Definitely not a good idea letting pump flop around…not just for vibration but safety. And how can you fit spare tire?
I found it quite difficult to bend 1/2" Gates Barricade around sump to fit a pre pump filter, very stiff, which might explain your PO setup. I ended up just relying on the sump screen. The bigger screens, as found in my 88, proved much better than earlier ones, and i had a new tank so hopefully not much to clog it up.
I also found 1/2" pre-molded fuel hose that i cut for connection between sump and pump. I found trying to fit regular straight hose in here difficult too. Jaguar sells pre-bent hose part for this, but is expensive.
Thank you all for the support and guidance, your feedback does help me see areas that I am not familiar with, but it does allow me to understand and learn.
Hi again, so I am slowly buying parts based on the guidance that you all recommended. Waiting to have some time so I can devote a week or a weekend.
Does anyone know of a mechanic in the Sacramento, CA area or surrounding areas?
I have called several JAG shops and either they only work on 96 and above or only 76 and below. The leads given for independent Jag mechanics are retired or just don’t have the time.
Yeah, the more time that passes, the worst it gets with finding someone to properly service these vehicles.
The reality of doing ones own work is pretty much a requirement for owning these cars. A healthy allocation of time is also an unavoidable necessity, because things are gonna take as long as they take and there ain’t no getting around that.
I’d totally forget about trying to lean on someone else for a so called baseline. Your baseline is gonna come from you methodically working your way through the car. I’m not sure what year the car is but it’s gotta be somewhere around 30 yrs old, right? So, it needs everything, that’s your baseline.
Start with the cooling system and work your way through it. Change all of the hoses, flush the radiator, water pump, change the thermostats, etc, etc, etc, that’ll be your baseline. Change all the belts, install a new fan. Change the transmission fluid, change the fluid in the rear differential. I’m sure the suspension has seen better days. Is the AC working? If not, you’ve got a bunch to do.
Seconding a lot of what A.J. said. Ruben, I had a pretty similar plan to yours when I first got my car–I was thinking I’d do some of the lower effort jobs and then outsource the tougher ones to an experienced mechanic. However, hanging around this forum and researching helped me feel more confident about tackling things myself, so I went ahead and did the fuel system rebuild myself. Bonus–I now feel like I’m developing an understanding of my own car that will be invaluable when something else goes wrong. It’s intimidating at first, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll end up spending a lot of time cussing over British engineering and being aghast at some of the ways things are set up. It’s an adventure!
you dont need a Jag shop… most dont know anything about xjs anyway… just find the right guy by word of mouth… heres my 88… 46000 miles… btw you got a bargain…
Well that sux (blankety-blanks) … So basically, they don’t want to work on any XJSes, sounds like (yet Series I-III and e-types are just fine ). smh …
Only suggestion I would have is to contact Jaguar Heaven, which is in Stockton (not far from the Big Tomato, IIRC) and see if they have any techs they recommend in your area.
Speaking of which, ya’ll know what a pain it has been to get Superblack up and running, since my ex-roommate (“tech bud”) got the boot by me a few months ago after half-way attempting it for over a year (in exchange for free rent) . I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day and she has a neighbor who works out of his house on cars. Apparently he’s quite the mechanical whiz (I think he used to be a full-time tech before he retired). With his assistance, she was FINALLY able to get her '98 XJ8 up and running after all this time, a gold-colored one that she got at a local salvage yard a few years ago for under $300.00. Earlier techs that looked at it had placed the non-running condition on the fuel pump/tank (I suspected maybe the usual snapped timing chain tensioner ), but other than taking the tank out and leaving it in the boot nothing more got done on it. Have to admit tech bud himself did give a try with starter spray back then, and at least it would run for a few secs O.K. that way, so sounded like they might be right. Well, this neighbor gave it a going over, reinstalled the tank (presumably r/ring the fuel pump) and she was driving it a few days ago. Wow. I never thought I’d actually see that car in running condition. She gave me his contact info and I’m going to see if he will tackle Superblack next.
Just goes to show how sometimes when you’re in the right place and time you can find someone who’s not afraid to work on our Jags and can dig in there and “get 'er done”.
Thank you for the feedback. yes, I realized based on your guidance that I need to do it myself.
What I have bought so far
Oil filter and oil with pan gasket to replace it
transmission oil kit with oil
New fan blade
What is the best place to order parts for XJS? need to get:
Hose kit
thermostats
Water pump
fan clutch
belts
Coolant
radiator converted to single pass?
If I am forgetting something please let me know, thank you all in advance.
I will say that XJSs will be very desirable in the future, I am planning on buying 3 to 4 more or as many as I can (I have the space) one will be my practice car to take parts of before I attempt on mine. I have worked on Chevys, Fords, Pontiacs, olds, Buicks, and Dodge in the past, and I have an eye for cars that will be valuable. XJS will not bring high dollars, but definitely see the potential for return on investment.
I certainly can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ve had less than stellar experiences with just about all of the usual part vendor suspects.
It is like pulling teeth when trying to get straight answers about where the parts are made, because they don’t want to come out and tell you that the parts are aftermarket or that they are made in the Middle East (Turkey), or Asia, etc. When confronted with the origin of said parts there is often an agitative attitude that follows, and some of the typical responses that I’ve heard are “Its our most popular item,” or “We never had a complaint,” or “It’s just as good as OEM,” and on, and on, and on with the bull$^*@.
When looking at advertisements it becomes blatantly obvious that more often than not the country of origin is mysteriously absent.
