73 E Type S3 2+2 V12 Valve Question

I am cleaning and refreshing my 52k orig mile S3 2+2 v12 engine. Have the air rail and four intakes out and just cleaned out all of that grease that built up since 1973. Looks nice! I really recommend the Gunk gel engine degreaser. It is great for heavy grease build ups. Let is sit over night and get the rags out and clean away. The foam doesn’t work as well on the heavy stuff. No pressure wash needed. That always scares me anyway.

With the intakes removed I can see the carbon buildup on the valves. Some of the buildup looks lightly “crusty” that would flake off if rubbed. Can this be cleaned somehow or should I not bother. I assume the flakes that get in the cylinder would just come out the exhaust. What is the wisdom here? I don’t know if fuel cleaner is really going to take care of this buildup. Any help wold be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I rebuilt a 1973 V12 with 54k miles on it last year. For what its worth, no amount of superficial cleaning is going to help an engine that old. See pictures below of what it looked like on the inside;

And here is a photo of it going back together.

The amount of sludge in the oil pan… it was ridiculous. No off the shelf engine degreaser worked. I ended up using straight mineral spirits. And then an industrial washing machine.

The amount of sludge in the oil pan… it was ridiculous.

A guy I knew in high school (1970’s) decided to treat his car right, so every
time he changed the oil he added a can of some additive – it wasn’t STP, but
it was something like that. After a coupla years, something went wrong in
the engine and he had to tear it down. When he pulled the oil pan off, there
was an acculation of solid goo in the oil pan that was flat across except for a
pocket where the pickup had gone. All that additive had done was gradually
decrease the oil capacity of his sump!

– Kirbert

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When I, in an attempt to get a baseline on my car, cleaned out the sump on my 1974 40k miles S3 E-type, I took off the oil pan and removed at least a 1/4" sludge that I doubt would have found its way out the normal oil drain. As to why the different coloring of the layers of sludge ? I’m guessing “different components of the sludge”, but that’s hardly scientific.


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Looks like finely ground metal to me.

Mike Eck
New Jersey, USA
www.jaguarclock.com
'51 XK120 OTS, '62 3.8 MK2 MOD, '72 SIII E-Type 2+2

When I, in an attempt to get a baseline on my car, cleaned out the
sump on my 1974 40k miles S3 E-type, I took off the oil pan and
removed at least a 1/4" sludge that I doubt would have found its way
out the normal oil drain. As to why the different coloring of the
layers of sludge ?

Always check the sludge with a magnet, see if anything sticks.

– Kirbert

Never did, leaned something new.
Is bearing material magnetic ?

Is bearing material magnetic ?

No. Iron is, though, and that includes cylinder liners, piston rings, crank
journals and timing sprocket teeth.

– Kirbert

That’s what I thought. Last time the engine ran in August 2015 before taking it out for a gearbox rebuild, it ran smooth, strong and quiet, apart from some valve/tappet noise due to a couple of valve gaps being too big, but that’s being taken care of now.