Jaguar Information Resources
Owning and maintaining a Jaguar can be an interesting challenge. After 30 years of maintaining, rebuilding, and overhauling cars and motorcycles, I felt fully competent to take on a Jaguar. This is when I learned that mechanical aptitude and experience were not the only things required to deal with the gnomes of Coventry. There are a host of gotchas and "Oh by the way..."s that one needs to be aware of. Enter jag-lovers.org,
From the Jag Lovers site, you can obtain a list of the various Jaguar related list services that are available. Those with Jaguar XJ-S will learn a great deal from the list [email protected].
Experience in a Book Kirby Palm, one of the cornerstones of the XJ-S list has complied a document, titled Experience In A Book, that can be downloaded http://www.nettally.com/palmk/Jaguar.html . This book is required reading for those owning or contemplating purchase of an XJ-S.
This document is meant to be printed. Because the indexing process adds non-printing {XE}notations throughout the document, reading the indexed version on screen is somewhat tedious. (IF someone knows how to turn off the {XE} display in Word, please e-mail me, and I will post the information on this page.)
I drove a 1989 Jaguar XJS for 16 years. Despite the reputation of Jaguars of the 1970s as cars that you should not drive any farther than you cared to walk home, by 1985, their quality had increased substantially. My 1989 models was as reliable as a typical American car of its day. The biggest problem came from the extreme heat generated by the V-12 engine as pertained to the rubber and plastic parts under the hood.
1989 XJS Coupe
This is a two owner, California car, which I owned from May 1991 to April 2007. Always garage kept, the Jag had never been out of California, and did not have a speck of rust anywhere.
Cosmetically, it is generally very nice. There is no significant body damage. There are only two small parking lot dings, and two noticeable scratches. Naturally, the forward surfaces have the usual bug and stone chips that you would expect to see on a car of this age.
The interior has held up remarkably well. There are no cracks or tears in the leather, as a result of being stored inside whenever possible, and regular treatments with leather conditioner. There is a section of piping missing from the outside edge of the driver’s seat, which seems to happen to all XJS cars of this vintage. The carpeting and floor mats are in excellent condition. The wood looks excellent, and does not show any drying, aging, or cracking. The headliner was recently replaced.
Mileage is 147,000 miles.
Mechanically, it is in very good condition. Oil was changed every 3,750 miles (twice as often as called for by the service schedule). All major service was performed as directed, at 30,000 mile intervals. This car is one of the last to use the Lucas ignition, with the GM amplifier. This is a good thing, because later in 1989, Jaguar switched to the Marelli ignition. The Marelli system was fatally flawed, and, in certain cases, failed in such a way as to cause catalytic converter fires. The distributor cap for the Marelli cars is discontinued, and cost upwards of $200 a few years ago. (I have no idea how much they are today.) The Lucas ignition parts are readily available, and relatively reasonably priced.
The cooling system is functioning properly, and the car has never overheated.
Brakes have about 40% lining remaining. Rotors were new at the last brake job.
The exhaust system is in excellent shape, with no sign of corrosion.
The transmission has been serviced regularly, and works correctly.
Tires have about 25% tread remaining.
In addition the following was done to address known issue and pitfalls with the V12 engine:
-Distributor rebuilt to remove factory grease that hardens and causes distributor seizure, and then lubricated regularly.
- All O rings replaced with viton. Viton rubber is more suitable to resist hardening at the high temperatures to which they are exposed.
- The leak-prone rubber plugs at the rear of the cylinder heads have been replaced with aluminum plugs, sealed with viton o-ring material.
The leak-prone rubber plug in the timing cover has been replaced with an aluminum plug, sealed with viton o-ring material.
Exhaust valve clearances have been increased to the specification recommended by Roger Bywater, who worked in the engine development department at Jaguar when this engine was designed. This improves fuel economy and performance slightly, at the cost of a slight increase in engine noise.
Cam chain tensioner was replaced at 115,000 miles.
Battery is an Optima. These are sealed units with six separate coils instead of plates; it uses a gel electrolyte and is sealed, so no vent is required. This is ideal for the XJS, because the battery is in the trunk. Ordinary batteries give off gases that cause corrosion in the trunk. The trunk in this car is clean and leak-free, with all the carpeting intact.
Air conditioning center vent assembly has been replaced by the 1992-1996 style, which directs cool air towards the seats, rather than the empty space between them. The air conditioner on this car works correctly.
Fuel injection hoses were replaced for safety several years ago.
Does it leak oil? Yes. Anyone who claims their V12 XJS does not leak is probably lying. The fixes described above have reduced the amount of oil leakage significantly, but this car does have some minor oil leakage. Oil consumption is about 1 quart every 1200 - 1500 miles.
Is it reliable? Yes. This car has never refused to start, and has never needed to be towed. An XJS V12 is not a Toyota. You can’t set it and forget it. But if you pay attention to it, and deal with things as they come along, an XJS, and this one in particular, will reward you with reliable service. I think the fact that I have kept it and driven it for more than 15 years speaks volumes about this particular car.