Many people use aftermarket parts and are quite happy with them, I do not. I only use Original or OEM parts, I go out of my way to get them, they should be made in either Europe, or the USA. Needless to say Original, and OEM parts command premium prices, but fitment is never an issue.
Having said all of that I find SNG Barratt to be one of the better vendors these days.
The best way is to just check with the usual Jag suspects as to each part … Also, be sure to get on their weekly and “special” emailing lists (if they have one), as sometimes they will run a great special on a part you just happen to be looking for … As to used parts (generally) on Ebay, I keep a list of fav sellers as I run across them … If they are selling a used XJS part, then usually they have more of same … Just check to see if they have their own “Ebay Store” (most sellers do) and if they do have other XJS parts on there, be sure to save them as a “fav seller”. Sometimes on weekends I just peruse all of their Ebay Stores to see what they have gotten in since the week before (arrange your sort by “newly listed first” to save time). One thing that helps a search is if you search for the part by original OEM Jag part # (which you can get from the Jag Classic website). Most sellers seem to have that part # stuck somewhere in their product description, so that way you will hit on it. Ironically, though, I know of one long-time, major Jag suspect that is fond of doing that NOT … I guess they’re afraid that if they tip you off to the part’s OEM # (and you don’t have it already) then you’ll “misuse” that # to find other parts from their competitors (i.e. at a lower price).
Oh, another trick I use with Ebay is that if I do run across an XJS part that I really don’t need right now, but think I might in the future at some time, I save it to my watch list anyway. If later on I do want to buy it and the vendor has already sold it, then (1) I have the info. handy from the listing that I can use to now do a fresh search for the part. (2) sometimes Ebay will automatically do the search for you, and will have along the bottom of the listing page “similar items” - a queue of listings of the same item for sale by other vendors, if there are any.
I too get most of my stuff from SNG Barrat, their service is excellent.
But must be weary that aftermarket parts can indeed be inferior and sometimes the fitting/quality is very bad, i.e. never get aftermarket front upper wishbone bushings… e-bay.uk was my outmost favourite source but Brexit put an end to that.
Must have a minimum of 41mm when open and a jiggle pin. Lots of info in the archives
I like the 190F/90°C better.
Hayden 2665 Standard
You should also change the yellow fan (it can disintegrate at 5.000rpm…) with the upgraded black one.The Range Rover P38 is a direct fit.
A matter of debate.
The stock system works very well if properly maintained.
True OEM is getting harder to find, as I’m sure you’re aware. Buying a Jaguar-boxed part from Jaguar, with a Jaguar part number, doesn’t assure anything. Open the box and, often as not, there’s a Brand-X part inside. Presumably many of the true OEM parts are simply no longer in production and Jaguar turned to other sources…which in my experience have always been lower quality.
As to auto parts in general, beyond just Jaguar, vendors toss around the term “OEM” in such a willy-nilly manner that it has become virtually meaningless nowadays.
I could (but won’t ) prattle on for hours on this subject. We all know by now that you have to be very selective when buying parts.
Harvey needs new front wheel bearings, so I went on Rock Auto to order a new set. I went through the listings, and picked SKF, since they are known to be a good brand. When I received them, the box was labelled, “Made in China.”
Nowadays everything is made in China… and that’s why China is going to take over the world in the very near future.
But that doesn’t mean anything on the quality of those bearings, SKF made a plant there, according to it’s specifications and I would think that they would have no difference with ones made somewhere else.
Well, yes and no about the quality and specs. Not that long ago I lived in China as a local for just over a decade. Having been associated with a multitude of factories that made products across the board, I feel that I can offer a bit of insight that some may already be aware of.
Everything that comes out of China which include the Far East in general is not unsatisfactory. There are good, better, and best factories that produce much of the same items. The broad brushed complaint about crappie Chinese products on the market is a bit unfair to this respect. US buyers (and buyers from anywhere else for that matter) issue PO’s for their respective companies, they are well aware of the crap that they are buying, and the cost cutting that they are engaging in. They also have the opportunity to really good quality products too. To be clear, there are Chinese factories that can and do produce outstanding quality products.
As mentioned there are also OEM’s that setup factories and oversee the quality of their own production. For the most part, (as far as I am concerned) this too can be a bit of a crapshoot because, you can’t know how the OEM might be cheapening there own products (and they do.) I will say this, though. If an OEM sources from both Asia/Middle East and also Europe (which a lot of them also do) my money goes to European part.
At least with SNG Barratt they provide the buyer with a choice of aftermarket, oem, and Original Manufacture.
I have found that if one were to apply sane logical assumptions to any of the manufactures, things are rarely what they seem.
With the front wheel bearings of an ill-handling, 12,000 pound vehicle, I’m a bit chary about whether or not Chinese-made SKF bearings are as dead reliable and as repeatable in quality as they were when German-made.
I’m returning them, and heading to my local bearing house…and inspecting the ones I get there.
So basically, they don’t want to work on any XJSes, sounds like (yet Series I-III and e-types are just fine 
). smh …
. I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day and she has a neighbor who works out of his house on cars. Apparently he’s quite the mechanical whiz (I think he used to be a full-time tech before he retired). With his assistance, she was FINALLY able to get her '98 XJ8 up and running after all this time, a gold-colored one that she got at a local salvage yard a few years ago for under $300.00. Earlier techs that looked at it had placed the non-running condition on the fuel pump/tank (I suspected maybe the usual snapped timing chain tensioner 
I never thought I’d actually see that car in running condition. She gave me his contact info and I’m going to see if he will tackle Superblack next. 
and can dig in there and “get 'er done”. 
) prattle on for hours on this subject. We all know by now that you have to be very selective when buying parts.