded her XJ8 for a new Rolls, She wanted rid of the car before the warranty ran out even though it only had 8,000m on it. Jaguars have always been problematic and will always be problematic. These cars are built to be toys, not dependable daily drivers. I honestly would think you are lucky to have had several and to just now be having trouble with one. I have had several over the years and have tried using them as daily drivers myself untill I learned better. I now fully rely on Mercedes, and use Jaguars & Rolls Royce as weekend cars.
You do not have to be wealthy to buy a Jag, but you need to be to keep it on the road. Jaguars are wonderful as long as you have the money, but if you really cannot afford it and get stuck with one - I feel sorry for you.
I owned a 1993 Jaguar XJ6 end it served me very well. The biggest "problem" I had was a bad oxygen sensor (big deal). The car ran like new and never left me stranded even though it had over 150,000 miles on it. Would I recommend it? YES!!! But only if you have some mechanical ability because paying $60 for an oil change and $800 for a brake pad swap is ridicules. Bottom line: awesome European touring automobile (sexy, powerful, comfortable, luxurious, very dependable) for the price of a used Chevy.
I recently experienced engine failure on my 1998 XJ8L at 57,000 miles. There was a service bulletin 303-30 issued 12/98 pertaining to the timing chain tensioner. I purchased the car new in January of 1998 and on several occasions mentioned a startup "clatter". My claim was totally ignored by the service department. They never heard it and never wrote down my complaint. Had they advised me of this service bulletin, I could have avoided this catastrophic failure.
Most important is simply that I am being penalized for having low mileage. I firmly believe that this was intentionally ignored since my warranty ended with less than 40,000 miles on the car. Knowing that I would never drive enough miles to encounter the failure while in warranty they avoided any fix and chose to not even advise me of the problem so that I could choose to pay for the simple repair.
As I speak to more people while attempting to replace the engine, it seems that this is quite a common practice within Jaguar North America. It is also now obvious as to why they offer no extended warranty.
If you don't plan to replace the car within the warranty period, DON'T BUY IT!
Just prior to the engine failure my air bag indicator came on. The dealer told me that this is NOT a "covered" repair even though Jaguar is aware that the wiring through the firewall becomes frayed and needs to be replaced with a bypass. This failure would cause the airbag to not deploy.
Either of these failures and the total lack of concern on the part of Jaguar make owning another Jaguar out of the question.
Please let me know if you have experienced similar problems or need more information about my situation. I can be reached at dllipsky@yahoo.com.
Forums like these are great to trade information on issues pertaining to a variety of issues.
I have a 1998 Jaguar XJ8 with the extended select service extended warranty (5yr, 100k miles). I have always like the styling of that series. OVerall, it has been a pleasure to drive.
I wish a new of issues pertaining to the engine and the secondary cam chain tensioner. Last week, I brought the car in to the local Jaguar dealer because the engine was running rough and it appear the transmission was sliggish.
To my dismay, the service writer informed me that a complete engine was needed. I asked what caused the failure and he said that it was the Timing chain tensioner.
After finding this website, it was amazing that this was a known problem to Jaguar and its dealer body. Now that I am out of warranty, they are saying they can't go to Jaguar and get a policy adjustment on this issue.
I am amazed that a luxury car company and its dealer which rely on repeat business would not take the proactive steps to repair something as major as this prior to failure. Knowing that failure of this component could result in complete engine failure, the dealer and Jaguar should have offered some type of service promotion giving the owners of the vehicles the option of replacing the component at our cost to prevent the possibility of future failure.
I am just starting the process of working with the local dealer to see if they can come to some sort of resolution. I am hoping that they will in order to keep a prior satisfied customer.
IF anybody has any advice, please do not hesitate to offer some.
Tim - Florida.
My advice - Get over your "need" for flashy luxury cars (and get over yourself), and buy a Suzuki or a Subaru. They don't have all the bells and whistles (read- attention getters), but they have something your jag doesn't - reliability. For the hard working, "average" man, who simply can't afford to repair his vehicle weekly, there are little foreign cars.
I own a Subaru with 209000 miles on it (not a misprint). And drive it cross country with little worry. I also own a 99 XJ8 L with "clatter" upon startup (only 45000 miles). The dealer says that my VIN had an updated design of cam chain tensioners, so I think the clatter is just due to lack of lubrication. When or if the engine blows, I am going to drop a toyota truck engine in there, sell the V-8 for scrap metal, and be on my way. Except for the engine, the rest of the car is fantastic. Much better than an Infiniti or Lexus. And of course, better than Subaru too.
A nice Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis or Ford Crown Victoria is a more sensible car for North America. These cars are not so thirsty, considering their spacious interior and high mass. And maintenance costs are reasonable.
You can't really take advantage of the superior dynamic qualities of the European prestige brands such as BMW 7 Series, Mercedes S-Class or the bigger Jaguars, in North America.
