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Hello everyone and thank you for forum. Im new and learning a lot from your posts.
I care for a Jaguar MK 2 3.8 auto, that belongs to my mom. Since the car has Spanish plates, it is difficult to know the date of the car. The paperwork reflects the date it was registered in Spain but maybe it spent some time registered else where.
The vin number is 201335 and on the Spanish documentation the date is 26/06/1968. Thank you in advance for any offered help. Ill carry on reading your posts.
No. My mom hasnt had it that long. Shes had it for the last 30 yrs or so. 26/06/1968 is the date that it was registered in Spain. But it could have been registered in France or Germany a few years before.
You welcome Chris, if you order the Heritage Certificate it will tell you information about the original color, original sale date, date of manufacture, country where it was sold first, etc.
the Mark II was made from 1959 to 1968, but in 1967 and 1968 it was re-named the "340" and it came with thin bumpers.
You are correct Chris from the Chassis number it shows as a 1960 Mk2 3.8 RHD, it is obviously now LHD as you own the car and must know which side you sit in to drive it
As Jose says, if you get a heritage certificate it will state where it was first sold and may offer clues when/where it was converted to LHD.
Im sorry, I don't carry any photos with me. Only this one which I made 2 days ago after lifting the car, to show the amount of oil and anti freeze it was leaking. I will make sure to get one though. Its a Old English White, or close, with cream interior and wire chrome wheels. Only changes I have seen from stock is the assisted power steering. My mom, uses it as if it were an old Ford Fiesta. Be sure not to get in her way. She has had engine and transmission work done in the past. Runs like a champ !
I was born into this. Both my parents are English classic cars "aficionados". All my past family memories have a classic English car in the background that we all cramped into after pushing it to start.
Im getting to know my moms MK-2. Thank you for the bits on the not "Overdrive" lever, in/out explanation. Im learning a lot from your publications.
I will make sure to get a few pictures. Its nearly a daily runner, so its not even close to what I have seen in the posts.
Since the pic was taken we have stopped the steering fluid, antifreeze leak. We still have an oil leak from a set of worn out washers right behind oil dip stick. I have so many questions but I don't want to waste your time asking what has all ready been answered. I will carry on reading. Im concerned about that oil leak, fluids to use, like oil. Should we go mineral or synthetic ? Maybe a Haynes manual would be a good start too.
Thank you so much for Forum. I will get her a heritage certificate as a gift. Thank you ! The cars at her house, I have to go by, take some photos and make sure the VIN number is correct. She told me that back when she got it for peanuts, it had no paperwork and a friend of a friend took care of it. 70s in Spain.
ok, that is because you need to post 10 times before you can post images, or something like that. It's because you are new in the forum. So welcome. TilleyJon is near you in UK.
Just write something about the car every day until you have 10 posts.
Chris, order the Factory Service and Parts Manual from the Heritage Trust too, they sell them in CD. You can also order them through Ebay.
the Haynes manuals are a joke.
do not use synthetic oil, only Castrol Mineral oil 20W50.
you can ask any questions you want over here. TilleyJon is a technician and he is always glad to help. Also there are many experienced MK-2 owners here. I own a S type, same engine, different body and different rear suspension.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using the very latest modern Synthetic oils of suitable viscosity in an XK engine. (20W-50 is on the heavy side by modern thinking unless you have a worn engine with a rebuild inevitable). I advise using mineral oil of max SF level to run-in/bed-in/break-in a newly rebuilt engine (first 1000 miles) or it will take forever with modern oils. Run-in should avoid long periods at constant throttle & very high RPM. Varying throttle draws oil into the ring belt which is desirable. After first 500 miles bursts at WOT are recommended. Watch the temperature gauge & back off if temperature climbs unduly.
Modern synthetic engine oils will substantially increase the life of an XK engine & due to vastly better HTHS (High Temperature High Shear) performance of modern synthetics your cam & tappet area will be far better protected. XK engines due to long stroke have pretty high piston speeds & modern additive/base oil technology will reduce wear here by a large margin.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Jan 17, 2019 at 05:09 PM.
That shows a fundamental misunderstanding of lubrication by your mechanic. Synthetics are higher VI (viscosity index) products than mineral oils which means in layman's terms that they thin out less with rising temperature than mineral oils. An SAE 40 engine oil is an SAE 40 engine oil at operating temperature. Read my forum bio. I'm a tribologist by training with a lifelong technical career in one of the world's super major oil companies.
If you have a buggered seal you have a buggered seal. Replace it. Synthetic oils are only "thinner" than their mineral counterparts when cold which is also desireable.
Oil sample analysis/wear metal analysis shows clearly that modern synthetic oil will in cases halve the wear rate on an XK engine over the mineral products that Jaguar had available.
BTW ~ our additive company supplies Castrol with most of their additive requirements to blend their engine oils. Don't feel alone Jose. I'm recently retired from a global job & Car/Auto mechanics the world over talk a lot of crap about lubrication. You need to get into major industry like the Global Mining companies for the engineering staff, that are responsible for large fleets of equipment & sometimes even have their own on-site labs to find people with in-depth lubrication knowledge. Many of them hired from the oil industry or studied it at university.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Jan 17, 2019 at 07:42 PM.
Glyn, what is the situation re detergents in modern oils, my understanding is that in an older engine with rope seals it is desirable to keep the carbon deposits in place so the rope seals do not get cleaned and leak worse than they normally do. That seems to make sense, but in reality is that actually correct, what is the difference when buying a "classic" oil, again my understanding is that the classic oils have lower detergent levels and higher zinc levels which all goes to help protect an older engine. Is this correct or are they "snake oils" ?
I am with you on a newly built engine, my engine machinist who builds race XK engines as well as many others said exactly the same thing, but I have uprated to a modern crank seal so that was not an issue.
Glyn, what is the situation re detergents in modern oils, my understanding is that in an older engine with rope seals it is desirable to keep the carbon deposits in place so the rope seals do not get cleaned and leak worse than they normally do. That seems to make sense, but in reality is that actually correct, what is the difference when buying a "classic" oil, again my understanding is that the classic oils have lower detergent levels and higher zinc levels which all goes to help protect an older engine. Is this correct or are they "snake oils" ? I am with you on a newly built engine, my engine machinist who builds race XK engines as well as many others said exactly the same thing, but I have uprated to a modern crank seal so that was not an issue.
Hi TJ ~ The rope seal story & detergency is an urban myth not founded in science & research. The last thing you want is an engine held together by deposits whatever the vintage. Stay well clear of the "Boutique" oil blenders. They simply do not have the budgets or research facilities of the majors. 'Nuff said. They cobble together formulations from the major additive vendors of which we are one within our integrated oilco. There is really no such thing as a "classic oil" ~ it's a marketing ploy & they usually blend to the heavy end of the viscosity spectrum to try and accommodate worn engines that really should be rebuilt rather than concentrating on low component wear.
Some understanding is required around the zinc story. Zinc levels have been reduced in some formulations to protect emissions gear in some modern vehicles. Zinc is not the only anti wear agent & we simply formulate our way around that with other components & higher group synthetic base oils where the base oil does more to protect the cam & tappet area than the zinc does. I assure all that a hot AMG cam/valvetrain setup, as an example, is a lot more challenging to lubricate than anything in an XK engine.
So as not to have to repeat myself I'm going to refer you to postings I made on the subject here: Read posts #32 to #37 ~ my interchange with splinter (John Goodlad).
Should you choose to read the entire thread please ignore some comments by the ill informed. Splinter is not one of them.
Hello there.
