• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

X300 Exhausts

Share this page

T

tk421

Senior Member
Offline
So I have finally scrounged up all the $ I need to get a new exhaust for my 1996 XJ6 (X300).

According to the local Jaguar dealer that I take my car to for small things like oil changes and "regular maintenance", I need a set of new catalytic converters and O2 sensors. They said that since Jaguar doesn't make an exhaust system for the X300 anymore, it would cost $5000 for them to get everything made up and put on. I nearly crapped my pants when I read the message from my mom (who took the car to the dealer when I was working). I've had to replace cats on a Lincoln and a Chevy, and it was about 10x cheaper.

So long story short, I would like a brand new exhaust system for my car. One exhaust company I am looking towards is Quicksilver Exhaust out of the UK. They said $1400 including delivery from the <span style="font-style: italic">cats back</span>. I was hoping for the <span style="font-style: italic">headers back</span>. But, they will have to custom make the exhaust, so would it be worth my time to ask for a whole exhaust from Quicksilver?

Anyone have any companies or ideas? I want to get a very good quality exhaust, not a cherry bomb.
 
Find another shop QUICK!! First of all, you could buy a parts car cheaper than that that HAS a good exhaust. Second, find a shop that buys from World Pac. Bosel makes 49 state cats, my cost is under 500 bucks, Jaguars list is over a grand. Look at Jagbits.com, they have a selection too. As will most of the Jag vendors out there. Look for the local Jag club, and find out who the good independant shops in your area are, and then have one of them look at your car.5k is a really high price.
 
jessebogan said:
Find another shop QUICK!! First of all, you could buy a parts car cheaper than that that HAS a good exhaust. 5k is a really high price.
Click to expand...

Oh I know!!!

The $5k price was calculated by the local Jaguar dealer. I take my car there for small things, like oil changes and spark plugs. I don't have any tools or space, so that is more convenient for me.

For any actual work, I have a shop I go to that is owned by friends of the family. And they are dirt cheap and get things done well and quick.

I looked at Bosal, and for a full exhaust, they have a cutoff at 1995 or older...

I have thought about buying a parts car or a used exhaust, but again, I don't have the tools or space to keep a 2nd XJ6 around and swap out the exhausts. Besides, a used system will wear out quicker than a brand new custom system. Jagbits sells cats for $500 a piece, and I believe I need 4. What I precisely need will be found out tomorrow.

For $1400, I can get a custom from the cats back and clamps, but I am wondering about a custom place that would be able to do it from headers back.
 
All they would do is farm it out to a local muffler shop anyway.

Several years ago, my daughter's Mustang convertible was stolen. Slit the top to get in. Recovered that afternoon....I did all the parts pricing (as a licensed shop), presented all the costs to the adjuster.
We were $50 from being totalled, and he told me Ford no longer has tops for a 1990 Mustang, they would have gone to the same top shop I got the quote from (1/2 mile from the dealership), and charged 3-4X what the cost was, and we'd have been totalled.
I worked for a dealership once, and once only, for a short time, saw it first hand.
Take it to a local muffler shop and get it done.
They may even tell you the cats are fine.
If they still clean the air, we used to drill a small hole in the pipe ahead of the cat, stick the cone end of a fuel pressure gauge up to the hole and hold it, have someone in the car run it up to 2500rpm, and see what the back pressure was.
Can't recall the go/no-go reading, but most we tested were just fine.
Dave
 
TOC said:
Take it to a local muffler shop and get it done.
They may even tell you the cats are fine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info. I will be taking it to a local place tomorrow that is quite cheap and reliable.

Unfortunately, I doubt that there is nothing wrong with the cats. The exhaust is running a little rich, and the check engine light is on. Something is going to have to go.

It'd be awesome if all I had to do was buy O2 sensors.

Is the Magnaflow Universal cat any good?

MagnaFlow Universal
 
The car needs to be prpoerly dignosed. What codes do you have? BTW, the factory exhaust on that car is VERY high quality. They can rust, but seldom do, and are usually only replaced due to damage, like hitting the tailpipe when backing up.Many many things can turn on the CE light. I bet you have codes for catalist efficency. So, someone needs to take an oscilliscope and check the air flow meter voltage. If it is not spot on then the engine slightly over fuels, or under fuels, giving the "cat" the wrong mixture, and causing it to not "convert" correctly, causing the light to be on...In other words, garbage in, garbage out. I would be very sure before I forked out thousands, esp if what they do does not fix the car.
 
So I just got my car back from my "trusted" auto shop, and I don't need a code to understand what the mechanic said.

The pipe and one of the cats is cracked. The guy said that I would need an exhaust from the engine back. So, guess it's time to start collecting exhaust parts!
 
Back
Top