Jaguar S-Type - Need advice on buying, running and maintaining

Hello,

I am thinking about buying a late 60's s-type 3.8 (manual), and was wondering if anyone could advise on what they are like to run and maintain (I would be using it as an everyday car).

A friend of mine owned a couple of jags from the same period and warned that the engine's weren't that reliable - he had leaking oil and overheating on both.

Would appreciate any advice or comments that anyone might have.

Many thanks in advance,

Rehan

Reply to
rehanog
Loading thread data ...

Good choice. More affordable and in many ways better than its fashionable predecessor, the Mk 2. Make sure you have an o/d gearbox.

Disregard your friend's advice. Only means that the two he owned were a couple of dogs. Properly maintained, the XK engine is good for at least

150,000 miles between rebuilds. As long as the waterways are clear and the radiator core in good nick it won't overheat. Nor should it "leak" oil, although a few drips are par for the course.

It's quite easy and relatively inexpensive to rebuild mechanically, certainly far less than any comparable car of that period - if there is such a thing!

Bodywork is much more of a problem. Like all Jaguars of that period - and most other cars - they rust. Panels are readily available, but unless you have the relevant skills it is not a diy job. It will cost.

Ditto the interior - there's an awful lot of cows and trees in there, and a complete refurb will make your eyes water.

Servicing- much more than a modern - 3,000 miles according to the handbook, although with modern lubricants I stretch this to 6,000 miles. If you are at all handy with a spanner you can do the routine maintenence yourself - no impenetrable electronics. A set of a/f spanners and a nice big hammer covers most eventualities.

Join the JDC and/or JEC, do some research and get familiar with the model. Buy a good one and you have a perfectly practical everyday car; buy a dog and it will be a money pit. If faced with a full restoration it will cost far more than the car will ever be worth. Fortunately there are quite a few good ones advertised at any given time.

Running costs depend on your annual mileage. You'll be lucky to get more than 20mpg, but against that is free road tax and astonishingly cheap classic insurance.

Good luck!

Geoff MacK

Reply to
Geoff Mackenzie

The message from "Geoff Mackenzie" contains these words:

I never got round to buying a Jag but ISTR the XK engine was designed to use a lot of oil - a pint every few hundred miles as opposed to the table spoonful per thousand that seems to be the norm these days.

Reply to
Roger

The earlier versions may well have used a lot of oil, but the one in the XJ6 I had didn't. Pretty normal in that it would usually run from one oil change to the next without the dipstick reading minimum. Probably due to closer tolerances, modern oil control rings and valve seals. Remember the engine was built for about 40 years and many of the later features can be used on early engines at re-build time.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

The Rover P4 and P5 engine was the same - according to the manual it aimed for a pint of oil every 750-1000 miles, but when you think that the sump held 2 gallons and the oil changes were more frequent at the time the car was sold, it wasn't excessive. Even with 200,000 miles on the clock, my P5 was still giving me 600 miles to the pint of oil, so it still managed the interval between oil changes with only one top-up.

The idea was to put a little extra oil in the cylinder bores and thus prevent bore wear on a long-stroke engine. I suppose the XK was working on the same principle. It did seem to work - my Rover hit a quarter of a million miles without a rebore!

I wouldn't let this feature put you off buying an XK.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

I can confirm this. When mine was new - 1966 - 100mpp was considered acceptable. Post rebuild, and after running in, it is now around 400mpp. Fortunately the recommended oil is as cheap as it gets barring ullage - Halfords "oil for older engines" or something like that.

I also had a 1983 XJ6 as a company car, and even when it was replaced at

150,000 miles it was still not using any between services.

Geoff MacK

Reply to
Geoff Mackenzie

Roger (Roger ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Heh. The what? uk.rec.cars.maintenance seems to have plenty of "My new car uses a litre every 1000 miles, and the dealer tells me it's normal..." threads...

Reply to
Adrian

These cars take a bit of time to settle. But should be right from the start.

VW and pug, diesel have stated in there owners manual, 400mls/1000km max. We had a pug which exceeded this and after spending quite a considerable amount of money and time, on various engine components plus ended up off the road 1 day in 6 being repaired, finally replaced the car (but that's another story).

Reply to
Rob.

Interesting. My niece's hubby has a new Passat diesel and the low oil level light came on after less than 3000 miles. He was rather perturbed to find that the oil needed to top it up cost over 30 quid - and that the dealer he went to for the oil (not the supplying one) said 'they all do that, sir' My brother told him it was sometimes to be expected with a new engine and that it will improved as the miles mount up. But this might not be so?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Cor, crikey, Dave - that opens up some can of worms. A new engine drinking oil, which will improve with mileage? Yes, for anything built pre 1980 or thereabouts, when a lengthy and considerate running-in period was normal, but with current manufacturing I can't believe that is still the case. "They all do that, Sir" reminds me of "Common fault with this model, Sir".

