So I went with Castrol GTX High Mileage and the Fram ExtraGuard filter. It was the first oil change I've done on my x-type since I got it a few months ago and the first oil change I've done in quite a while since I got rid of my Land Rover a few years ago. Well, the x-type wasn't hard to change the oil, but it wasn't super easy either. I was being extra ocd and careful being my first oil change on it. First of all, when I unbolted the drain bolt, it went from a tiny trickle to full on stream when the bolt popped out and landed at the the bottom of the container. The crappy oil container I bought is the smaller size, I think 10qt. and not the best thing to catch the oil (and the stupid drain cap leaks, definitely a flawed design). I had two streams going at once, a tiny trickle and a full blast of oil, so I made a little mess at first but got it under control. Also it started to get windy which didn't help the situation at all. Anyway, the old oil was real dark. I'm not sure if it was from the seafoam I added to it yesterday, I think it loosened a lot of the deposits in the engine and made the oil darker. When I checked it the other day, it was a medium brownish color. Anyway I let it drain out real good, took forever, while it started to rain on and off kind of messing up my plan. Put the new GTX in and let it warm up and took it for a cruise. It took a little while for it to soak into the engine, the first drive I didn't feel a ton of difference, but the old oil was definitely ready to be changed. On the second trip I really started to feel it. The engine was smooth and I felt like it could rev higher at high speeds, I felt like the engine just kept wanting to climb. The low end was not much different. I guess I had been expecting it to turbocharge the car or something. It didn't do this but the car is definitely purring and running more efficient. The fuel gauge doesn't feel like it's moving, although I took it for a long cruise around town and wasted some gas but it was fun to drive. Not a huge change in horsepower but the engine definitely seems happy. I wish I could have a new oil feel all the time. Changing the oil was a big project though for the first time, minus the bad weather it took about an oily hour. Definitely not a 10 minute quick lube, but I wanted to drain out all the dark junk I called oil that was in it. I feel like I really accomplished something. There are three types of jaguar owners... those who have someone else change their oil, those who don't change their oil at all, and those who change it themselves. I am now in the last category.

 

Nice1 04xtype04,

T'is a sheer pleasure to find out these things, oh and when it's going to rain.

I sweated over doing the oil-change and now I look forward to it, doing this DIY is simple and you get to learn so much more about YOUR JAGUAR!!
Keep it up and thanks for sharing!

Regards, Stu

 

Checked my oil today and it was a little on the low side so I added a splash of GTX. I was parked on a tilt though so I wasn't sure quite how accurate the reading was. Added about a cup just to top it off. My car's been making a ticking sound and my friend said it was the lifters, and I should add some oil. It was low so maybe that will quiet down the ticking sound but we'll see. I think it's just the Jaguar sound.

 

I drained my oil over easter, x type3.0lt awd. changed filter, drain plug had no dirt attached to it. refilled with CASTROL MAGNATEC PROFFESSIONAL 5W30, took all of 20 min to do, find the oil drains faster if the engine is warm.

 

I love the sound of a ticking Jaguar, especially my V6!!

After a good run, ***THERE'S NOTHING LIKE IT! ***

 

Oil changes are good but one word of advice or caution, I would NOT use FRAM filters, reason: The ends of the filter paper inside are GLUED and not crimped and they have been known to come apart inside then they don't filter and you can't tell and 2nd they don't have a check valve in them so the oil drains out during shut down. Spend an extra buck and get a Bosch or even a Wix.

 

Even another reason not to use a Fram filter

Actually it's not the filters fault but it's whoever installed it. I went to change the oil on our recently aquired x-type and the previous owner had a Fram filter on it. I thought oil changes are easy. The first part was, remove the drain plug and drain the oil. The second part was a pain because the filter was on so tight the only way I could get it undone was to use a webbing style filter wrench that connects to a 1/2" drive ratchet. Well it's now done and filled with Castrol Edge and a new Motorcraft filter.

 

Performed my own oil change for this first time myself just a couple weeks ago.

It's a great feeling!

Bought an oil filter strap wrench, and given the very tight clearance around the filter, I'm definitely glad I went that route. I definitely had the filter strap too far up on the Jaguar filter previously on there. Worked much better once I lowed the strap to the edge (closest to the top of the filter/closer to the ground).

Went with a K&N filter (HP-2009 - K&N Oil Filters, Oil Filter direct from K&N) for convenience sake of doing my own oil filter changes in the future w/o needing the strap.

 

I will probably use K&N in the future. Found a good price for them on ebay. Just bought the fram because it sounded good and was available at the time. (It's the upgraded one, not the cheapo).