Of course, if your ego needs a boost such that you need to show the world you can afford a very expensive car, that's another matter.
The only two millionaires of my acquaintance drive a Town Car and a Grand Marquis.
They have nothing to prove.
Of course, if you live in Germany and want to drive fast on the Autobahn which have no speed limit, a Jag, Merc or BMW makes some sense.
My Father and I are the proud owners of a 98 Xj8. We bought it cheap off an older gentleman who held on to his "baby" after a fire had started in one of the many fuse boxes. A good part of the front end needed repair or replacement, we did it changed the wireing harness painted it everything, it now looks like it came right off the showroom floor. He does not drive the car much as the Ford made 4.0L engine does burn quite a bit of high-test fuel. The Mercadies transmission shifts effortlessly, and will blow by anything with the push of a button, and the light feathering of the gas pedel. Now for the problems I have heard many issues about the chain tensioner, and the cylinders are lined with a special coating that will wash away upon flooding the car with gas, wich will in turn relieve compression and will cause them to be useless, a very expensive mistake to have happen. The brakes no matter how many times we have bled them, still remain spongy, and squishy, but braking is fine. Parts are expensive, we have two Caddy's 88 Sedan De Ville, and a 92 Fleet wood, and my Father and I do not like Cadillac, but we drive them more than the Jag, as parts for the Jag and parts for the caddy's well there is no comparison. My friend has a 96 XJR and this car is a ripper with a 4.0L inline 6, and massive supercharger, he loves this car as well, but recently something blew in the car and it has been put into storage. Yes Jaguar is a great car, amazing interior design, roomy, powerful engine, great transmission, awesome. If you start having problems with it, I do suggest unloading the thing. My Father and I are trying to sell our Jag, even though there is no problems with it, it is impractical and as much as I'm suremy father would love a luxurious car like that, he knows there is no need foreither of us to have it, and besides I way prefer my 87 Toyota MR2,better gas mileage, and way more reliable. Oh and as the the good sir who wants to put a Toyota truck engine in it, save yourself the trouble, and go buy a 350 Chevy engine and just drop it in, as far as I know you can do this with very many Jag's I know a lot of people who have retro-fit, new 350 crates into older Jag's. Have a good one.
Just to be clear here. You and your father dislike Cadillacs, but own three of them and use them as daily drivers, and you and your father are suddenly shocked at the running costs of a Jaguar you partially rebuilt so therefore want to sell the car?
If you wish to retire someday with money in hand I suggest you test drive your cars FIRST and then do some Internet research before buying a car (or three of the same brand) and then deciding you don't like it.
Just to be clear here. You and your father dislike Cadillacs, but own three of them and use them as daily drivers, and you and your father are suddenly shocked at the running costs of a Jaguar you partially rebuilt so therefore want to sell the car?
If you wish to retire someday with money in hand I suggest you test drive your cars FIRST and then do some Internet research before buying a car (or three of the same brand) and then deciding you don't like it.
I have a 98 XJ8 (4.0, 32 valve) and it needs an engine. I read that its possible to retro fit. I would like to retro fit with a 350 Chevy engine or other reliable foreign engine. Does anyone have any advice, suggestions or leads on doing this. I live on the East coast and I am open to all ideas?
Thanks!
I have a Jag 99 XJ8 with 50k miles. It locked up. Put in a new crankshaft, new main and connecting rod bearings, new oil pump. Problem is after running for ten minutes, the oil pressure drops to 5psi on idle. Is the chain tensioner run with oil pressure, or is it spring loaded? Is there somewhere else the oil can be going? John.
I also have a friend, with whom I am working, who is trying to get answers as to why his 1998 XJ8, well maintained, failed.
It is the same issue as everyone else - the chain tensioner. It has been to the dealer to see what can be done. We were told by the local dealership that there were no recalls on this car, and since the car has about 65k miles on it, it would be out of warranty.
Now the car sits in the garage waiting for resolution. I have emailed and called Jaguar, and was told there was nothing they could do. The problem was not the result of manufacture.
Anyone have any ideas of what can be done to resolve this issue. I have contacted my zone rep. as well as Jag. social groups. Everyone seems to say the same thing. Jag. will not do anything, but that was early this year.
Any help would be great. I hear that there are owners who are getting together to file a class action law suit. At this point I feel it is a good idea.
Any further info on this potential class action law suit regarding the xj8? I am an attorney in Florida and have several clients who need referrals out for this same problem. thanks.
I have a 98 XJ8 Vanden Plas, which is fun to drive, but has had numerous mechanical problems and may need a new engine at 94,000 miles. Lots of people put General Motors V-8 engines in older XJ's through 1987 and a few in the 1988-1994 cars, but I can't find anybody who does a similar conversion in this series. Any ideas? Love the car overall, but it is not practical and reliable for daily use. Thanks.