Only slightly relevant - I have a a shopping trolley - Peugeot 205 1600 of about 1993 birth. It pinks. Since there is nothing under the bonnet which even remotely resembles a distributor, I can't just knoch the timing back a click or two. Just for amusement I tried a tank of Optimax plus Millers, which should be roughly rocket fuel, and it still pinks under load. I understand this engine was used in various cars, and - er - yes, they all do that.

Might be interesting to read the warratny carefully. The various exclusions may well contravene Brit law. Some years ago, when I received company cars, a new Opel Manta GT/E was in dreadful order when delivered, and most certainly had not had a PDI. I ended up dumping it across the dealer's main entrance, chucking the keys on the desk and saying words to the effect of will you please recitfy this. Rather more "f" in what I actually said, including "fix it". I then threatened (having done my homework first) Sale of Goods Implied Terms as the car was clearly unusable - 500 miles on the clock, clutch failed (a lock nut was missing), and rust breaking out all over.... This was Christmas Eve, so was not impressed to be told that nothing could be done until the New Year, and no, no spare courtesey car. A brief dicussion produced a Cavalier for my use - OK, not a Manta, but wheels I needed.

Going back to the Passat, having rambled a bit, if it says in the driver's handbook that the oil should be checked every 1,000 miles until the first service that would be fair enough. If not, the maybe the car is not "fit for purpose"? The Small Claims Court (under £5k) are very helpful and costs vitually nothing. Your niece's husband might have a case against the supplier - he will probably try to put you off by saying that it has to be referred to the manufacuteres, but not so - your case is simply against the people who sold him the car, and it's the dealer's problem to take it up with his superiors.

I''m extremely unlikely to buy a brand new car - the shopping trolley, thr E-Type and a bus pass covers my needs - but if I did, I would be spitting feathers and blood if I found that I needed thirty quid's worth of oil before the first service if I hadn't been warned of that first.

Geoff MacK

Reply to
Geoff Mackenzie

Geoff Mackenzie ("Geoff Mackenzie" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Umm, the Manta _was_ a Cavalier. A Mk1 Cavalier/Ascona B. Hell, they even sold it as the Cavalier Coupe/SportsHatch over here for a few years. By the time the GT/E was out, the Cav was onto the Mk2/Ascona C - so the courtesy car was basically the replacement model for yours...

Reply to
Adrian

Geoff Mackenzie ("Geoff Mackenzie" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

No. Oil level checks are weekly routine maintenance, together with tyre pressures, lights etc. They're even in the driving test as such now.

Reply to
Adrian

The message from "Geoff Mackenzie" contains these words:

I bought a 3 year old BMW a few years back. Since the handbook said the engine was expected to use oil I bought a pint of the expensive muck on spec. After 2 years and some 10000 miles I had it serviced without having to add any oil at all. Without indeed seeing any noticeable change in level on the dip stick.

Reply to
Roger

Speaking for VW they should start to hold the oil at about 15-20000k's (10-12000mls).

What you have to be careful of is that they don't clog the inlet manifold with sludge.

Reply to
Rob.

We were worse off that that, engine knock at 500kms, new engine, which never stopped using oil and at 12000km it had used 7.5 ltrs of oil (all supplied by the dealer). I do think that we should have had the car replaced at 500km with a new one, our loan car was a Toyota for 6 weeks.

They do give a limit as to the acceptable amount of oil.

Reply to
Rob.

Ah, there'a man who knows his Cavaliers! You are, of course, quite right. But for a parts bin lash-up, the Manta was very nearly an extremely good car.

My beef was not what was lent to me, but the fact that I had to make a bit of noise in order to get anything at all. I would have been quite happy with their delivery van, if they'd just been honest and admitted that the new car for which my employers had just paid a substantial amount of dosh was a load of junk and they could find something in the yard which would get me over Christmas/New Year.

My previous four company cars were Alfas; three Sud Tis and a Giulietta.. Excellent dealer service - routinely would pick up the car and leave something for my use (usually trhe next model up from mine, so clever subtle selling!) and it was a bit of a shock when I moved to the General and found I was just the 13th rep in line to book in.

Geoff MacK

Reply to
Geoff Mackenzie

Geoff Mackenzie ("Geoff Mackenzie" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

My mother had a Cav Sportshatch back in the day. It replaced the second of her two Dolomite Sprints, and was replaced by a Mk1 Astra GTE.

Reply to
Adrian

And what was the cause of her downfall? ;-)

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Out of interest, was the 6-cyl engine fitted to Land Rovers based on the P4 lump? Looking at one the other day, I was surprised how compact it looked (compared to the Triumph straight six, for example).

Reply to
Willy Eckerslyke

Yes, it's a P4 unit. IOE units always look compact compared to OHV ones - at least in some ways. The overall length, of course, depends on bore size.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.