Friends: I haven’t posted in ages. I have a '97 XJ6L with
156K miles. For the past roughly year the oil consumption
has slowly gone up, (the front of the engine is awash in
oil), I have had a check engine light, codes for failed
catalytic converters and … a slight coolant leak.
I went by a local jags-only shop the other day to get an oil
change, and the tech looked at the front corner of the block
on the right side of the car and was shining a light on it,
telling me there’s an oil leak there. later, when I asked
him what might be causing that, he said the head gasket.
Absent a compression test, does this sound plausible. the
car needs paint, bodywork, upholstery and a few mechanical
things, so i’m not inclined to restore it to its former
glory. Just curious if taken as a whole these symptoms point
to a head gasket failing.
Eliot Brenner
Annandale, Va–
'97 x300L with 151k, previous '89 xj40 defunct at 150k
Annandale, VA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
Worth checking the gasket on the timing chain tensioner and the O-ring on
the distributor/cam position sensor unit. Both a doddle to do.-----Original Message-----
From: owner-x300@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-x300@jag-lovers.org] On Behalf
Of eliotbjag
Sent: 11 January 2015 01:07
To: x300@jag-lovers.org
Subject: [x300] head gasket failure
Friends: I haven’t posted in ages. I have a '97 XJ6L with
156K miles. For the past roughly year the oil consumption
has slowly gone up, (the front of the engine is awash in
oil), I have had a check engine light, codes for failed
catalytic converters and … a slight coolant leak.
I went by a local jags-only shop the other day to get an oil
change, and the tech looked at the front corner of the block
on the right side of the car and was shining a light on it,
telling me there’s an oil leak there. later, when I asked
him what might be causing that, he said the head gasket.
Absent a compression test, does this sound plausible. the
car needs paint, bodywork, upholstery and a few mechanical
things, so i’m not inclined to restore it to its former
glory. Just curious if taken as a whole these symptoms point
to a head gasket failing.
Eliot Brenner
Annandale, Va
'97 x300L with 151k, previous '89 xj40 defunct at 150k
Annandale, VA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from eliotbjag sent Sat 10 Jan 2015:
ALL AJ6/AJ16 4.0 engines were prone to leak oil at the
dist./cam sensor area from faulty head gaskets.
Jaguar issued several ‘upgrades’ to the gasket over the
years. The oil leaks under pressure from the passage to the
exhaust camshaft oil gallery (block-to-head).
When I worked at the dealer I replaced DOZENS of head
gaskets for this fault. If the oil leak is not significant
and it does not bother you then I would stock up on a supply
of oil and ignore it. If the leak is enough to cause concern
then a head gasket replacement is in order.
You will have to make that judgement call!!!
The oil does NOT leak into the cylinders from this fault.
(external only) A compression test will tell you nothing
about the oil leak.
The AJ6/AJ16 engines are known to consume oil especially as
they age so you might want to consider using 15W40 or 20W50
to slow the oil consumption as much as possible if you have
not already done so.
bob gauff–
Bob Gauff Owning and Repairing Jaguars Since the Early 70’s
Decatur, TX., United States
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In reply to a message from motorcarman sent Sun 11 Jan 2015:
Same root cause on my oil leak over 10 years ago. Bob’s post is
spot on. Only contention is that in the great white north, you do
not want to run too thick an oil in the winter (if you run your
jag at all).–
The original message included these comments:
ALL AJ6/AJ16 4.0 engines were prone to leak oil at the
dist./cam sensor area from faulty head gaskets.
When I worked at the dealer I replaced DOZENS of head
gaskets for this fault. If the oil leak is not significant
and it does not bother you then I would stock up on a supply
–
Dave J 1996 XJ6 (Canada)
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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In reply to a message from Dave J 1996 XJ6 (Canada) sent Sun 18 Jan 2015:
As a matter of interest, when you did that did you use new
bolts or centre-punch and re-use up to twice as per the
manual?
Pete–
1E75339 66 D, 1R27190 70 FHC, 79 S2 XJ12L
Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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In reply to a message from PeterCrespin sent Mon 19 Jan 2015:
I am strictly a shade tree mechanic who would not attempt a head
gasket unless I had plenty of shade and time but the technician who
performed the head gasket did put in new bolts since I got the
existing bolts and old head gasket back. I posted a pic on this
site a number of years ago of the weak spot for posterity. I took
comfort in the fact he was a well-experienced jaguar mechanic who
had done many. Fortunately it was covered by warranty and he never
mentioned reusing the existing bolts or not. I also never noticed
if they had a centre-punch mark or not from an earlier changeout.
The vehicle had about 80K km at the time. It now has another 10
years and about 155K km on the odometer with no obvious sign of
recurrence (touch burled walnut). I do use Castrol 10W30 ‘‘high
mileage vehicle’’ conventional oil in spite of a personal preference
for synthetic since I ostensibly want to reduce the risk of any
sort of leak.–
The original message included these comments:
As a matter of interest, when you did that did you use new
bolts or centre-punch and re-use up to twice as per the
–
Dave J 1996 XJ6 (Canada)
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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In reply to a message from Dave J 1996 XJ6 (Canada) sent Mon 19 Jan 2015:
Sorry, I thought you were the dealer tech but I misread a
quote from Bob in your post.
Pete–
1E75339 66 D, 1R27190 70 FHC, 79 S2 XJ12L
Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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