Jaguar ST-R

[actros]

Hi Everyone

In the not too distant future (probably after Christmas), I will be on the lookout  for an S Type - R. 

Can anyone steer me in the right direction as to any inherent problems or issues with these cars. I have been told to avoid pre-2004 but I'm not sure why (something to do with bore wear apparently)

martyn

[Raistlin]

The first thing, in my opinion, is the same regardless of which model you are looking at. SILLS. Ideally, remove the covers. If they are rotten you are looking at £800 for replacement. Further, if the sills are that bad, there will be rot in the floor as well.

[Carole Simpson-Hadley]

Hello Martyn

What a good choice of future ownership!    My partner says that the particular issues to look out for in the earlier V8s are :

1.  The power units had Nikasil cylinder liners which could fail resulting in lack of compression and eventual engine failure.         More of an issue pre 2000 when high sulphur content petrol was about.     There is a thread on another forum (not the JOC) which we recall which went into great detail and gave vin numbers/engine nos which could be affected.

2.  Timing chain tensioners and timing gear.  Originally the tensioners were plastic and could wear prematurely, causing the chain to jump a cog.  This would result in erratic/rough running.  Jump two cogs and oops, one wrecked engine.        Proof should be looked for that the tensioners/chain etc have been replaced with later metal type tensioners.   Give away is a clatter when starting from cold.

3.  The throttle body was known to fail on earlier models, thus you could be sailing along at 60 or so mph and suddenly find you are at idle....not good on the motorway!!

If you can find the aforementioned forum thread, there is a really in-depth article covering all of the above (we recall it may have been written about the XJ8, but the power unit is the same). Try entering "Jaguar X308 buying guide" in Google and have a good look through the results.  It was a really in-depth item.

We have just bought a XJ8 V8 to go with our XK X150 and late S-type and, happily, the engine is a non-Nikasil unit , the bill for replacement of timing chain and tensioners (at 51K miles) is present (some £900+), and the throttle unit likewise.  The car has covered just 65K miles since new in 1998.

Good luck with your search, and meanwhile we should agree wholeheartedly with Paul's comment about the sills.

As always, happy growling

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi

All S-type R engines are great, all 4.2 had no issues with nikasil bores or chains or tensioner, that was solely on the 4.0l, when the 4.2 came these were all resolved and as all S-type R are 4.2 there fine.

main issues with the engine is the Valley pipe, a coolant hose buried in the V, that balloons with the heat and burst, £20 for the hose about £500 to £800 for the labour

check for any rattling as supercharger coupling can fail, causing a noisy supercharger, generally if abused

engine and gearbox should be silky smooth and should have plenty of go

as for all s-type check Sills, Sills, Sills, they can rot terrible here and still pass a mot, it hidden by a plastic cover remove to see, also if sills are bad usually rear arches will have bubbles of rust leading to sills.

there's a lot of bushes on the S-type and if the cars been abused, then they can eat bushes, like I said it should drive silky smooth, no knocking or rattling

if its pre 2005 it will have Brembo brakes all round, make sure they work ok, also check the EPB works ok, try it a few times as they can be trouble some, brembo's had a seperate caliper at the rear solely for handbrake, later cars went more to  cost effecting brakes and in my opinion not as good as the brembo's, brembo's had 2x 4pot calipers at the front and 2x 4pot caliper at the rear and a seperate parking brake caliper at the rear, later cars had, 2x 1pot calipers front, 2x 1pot caliper rear, with integral parking brake.

make sure the heating and aircon works, trouble some DCCV can cause problems and be expensive to fix

lift the boot mat, there prone to leaking water inside the boot from above the rear lights

check both keys work, all the functions, just because it comes with 2 keys don't assume both work, can be expensive to reprogram and replace

the STR's have HID headlights, there self leveling, every time you switch the ignition on they do a dance, they go all the way up, then all the way down and then level, if they dont, either a sensor has failed, or adjusters inside the headlight have broke, they can be replaced, but very time consuming, bumper has to come off to remove headlights and any faults need jaguar IDS/SDD software to be plugged in to clear

brake pipes also corrode, right next to the fuel tank, there a mare to do, fuel tank has to be dropped

a good one will come with lots of history and receipts/bills, service history is great, a must really

see what options it has, mine came fully loaded, 2003, 2004 came as a R plus and had more items a standard, can make a difference to value, features like phone, bluetooth, Audio connectivity Module, Jaguar voice, adaptive cruise, Jaguar tracker, 16 way adjustable memory seats, adjustable pedals, rear entertainment screens, Alpine premium sound system

apart from that there brill, I bought a low mileage one , with full jaguar service history, its gone up over 2.5k in value in just 2 years and is serious fun, never had any issues with mine, but is been well looked after

cheers

Joe

[actros]

Carole, Paul & Joe.

Thank you so much for the information that you supplied.

I was rather hoping Joe would respond as I know you own one of these "beauties" and have good experience of them.

I currently own a 2.7 diesel and I am well impressed with it. yes I know that with any car getting on in years, the almighty rust will become an issue if not nipped in the bud. My intention is to keep the 2.7 as my main vehicle but have the V8 for weekends, so to speak: My work takes me around 35 miles per day, mainly town driving and comparing fuel consumption, the diesel wins hands down but as for sheer "Grin" factor, the sound and performance of the V8 is second to none.

I drive a V8 truck and my logo on the registration plates say it all "You're never late with an eight".

Thanks guys

Martyn