Paul80

Tue Dec 19, 2017 10:32 pm

Evening all,
I’m planning on joining the xj family.
After a bit of research I decided on a 98-99 xj 4.0 Petrol. There’s plenty around with some people asking for 4000 for one.
I found one that’s really cheap but needs a little work.
One of the advisories was:”slight play detected in steering box drop arm/sector shaft”
The rear springs are a bit saggy, the car has been underseald with diesel oil, and there is a bit of rust around the rear windows. I’m not particularly bothered about the rust, just need to know if the steering box play should put me off, or how easy is it to fix.
The car will go for £850 and it’s done 110k miles
Thanks

andrewmp6

Rust is a big thing on a xj,I'd look under it good to see if anything has rust holes in it.On the steering with age a steering box and any of the steer parts can get slop in them.Best fix is to replace any parts that are wore out.Or they are use to rack and pinion then drive a steering box and think it has play in it when it really don't,A steering box has a tiny bit of play new.While rack and pinion has almost non.To replace a steering box isn't a big deal any shop can do it,But look around the steering box bolts for cracks in the metal its bolted on.If its cracked free your good.

RocketMouse

yeah... don't want to start the steering gear replacement issue... it sucks.
As for the rust... what was mentioned is correct. You want to get one that's a clean/rust free as possible. not just to have a "nice" vehicle, but the XJ is a unibody construction. Meaning it doesn't have a traditional separate frame and body construction. They are welded as one... so rust is it's mortal enemy.

Paul80

Thank you both for your advice. I trink I’ll hold fire until the winter goes away and prices drop a bit. It’s hard to find one rust free in the UK at a decent price now. There’s a lot of diesel ones around, but not tempted especially with what’s happening now with the diesel stigma .I wish it was easier to see this one but it’s 320 miles away.
thanks again.

Paul80

Paul80

RocketMouse

Yeah... looks straight.... but your big thing is what does it look like underneath? And it's not just in the UK....in the US it's getting harder to find good rust free examples too... since the production of this model ended going on close to 17 years ago now.
+1 on the steering wheel being on the right side of the car..lol... I just moved back to the US from Australia a month ago.

If the price is decent on it.... ask the seller if they'd provide you with more detailed photos of the undercarriage, etc. If you knew you were going to see one that wasn't filled with rust in the problem areas of XJ's... then a 320 mile trip really wouldn't be too bad to nab a good one. I know people in the US have traveled farther then that to get a good rust free example XJ.
If they know you're seriously interested, most sellers would not mind doing so. Just a thought.

Paul80

Yeah the steering on the right is great, but nearly all automatic cars leave very little room for your resting foot here. Fell in love with an auto gearbox when we used to live in SC.
The problem with the undercarriage is that the bloke covered it in diesel oil to prevent corrosion. You can imagine that the oil mixed with dird created a whole new coating under there, unless I pressure wash it I won’t be able to tell.
she is the right colour with the right engine for me, just that the £310 return train ticket is a hard pill to swallow for my missus. She hit me with:” Honey, I’ll support you with whatever decision you take, but do we really need it?”
Thanks again for your advice, I’ll wait after Christmas and see if nothing else comes up, i might take a trip to see it.

RocketMouse

I hear ya about the space on some RHD vehicles for feet. I had a 2005 4wd Honda CRV when I was in Australia. That one had great space down in the foot-well. So guess it just depends... I think it has a lot to do with the design of the XJ being 4WD and RWD, so the tunnel coming through the cabin, does eat up real estate on both sides up front.
I understand... on one hand, it's good that he did coat to protect from corrosion, but from the buyer's perspective, did he do it in time before corrosion actually started?
And... hooo... I could feel the phrase from the missus.... Trust me, I've been there before. lol.
But I approach it as fair is fair... I don't bug her about shoes and sparkly things...and she doesn't bug me about cars/motorcycles, or tools. Pretty fair trade-off I think.